ProAdvanced ProInfinity Putting Mat--Official MGS REVIEW

[GolfSpy Dave]

 

Avoid Winter Rust

I hate winter weather. There, I said it. Some of you like the snow, enjoying snow sports like skiing and bobsledding. I am not on board with those. Some of you like the sound of the rain as you cuddle up with coco and your significant other by the fire. Not me there either. Now I'm not opposed to the significant other cuddling, I'm all in on that. I'd just rather do so when it's warm and dry.

 

Winter makes going outside less enjoyable, and golfing unpleasant or impossible. That's by grief with winter. Sorry Snowey.

 

Part of the issue is that I like to play golf and winter wrecks that, but winter's lack of playable weather also means that once I do get out again, the golf swing has probably developed seasonal neglect disorder.

 

Thanks winter for preventing me from playing golf, and then for making me play worse once you finally drag your cold behind down the road. Again, not a fan of winter. I'll take Heat Miser over Cold Miser any day. I'm Mr. Green Christmas, I'm Mr. Sun...

 

Embrace the Indoor Putting Pleasure

In winter, I putt a lot in the garage. It's the ideal way to keep the putting skills sharp-ish for the welcome return of spring. The full swing may decay, but practicing putting indoors definitely keeps the putting more on track.

 

One benefit of putting practice on a mat is that your wife will not get mad at you like she does with your other types of winter practice, like chipping foam balls all over the house. Heads up if you do work on your foam flop shot indoors, “But the cat really likes it.” will not be an acceptable excuse.

 

So you want to practice your putting. How should you go about that? Maybe you are happy with a simple cup on carpet set-up. I have hardwood floors that really don't stimp like the muni greens I usually play on. To putt, I need a practice green, and it just so happens that I have one to share with you today, The ProAdvanced ProInfinity Putting Mat.

 

More than Just Green Carpet

 

I think that most of us have owned some kind of practice putting mat. I have one in my office at work, and another one in the garage. For the golf addicted, putting on a mat at home is a nice holdover for getting to the course.

 

Some of our greens are simple, nothing more than green carpet and a hole, while others get complicated with ball return systems, multiple holes, and even regions on carpet colored like sand and water. I love the sand and water decorations. Those really help me to improve. As bad as I sometimes play, I have never putted into the sand or the water, nor have I putted from the sand or water. Silly designers.

 

The ProInfinity Mat is a putting mat that really gives you the chance to actually work on aspects of your putting game. Sure, it's still a ball rolling on carpet, but there are some tech features built into it that make it a bit of something more.

 

Foam Wedges and Moveable Cup

 

Included with the ProInfinity Mat are six moveable foam wedges and a moveable cup. This allows you to work on the breaking putts. Within reason, of course, as the mat is only 10 feet long by 20 inches wide. However if you put the cup to the edge and the wedges on the other side, you can get about a foot or so of practicable break. That's not too shabby for indoors, and you can move the components around as you see fit to change the break.

 

Training Graphics

Rather than just being solid green, this mat is adorned with all kinds of colors and patterns that can then be used for improving one's stroke. You have the alternating light and dark green bands that are useful for distance control practice. There are lines and a circle at the address point, which allow you to practice accelerating through the ball at impact. That lists just a few of the built in drills that should help direct your practice.

 

Ball Tracing Technology

This is a very cool feature. The fibers are fabricated so that the ball will leave a path mark on the green after it rolls. I don't think that I have seen this with other greens. To clear the green, you brush the turf with the included roller/wand. After that, each putt will leave behind a ghost trail showing where it rolled.

 

 

I found this to be a useful feature, as it's pretty impossible to remember exactly how you rolled the last five putts. The marks help with that. Keep in mind though that the ball will leave marks on the green. It gets a little visually chaotic after you roll a bunch without clearing them off every so often.

 

Four Possible Green Speeds

That's right, this one mat can roll at four different speeds. It all depends upon how you brush the mat, and how you putt relative to the fibers. It's a simple equation. If you brush the fibers down, then putt in the direction of the fibers, it will be fast, if you brush them up, and then putt against them, it will be slow.

 

The literature says this gives you a stimp range of 8-12.5. I don't own a stimp meter, but I will tell you that there is a huge speed difference depending upon brushing and direction of putting. The slow direction is almost need-some-wrist-cock slow. Fast zips along quite rapidly. Don't worry, there's also an included backstop piece so you don't roll the balls off the end.

 

Concerns about the ProInfinity Mat

My only concern about the mat is that it takes a bit of effort to get it to lay perfectly flat. Out of the box, it had more contours than a mini golf hole.

 

 

Once it was out for a while, these smoothed out. Brushing the mat definitely helped flatten it, as did giving it a quick roll up in the other direction. Thing is, it needs to sit flat to be totally functional. I wish that the backing materials were just a bit heavier, allowing it to resist the curling just a bit more.

 

If you are going to roll this out, and leave it out, this shouldn't represent much issue. You could even use some carpet tape to really get it to stick nicely to the floor. If it's going to be coming in and out of the box to be used, you will need to spend some time getting it flat. I also think that it will work much better on hard floors as opposed to carpet. Balls could roll quite surprisingly if this was sitting up on some long shag.

 

Overall Take

Once you take the time to get the mat nice and flat, the ProInfinity Putting mat will be a great tool for practicing your putting. This mat has a whole bunch of unique, and helpful features that should truly benefit the golfer looking to practice putting indoors. At $109.00, it's a bit more expensive than some of the simpler greens, but much less than some of the other indoor putting systems. The ball tracking is unique, as is its ability to provide different green speeds.

 

The ProInfinity Putting Mat is not going to make winter go away any quicker, but it should hold you over, and keep your putting fresh until that pesky snow starts to melt.

 

You can order the mat directly HERE and also from Amazon HERE.

[jbil8802]

Thanks for the excellent review. I've been looking into different indoor putting greens for a while now. My only issue is that ill be putting whichever one I get on top of carpet in a spare bedroom.

[wbealsd]

Thanks for the excellent review. I've been looking into different indoor putting greens for a while now. My only issue is that ill be putting whichever one I get on top of carpet in a spare bedroom.

You might want to consider getting a piece of plywood, or other hard flat surface, to place the putting surface on.  I've got something similar to this (The Puttist) and place mine on a concrete surface.  I think something like this really needs a stable surface to really be beneficial.

[GolfSpy Dave]

You might want to consider getting a piece of plywood, or other hard flat surface, to place the putting surface on.  I've got something similar to this (The Puttist) and place mine on a concrete surface.  I think something like this really needs a stable surface to really be beneficial.

That's a real good idea. A piece of plywood and a few carpet tacks could really make this thing flat.

[KCLeo12]

Interesting set up. I have had the Birdieball USA green for a year. And love it, I opted for the duel speed 3'x14'

[wbealsd]

Interesting set up. I have had the Birdieball USA green for a year. And love it, I opted for the duel speed 3'x14'

I've seen some good reviews for the Birdieball setup.

[Kenny B]

Interesting set up. I have had the Birdieball USA green for a year. And love it, I opted for the duel speed 3'x14'

I also have the Birdieball, but only 9' because I'm space challenged. Bought it after seeing it on MGS a year or so ago. I highly recommend it.