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Matt range instead of grass


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I feel like I just got worse lol. I usually hit off of a grass range to closely simulate how it would be in a game sitch. Today they brought out mats instead and i topped or chunked about 80-90%. 
so I guess my question is have any of you experienced that? How did you fix it? 

Edited by Rogad09
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Rory A Gaddy

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I find that I get false feedback from hitting off of mats.  I usually chunk on the course and if you're just a little fat on a mat it could seemingly be a pretty good shot.   Also to @TimoTe point, mats usually don't have a perfectly flat lie and there is almost nothing you can do about it.  

One more thing I hate about mats, I can NEVER get my tee to the right height.  So the swing that should be least impacted (a tee'd up drive) ends up being impacted.  I get why they have to have mats, no way any grass would grow at most public courses but it's still frustrating. I'd pay extra for a range with grass.  

Driver: :callaway-small: Epic Flash Sub-Zero  Project X HZRDUS Smoke

3 Wood: image.jpeg.693c1038c87ba93f656427286d5ff6c6.jpeg M6 UST Mamiya Proforce V2

3 Hybrid: image.jpeg.693c1038c87ba93f656427286d5ff6c6.jpeg M6 UST Mamiya Proforce V2

4 Hybrid : image.jpeg.693c1038c87ba93f656427286d5ff6c6.jpeg M4 Stock Stiff Shaft

Irons: image.jpeg.693c1038c87ba93f656427286d5ff6c6.jpeg P790 (5I-AW) - 2 deg strong - Nippon Modus3 105 Gram/Stiff 

60 Degree Wedge: :titelist-small: Vokey SM7 - AMT Black/Stiff

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Johnny Ruiz, Matt Wolff honed their skills hitting off mats and still do to this day. 
 

Gankas has numerous high ranking amateurs that hit off mats. 

 

Driver: PXG 0811 X+ Proto w/UST Helium 5F4

Wood: TaylorMade M5 5W w/Accra TZ5 +1/2”, TaylorMade Sim 3W w/Aldila rogue white

Hybrid: PXG Gen2 22* w/AD hybrid

Irons: PXG Gen3 0311T w/Nippon modus 120

Wedges: TaylorMade MG2 50*, Tiger grind 56/60

Putter: Scotty Caemeron Super Rat1

Ball: Titleist Prov1

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I agree with @den748 about getting false positives on your swing off of mats. My tendency is to come in too steep with my irons too far behind the ball. On the course that results in a fat shot if I'm lucky, or a chunked shot that only goes 5 yards. If I'm hitting off a mat the club head can skip forward into the ball instead of digging in, giving me a ball flight that looks like a perfect shot even though realistically the low point of my swing was too far behind the ball.

Also, I've never experienced it myself but I've heard from others that turf mats placed on concrete can lead to wrist pain or injury from iron shots.

Driver - :cobra-small:Radspeed XB, Aldila Rogue Silver 70-S
3 Wood - :cobra-small:Radspeed, Aldila Rogue Silver 70-S
5 Wood - :cobra-small:Radspeed, Fujikura Motore X F3 6-S
7 Wood - :PXG: 0341x Gen 4, Mitsubishi Tensei AV Raw Blue 75-S

Irons - :mizuno-small:Pro 225 4-5, 223 6-PW, KBS $-Taper 120
Wedges - :cobra-small:King Cobra Snakebite 52° & 58°, KBS Hi-Rev 2.0 S
Putter - :odyssey-small: Stroke Lab Black Ten 35"
Ball - :callaway-small: Chrome Soft X LS

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I won't hit off mats as it is not what I do on the golf course. Practice should be on grass unless you hit off mats on the course. 

Loathe hitting off mats, but mostly due to my tennis elbow. If it’s mats only, then it’s driver only for me.


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:mizuno-small: ST-Z 15* Kai/li Blue R Flex
:mizuno-small: ST-Z 4h Linq Blue R Flex
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59 minutes ago, russtopherb said:


Loathe hitting off mats, but mostly due to my tennis elbow. If it’s mats only, then it’s driver only for me.


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5 hours ago, Letthebigdogshunt said:

I won't hit off mats as it is not what I do on the golf course. Practice should be on grass unless you hit off mats on the course. 😉

I will not hit off mats either for the reason mentioned above. Additionally, I was told that hitting off mats will effect the loft and lie angle of your clubs. Not sure if that's true or not, but my body aches after hitting off mats.

Driver: :titelist-small: TSI3 - 10*, Hzrdus Smoke 6.0 Stiff

Driver: :taylormade-small: Stealth Plus - 10.5*, Oban Kiyoshi Purple O4Flex-65 Grams Purred
3 Wood: :taylormade-small: SIM - 15*, Graphite Design Tour AD DJ5 Stiff
Hybrid: :titelist-small: TS3 - 19*, Hzrdus Smoke 6.0 Stiff
Irons: :titelist-small:  5 - PW T150, with Nippon Zelos 7 Reg, 4 iron - U505 with Project X HZRDUS Black Stiff

Wedges: :titelist-small: Vokey SM 8 - 50*, 60* Standard Wedge Shafts

Wedge: :taylormade-small: Milled Grind 3 MG3 56* S200 shaft

Putter:  :scotty-cameron-1: Studio Select Newport 1.5        
Putter:  :scotty-cameron-1: Phantom X 5.5
Ball: :titelist-small: Pro V1x

 

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8 minutes ago, GaDawg said:

 

I will not hit off mats either for the reason mentioned above. Additionally, I was told that hitting off mats will effect the loft and lie angle of your clubs. Not sure if that's true or not, but my body aches after hitting off mats.

