Backyard practice area items... What's not junk?

[RookieBlue7]

Alright, I'm not real sure where exactly to put this, so I'm going to try here and if it needs to be moved, please move it (but if you move it, mods, could you send me a message where to so I can follow my own post, as I always have trouble finding things when my post is moved, lol).  

Anyway, on to the subject.  I'm looking to purchase 2 items for my back yard.  I've said I was going to set up my garage before, and well, that's just not happening.  No, my vehicle won't fit in my side of the garage (and it's a Scion Xb) due to them determining to put in 2 garage doors instead of a single door.  So my side garage stall is tiny.  And all my clubwork stuff is in that side as well as other tools and miscellaneous stuff, and well, it just ain't happening.  So I'm looking to buy something that will accomplish 2 things.  1, it'll allow me to practice at home.  I don't have time to practice after work because my schedule, and plus I have a family and 2 kids that I'd rather take outside to play and sit and talk to, so having it at home allows for that easier.  2 is I want it portable where I can take it inside and get it out of the weather.  I don't want something that's going to be a PITA to set up either.  I want it to be able to be set up in 10 minutes or less from the time I decide to hit balls till the time I'm actually hitting golf balls.  They say you can't buy a better game, well, that's exactly what I'm looking to do.  Granted, the purchase isn't the improvement but what the purchase is intended for.  But still...

The next determinant for me will be finding something I can hit the full bag into.  I've bought a few pop-up nets before.  They're just nets or some of them have a small sheet of nylon material that hangs as a target.  Let's get real, anyone with moderate swingspeed can and does hit balls through it.  I don't want to be able to hit balls through it.  I want to be able to hit balls into it and then pick them up and do it again and again.  My plan is to purchase 100 balls of my favorite balls in grade AA or so from somewhere like LGB that'll be my practice balls for home.  I don't care if they're scuffed or whatever because I'm beating them into a net repeatedly.  I've bought the birdie balls and I just don't use them.  I did for a few days and now they're sitting in a corner neglected.  Let's be honest, it just doesn't feel right hitting pieces of glorified PVC that doesn't even resemble a ball.  I want to hit golf balls, and I want to hit them over and over and over and not have to go fetch them.  I'm working on my swing and I want to get my game back in shape.  For that, I need practice time.  And for practice time to be feasible for me, I need it at home.

So here's what I'm looking for:

1. A mat I can hit off of so I don't beat my bermuda to death.  I've hit balls off my bermuda testing stuff out at the house.  I've beat my grass to death in the past doing it.   I spend a lot of time on my lawn so I'd rather not have patches everywhere of dead dirt.  Yes, I made that term up.  I'm looking for something that's pretty durable, that I can stick a real tee in(cause I hate those rubber things, unless they're just there to hold a tee and that'd be okay), and that is big enough to stand on and be at the same height as the balls I'm hitting.  I've bought one of the 1x2 pieces of hitting mat garbage.  You hit one ball and chase the mat.  And it's an inch above your feet.  That's not productive nor is it fun.  It sucks if we're being honest.  Waste of money.

2. I'm looking for a net I can set up easily and in less than 10 minutes and take back down in less than 10 minutes.  A pop-up one time assembly that you can then fold or whatever like a tent is perfect.  Sure, I could buy a bunch of shrimp netting and set up a cage, but my HOA would be on my butt and I've already done enough to irritate them.  Not to mention, while I'm on 3 acres, I've got right at an acre of back yard inside a privacy fence and then the back half of my property isn't inside the fence and it's unlevel and all that jazz.  That and neighbors with dogs that they don't keep on leashes would chew it up or pee on it and I'd hate to be all Hatfield and McCoy over a golf net. So I'm looking for a net I can set up and take down fairly easily because I'm both lazy and impatient, and it has to be able to withstand having balls hit into it all the way through driver.  

I've scoured eBay and a few other places and I've found some stuff, but I don't know what's good and what's junk.  So that's why I turn here.  I'm wanting to know your experiences with what's junk that I should avoid and what would meet my needs.  I don't mind spending a little more for quality but I'm not Dave Pelz either, so I don't need the big elaborate practice area that costs more than a few years salary.  I just want somewhere to hit balls and work on my swing.  

Here's a mat I've been looking at that seems like it might meet my needs/requirements, but if it's junk, I'm not buying it:

http://www.ebay.com/...=item35c278ff71

Here's another that's 3x as much but they bill as a better quality from reading the description:
http://www.ebay.com/...=item258a472f00

And then there's this: http://www.ebay.com/...=item33828e1a17


But yeah, something big like that I can stand on and hit balls all off of the same piece is what I have in mind.

