Driving Range mats

As some of you maybe aware I have for the first time in years being working on some major swing changes this winter, therfore I have been hitting hundreds of balls at the range over the last few weeks. I hit approx 700 balls every week at the range since my lessons, before only 200.

My question is, will hitting off mats all the time affect my course play i.e hitting the ball thinner or fatter due to the hard mats, I played on Monday and I hit a few fat and thin shots which I don't normally do.


Thanks in advance.

Ian.

No question 700 mat shots a week are going to hinder your course play. You will do exactly what you just said: Fat at first, then overcompensate to thin. Then at the end of the round, you will be ok. This is all due to a mat being increadibly forgiving. Not only in a bounce that would have been fat on the grass, but also that bounce will square up your club face a little. There is also the problem of a mat will make you stand above the ball more. Especially if you wear your spikes. Get really low flat sneakers to help there...never running shoes with lots of cushion. Then when you get on the grass where you sink down, you are lower and that causes fat shots.

If all you have access to is mats, then you just have to accept this and try to hit a bunch of shots before your round to reset yourself for grass.

My pro would call me "Mat-Boy" when I would practice on mats until my hands would bleed and when we went out to the course, my first shot was always a huge fattie. "Great shot Mat-Boy!". Always made me laugh.

Yep, mats are way too forgiving and cause problems of their own. You can never duff a shot off a mat or take a monster divot ... You also always have a perfect lie ...

For a bit of light practice a mat is fine. For 700 balls a week and serious swing overhauls - forget it, it ain't going to work.

"Mat Boy" - I like that. When I was at school, I was called "tee me up" because I always teed up when I practiced. That way, I could use the same piece of grass for zillions of shots when everyone else was looking for a bit of grass already. "Mat Boy" ... brilliant!!!!!

__________________
Golf is easy ... once you know how.
Graham Arnott, teaching professional
Kelrosa Golf Studios
www.kelrosagolf.com
Class 'A' PGA Member
Full Member: World Golf Teachers Federation (GB&I)

Hi Ian,

This is a problem I have also faced. As Greg has mentioned if this is all you have access to then it is better than not hitting any balls at all. When I practice I try and do it on the course when it is quiet, hitting a few balls here and there. This is great, but if like you say you are working on a major swing change then it this is not the solution. There are very few courses that have grass practice ranges. So those of you who have this luxury consider yourself lucky unless it rains of course

Unfortunately until someone invents a matt that mimmicks grass better we are stuck with this problem. I was just trying to imagine the matt with a longer plastic grass, could this work better? or would the ball sit up too much?

Greg

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Thanks

Greg Hutton
Head P.G.A. Professional
golftuitiononline.com

I am another who thinks mats are the worst thing for your swing. When I got TRUELY hooked on golf, I was working at a golf resort which of course had an all grass range. When I moved from that area I found the closest range (which used mats) and worked on my swing changes. I too found I was hitting the mat first which turned into fat shots. I have since found 3 ranges that are all grass and I do all my practicing at those facilities. The only way I hit off mats now is if I hit a 1/2 bucket to warm up before my round at a course that has only mats on their range.

__________________
Gord

Quote of the month:
"It's easy to see golf not as a game at all but as some whey-faced, nineteenth-century Presbyterian minister's fever dream of exorcism achieved through ritual and self-mortification." ~Bruce McCall

Thanks Guys,
When I played on Monday I suspected this was the reason for a few fats and thins, unfortunatly as Greg says there are no all grass practice facilities. Once I am comfortable with the swing mechanics I am working on then I will ease off at the range.

Why does work get in the way of golf, dark when I go work,dark when I get in,wet or frosty at the weekend.

Merry Christmas

Ian.

I guess I'm a little lucky at my range. Although it has mats, you stand next to them so that they are raised a little off the floor. Maybe they were skimping on the cost but it means that, partly at least, the fat shot, thin shot problem is eliminated!

Thing is, what do you do if you are trying to groove a swing? Course time is great but if you can only manage one round a week at best then hitting shots repetitively to gain consistency isn't going to happen on the course alone, you need to work on the range.

Hi ph_kingston,

Going out to the driving range will definitely help in between rounds. But, just going out and whacking a few hundred balls at the range isn't overly helpful. You need to make the practice meaningful. Make sure you have a target and approach each shot on the range as if it was a shot on the course. Go through your routine before every shot.

Also, pick a specific part of your game where you are having troubles and dedicate most of your practice time to that area. The area of your game which you are strong still needs practice, but it shouldn't take up more than 25% of your practice time.

__________________
Gord

Quote of the month:
"It's easy to see golf not as a game at all but as some whey-faced, nineteenth-century Presbyterian minister's fever dream of exorcism achieved through ritual and self-mortification." ~Bruce McCall

I couldn't agree more Gord, Jack Nicklaus once said "I never hit a shot, not even in practice, without having a very sharp, in-focus picture of it in my head. First I see the ball where I want it to finish, nice and white and sitting up high on the bright green grass. Then the scene quickly changes, and I see the ball going there: its path, trajectory, and shape, even its behavior on landing. Then there is a sort of fade-out, and the next scene shows me making the kind of swing that will turn the previous images into reality".

Does anyone have a 'world of golf' driving range near them???

The one near me has grass bays at either side but you have to join the shortgame membership, which costs £85 (expensive if are a member of a course aswell).

They also have mats which the club can sink into a little bit. Its not your normal green carpet on a rubber base. Its like stiff fake christmas tree pine needles. Still doesn't eliminate the problem of fats n thins but improves it a bit.

another question along the same lines. At my range we have the standard mat and at the end there is an artificial grass section, what about those?

We have them also here. The problem with that is that you are standing at one level and your ball is at a higher level. That goes against everything we have been taught for good, clean, ball striking.