Range practice.

[swffjvl]

Real quick question. Most of the driving ranges at my local courses are so beat up and I like to practice hitting off the grass (iron practice). It can be tough. A great place by me has, well it has grass also (also beat up) but has the stalls with the mats. Any disadvantage to hitting off those green mats or are you just wasting your time and should look for grass?  Thanks Joe

Edited July 21, 2017 by swffjvl

[saevel25]

4 minutes ago, swffjvl said:

Real quick question. Most of the driving ranges at my local courses are so beat up and I like to practice hitting off the grass (iron practice). It can be tough. A great place by me has, well it has grass also (also beat up) but has the stalls with the mats. Any disadvantage to hitting of those green mats or are you just wasting your time off them?  Thanks Joe

Mats or hard ground can let you get away with hitting slightly behind the ball slightly. What would be a slightly heavy shot will turn out OK.

[swffjvl]

3 minutes ago, saevel25 said:

Mats or hard ground can let you get away with hitting slightly behind the ball slightly. What would be a slightly heavy shot will turn out OK.

Is tha because your causing grass or dirt between you ball and club where you wouldn't from a Mat? So hitting from a mat "can" cause you problems down the line...

Edited July 21, 2017 by swffjvl

[saevel25]

1 minute ago, swffjvl said:

Is tha because your causing grass or dirt between you ball and club where you wouldn't from a Mat? So hitting from a may "can" cause you problems down the line...

No, the bounce of the club will glide slightly on a mat or hard pan ground instead of letting the club dig into the ground.

[DaveP043]

31 minutes ago, swffjvl said:

Any disadvantage to hitting off those green mats or are you just wasting your time and should look for grass? 

I think if you're "practicing to play", hitting off grass is a positive thing, you're getting a truer evaluation of your contact.  If you're practicing to change, trying to change a specific part of your swing, you can do that no matter what surface you're hitting from.  Your goal isn't necessarily good shot results, but a specific change in the motion of your swing.

[swffjvl]

2 minutes ago, DaveP043 said:

I think if you're "practicing to play", hitting off grass is a positive thing, you're getting a truer evaluation of your contact.  If you're practicing to change, trying to change a specific part of your swing, you can do that no matter what surface you're hitting from.  Your goal isn't necessarily good shot results, but a specific change in the motion of your swing.

Dave, Like not rising on the swing?

[saevel25]

39 minutes ago, swffjvl said:

Dave, Like not rising on the swing?

Like what ever is your priority piece is. A backswing piece can be worked on with out hitting a ball at all.

[iacas]

I've never understood the distaste for mats.

It's never seemed that difficult to me to know when you "got away with one" by hitting it fat.

Yeah, the ball still goes okay, but you can TELL that you hit behind it, still…

[Antneye]

52 minutes ago, iacas said:

I've never understood the distaste for mats.

It's never seemed that difficult to me to know when you "got away with one" by hitting it fat.

Yeah, the ball still goes okay, but you can TELL that you hit behind it, still…

Agreed.  I do a lot of non-ball contact work in my garage (sometimes with a foam ball as well) on a mat and I can easily identify the fat wings from the true swings.

[swffjvl]

4 hours ago, iacas said:

It's never seemed that difficult to me to know when you "got away with one" by hitting it fat.

Yeah, the ball still goes okay, but you can TELL that you hit behind it, still…

I think I can feel when I do , but not super sure. Assuming the thump before ball contact would be just that? It happens so fast I guess I just have to figure that out.

[No Mulligans]

On the better mats the ball flight is affected by a fat shot, 1/2 to 3/4 of the expected distance.  Even the not so good mats will give some flight feed back on fat shots.  It's pretty easy to tell.

[Hategolf]

I practice mostly on mats. But I am very aware of contact. If the ball flies well but my contact felt or sounded nothing than pure...that swing in my book was not good. 

The contact issues I might have during a round are not driven by practicing in mats. I will say however that firm mat practice can make you a picker of the ball where you might not take much of a divot...not a terrible thing in my opinion. 

I mostly practice swing mechanics and such so I can do it anywhere.

[swffjvl]

Gonna grab a bucket and hit the mats and save some for a move down the walk to the grass.  Just see the difference