As for nets, yeah, I've looked all over the place and I don't know what kind I want to look at or what'd work or qualify as not hot garbage, but here's a few that look like they'd meet the easy to assemble part:

http://www.ebay.com/...=item4acc6481cc

http://www.ebay.com/...=item33811b88f4

http://www.ebay.com/...=item1c33a3299c

http://www.ebay.com/...=item1c3b594451

It doesn't have to have the cute little target on the back piece, just as long as it'll be okay with golf balls being hit into it for a season.

[SPY ZINGER]

I've got this net and their mat in my basement. Exceptional quality and price. I would buy another without hesitation. Excellent customer service too.

 

http://www.sportnetting.com/nets/catch-all-golf-net.html

[hckymeyer]

For the net you should take a look at Rukk Net.  The guys over at Plugged In gave it a pretty nice review. 

 

http://pluggedingolf.com/rukk-net-golf-net-review/

 

One of the other forum members reviewed a mat by DW Quail and liked it very much.  You can't poke a tee into it, but you could always use the rubber tees that let you put a real tee into it.

 

http://forum.mygolfspy.com/topic/7602-dw-quail-golf-mat-review/

 

Let us know what you end up going with and how it works out!

[MattF]

The All Turf Mat is the way to go. You can stick a tee in it and hit down on it. I have one for my garage set up and I like it.

 

You may want to consider getting a bigger size, because with the driver, your feet might be off the edge of the mat. I would suggest lying a tape measure down, then placing your ball and setting up to hit driver and see where the back of your feet are before you pull the trigger on the mat.

[fozcycle]

Hey Rookie,

 

Have you considered the Swing Box?  Here is a review....

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=px-bENsBKvM

[PlaidJacket]

Don't buy any those mats you linked to. They are junk.You want the Real Feel mat. Below is a link to the mat I just bought 2 weeks ago. It ain't cheap. But you get what you pay for in mats. Mine is 5'x5'. Probably around 2" thick. It's kind of heavy. It's very durable and you can hit down and through your shots. Feels good. A friend of mine has had one for 2 years and hardly shows wear. It comes with a rubber tee you can insert from under the mat and then stick a real tee in it. There are holes underneath all sides so when you rotate say for wear; you'll have a place for the tee. The hole doesn't show when not in use. You can also stick a real tee in it. But I use the rubber/real tee combo because the real tee stays in place and doesn't go flying off after each shot. It was shipped rolled up in a box. When I unpacked it it immediately layed flat. Nice. When I bought mine I asked the salesman if he'd throw in a ball tray in place of some of the freebees they were offering (video lesson - junk) and he did. I recommend the tray. He also gave me a 15% discount too. Nice.

 

http://www.realfeelgolfmats.com/

 

I just recently bought the mat and use my old Callaway net. It's pretty large but later I'm buying a net and attach it to the arbor cover on one end that I'm having built over the patio area where I hit. Then I can roll it up or down as needed. I've also setup my tripod with a small Kodak PlaySport cam to video my swing from the rear and face on.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Kodak-PlaySport-Waterproof-Pocket-Camera/dp/B004FLL5BI/ref=dp_ob_image_ce

 

I can shoot up to 60fps HD with it and it's not bad to be honest. I'm also using the V1 software but not really happy with it. (Free) It's not that cutting edge. In fact it looks old and dated but it works for now. If anyone knows of a better software program to view and edit a golf swing on a PC let me know.

[GolfSpy WD]

The All Turf Mat is the way to go. You can stick a tee in it and hit down on it. I have one for my garage set up and I like it.

 

You may want to consider getting a bigger size, because with the driver, your feet might be off the edge of the mat. I would suggest lying a tape measure down, then placing your ball and setting up to hit driver and see where the back of your feet are before you pull the trigger on the mat.

 

Agreed here. All Turf Mats make good quality stuff. I've had one for over a year and it hardly looks worn. You won't mistake it for grass, but it's better than your typical driving range mat.

[PlaidJacket]

Here me now. Believe me later.

[PlaidJacket]

I tried a new thing this past weekend. I like to video my swing. Lately I've been using my little Kodak Play Sport cam. It does a pretty good job actually. I shoot some vids and then transfer them to my PC and use the V1 software to analyze. The V1 is the weak link. The software is not very good. Especially the drawing tools.  So... I remembered I have the Ubersense app on my iPhone and iPad. It's an excellent golf swing video app. The best parts are the tools it has built in to draw lines with. The slow-mo feature works well too.  This time however I used the Airplay feature (Apple TV required) on my iPhone (or iPad) and streamed over to my TV. From there I was able to sit in my recliner and view, study, and edit my swing. The video quality is actually quite good. I have an iPhone 4S which I believe will shoot 60fps. I hear the newer iPhone 5s will shoot up to 120fps. But for basic video swing analysis this combination does a very good job.