Do practice range mats screw with your ball striking? What to do?

[Hacker James]

14 hours ago, zero said:

Nice, thanks! I'll pump some recent rounds in there and see how ugly it is :)

Had a great couple of practices at the range lately off the mats. Nice ball flights, hitting targets, even drawing at times. I just don't trust at all that what I see from the mats is what I'll see from grass, but it's better than a sharp stick in the eye.

good deal. You will need to do a double sort after a few rounds. First by column H, then by Column A. This will give you the best * out of the most recent rounds. All you need manually enter is the golf stats i.e. rating, slope, then your raw  score for front and back nine. The rest is automatic.  As for the mats, lots of discussion in other threads. I recently ordered a mini hitting strip from Country Club Elite (real feel). I will then cut my large mat and place the strip in as in inlay.

[NDavis]

This idea may be of use or not - I have a small narrow practice  mat which I use in a high ceiling room. Concerned about the divot issue I cut off a section of the front of the mat (about 4 or so inches) and re connected/positioned this to the rest of mat initially using elastic cord*. The practice ball is positioned on the join or just before - the idea is that the cut off portion of the mat will move/fly forward to simulate divot. 

*the elastic cord broke after a while so don't bother with this and just pick up the loose bit of mat and re-position it after a shot. 

[Hacker James]

On January 8, 2016 at 8:53 AM, NDavis said:

This idea may be of use or not - I have a small narrow practice  mat which I use in a high ceiling room. Concerned about the divot issue I cut off a section of the front of the mat (about 4 or so inches) and re connected/positioned this to the rest of mat initially using elastic cord*. The practice ball is positioned on the join or just before - the idea is that the cut off portion of the mat will move/fly forward to simulate divot. 

*the elastic cord broke after a while so don't bother with this and just pick up the loose bit of mat and re-position it after a shot. 

a long while back, I bought a gadget that incorporated this very idea. It was a small, 2 piece contraption consisting of the 2 pieces connected by bungies fed through two short pieces of medical tubing on the underside. The tubing actually went through the backing material and protruded out just under the "
turf". The stationary end was held in place by grommets with golf tees driven through them.  It worked, but for the cost, was way overpriced. In a word "Junk". I forget the name, but something like "true divot".

[Hacker James]

On ‎1‎/‎7‎/‎2016 at 11:22 AM, Hacker James said:

good deal. You will need to do a double sort after a few rounds. First by column H, then by Column A. This will give you the best * out of the most recent rounds. All you need manually enter is the golf stats i.e. rating, slope, then your raw  score for front and back nine. The rest is automatic.  As for the mats, lots of discussion in other threads. I recently ordered a mini hitting strip from Country Club Elite (real feel). I will then cut my large mat and place the strip in as in inlay.

for those who may have D/L my spreadsheet, I have made a change. Since USGCA doesn't provide a handicap until after 5  rounds, I realize that no averaging would take place until the 7th round. Therefore, your index would be the single lowest differential for the first 6, then gradually increase in averages as per the handicap rules formulae. Simply do a sort that will place the lowest differential as the first and that will be your index. Of course, there are all sorts of commercial programs you can purchase for use with I-phone, or fully dedicated apps. I just like to tinker with spreadsheets.

 

[Coronagolfman]

In the area where I live the only lighted ranges use mats so unless one can spend some weekend time on the range its use the mats or don't practice during the week.

[TheDIYGolfer]

On December 27, 2015 at 10:13 PM, JapanDave said:

Here in Japan, I have never seen a practice range that does not have mats instead of grass. I tend to hit down on the ball which in some instances can cause jarring of the hands. So by the end of the session it seems my swing has adapted to hitting off the mat. Then I go to a course and it takes me half a round to get back to hitting the way I do. So over the last year when I go to a range, I just hit my driver and spoon, no irons and my golf is better for it. Thing is, I still need to practice my irons. Any suggestions? Is there a mat that mimics grass out there?

This might sound a bit too simple, but I'd focus on analyzing your swing with video analysis.  I used to wonder about this, but you can certainly get better off mats.

The key is determining what kind of feedback you are using.  

It's going to frustrate the heck out of you if you judge your swing on the shots it is producing off mats (especially if they are old).  

But if you use your time at the range to work on the moving components of the swing with video analysis, you'll get much more done.  

[DrvFrShow]

Certain mats really mess with my shoulders. They got some new mats at the range that I really hate. If you mishit a little fat or tend to dig a bit even after impact, they tend to grab the club head, and this is really painful on my shoulders. I find sessions tend toward thin shots out of fear of hitting the mat. So if the old worn out mats aren't available I'll be practicing with a tee.

Trust me, I know when I hit a shot fat even off a worn mat. I can feel a double impact and the ball doesn't go quite as far as it should.

[Hacker James]

1 hour ago, DrvFrShow said:

Certain mats really mess with my shoulders. They got some new mats at the range that I really hate. If you mishit a little fat or tend to dig a bit even after impact, they tend to grab the club head, and this is really painful on my shoulders. I find sessions tend toward thin shots out of fear of hitting the mat. So if the old worn out mats aren't available I'll be practicing with a tee.

Trust me, I know when I hit a shot fat even off a worn mat. I can feel a double impact and the ball doesn't go quite as far as it should.

I do okay with mats, but would agree they are best used when you are working on form and mechanics. OTOH, as mentioned, some mats are pretty good, such as the Real Feel. I also bought a small mat from Home Depot that is every bit as good for half the price and feels just like the Real Feel. I forget the name, but you can only order them at homedepot.com by searching for "golf mats" or Golf Driving Mats.  As for taking the game from mat to course, I more or less have figured out what changes I need to make, and it has become almost automatic.