Forged clubs will change over time regardless of hitting off mats or not. 

Driver: PXG 0811 X+ Proto w/UST Helium 5F4

Wood: TaylorMade M5 5W w/Accra TZ5 +1/2”, TaylorMade Sim 3W w/Aldila rogue white

Hybrid: PXG Gen2 22* w/AD hybrid

Irons: PXG Gen3 0311T w/Nippon modus 120

Wedges: TaylorMade MG2 50*, Tiger grind 56/60

Putter: Scotty Caemeron Super Rat1

Ball: Titleist Prov1

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I've personally never had an issue going from a turf mat to grass. In some rare cases I would say I even prefer mats - say the grass portion of a range is all chopped up and not well cared for, not mowed to a comparable length, or just simply not level. However, what works for me isn't a guarantee for the guys on either side of me; they could really be struggling. As @TimoTe mentioned, you really need to train your ears and know what a quality golf shot feels like when hitting off a mat. If you don't know what a truly well struck ball feels like, then you probably won't be able to identify the false positives such as hitting one fat, bouncing off the turf, and getting the ball in the air okay. That shot in particular is going to be extremely frustrating when you get to the golf course.

Driver: :mizuno-small: ST190 9.5* Fujikura Atmos Blue 5S
Fairway Wood: :mizuno-small: ST190 15* Fujikura Atmos Blue 6S
Hybrid: :mizuno-small: CLK 17* Fujikura Speeder EVO HB
Irons: :bridgestone-small: J40 CB (3-PW) Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100
Wedges: :taylormade-small: Milled Grind 2 54* & 58* Dynamic Gold S200
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I have not had any problems with going from mats to grass. I have an indoor stimulator which obviously requires mats.  Perfect lie every time! The only concern is if you tend to take a larger divot. This can potentially cause you to injure a wrist or elbow due to the turf not giving way as grass would.  Repeated hits will take its toll on you. If you hit to far behind the ball you will bounce into the ball and still pull off a shot that looks good but actually isn't. I take a shallow divot so it is not an issue for me.

I did find out the hard way that even though I have settings on my simulator for no ball, foam ball, and golf ball, you should not play very often with no ball. You need impact to transfer force to something or all that force is pulling on the elbow joint causing a golfers elbow. Had to stop playing for a few months. Lucky it was winter time.

On some of the older driving range mats they used a plastic type of turf. This actually melted and adhered to the sole of your irons from the friction. All you had to do was look at the sole of your club and you could see if your lie angles were correct for you by the location of the green residue.

If you think about it, all your simulators, fitting sessions,  PGA superstores, Golf Galaxy, Dicks, and others all put you on artificial turf to hit and reccomend clubs for you. 

:titleist-small: Driver, TSi 1 S Flex

:cobra-small: 3 wood, Aerojet Max UST Helium Nanocore R Flex

:cobra-small: 5 wood, Aerojet Max UST Helium Nanocore R Flex 

:cobra-small: 7 Wood, Aerojet Max UST Helium Nanocore R Flex 

:cobra-small: 5 Hybrid King Tec MMT R Flex

:cobra-small: Irons, Tour UST Recoil 95 R Flex (6 - Gap)

:cobra-small: Wedges, Snakebite KBS Hi- Rev2.0 54* & 60*

:cobra-small: Agera 35"

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I would say it could depend on the mat in question a fair bit.

I have used several driving ranges over the years and some were noticeably harsher than others.

I have a small hitting mat at home, it has a good thickness of rubber 'underlay' which feels a lot like a firm fairway.  The 'turf' is not too forgiving either, so my (quite common) ground first shots 'dig in' a little so are not unfairly forgiving.  I use it straight on top of paving too and haven't felt as if it would be too harsh compared to a decent fairway in a dry spell.

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The mat does make a difference, but so does the grass on a driving range.  

At my course we have grass except in the winter when they bring out the mats.  The mats are too soft and any mishit can still give you a good result.  The grass is so thin from constant use that the turf does not resemble anything on the course.

We have a local driving range that is covered with heaters in the winter and misters in the summer.  Nice, but their mats are very hard.  They do rotate new one in every so often, but they are certainly hard on my body.

This year I purchased a Real Feel mat for my house.  I love it!  It's firm like our fairways, but it doesn't jar the body on mishits.  Mishits do not give good results, so feedback is more like a bad shot on the course.  It's expensive, but I think it will last a long time.  Their Turn & Lock unbreakable mat tee adjusts from 1 1/4 to 2".  Hasn't broken yet.

We don’t stop playing the game because we get old; we get old because we stop playing the game.”

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Wish we had the option. Every driving range close by has only mats. If they are good quality then they are ok but most buy the less expensive ones and they are horrible. The really good ones are easy to identify as you can push a tee in to them.

 

Callaway Epic Flash 9 Degree

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Callaway Steelhead Pro 4-AW Irons

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Cobra Vintage Series Stingray 40

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I also hate hitting off mats.  Same reasons as most people here, false positives on bad shots and overall it is harder on the joints. 

Was at a local municipal course for a round last week and was surprised that they still had those old mats that leave green all over your clubs when you hit off them. I was hoping those things would be gone by now....I guess they must be a lot cheaper than getting "good" mats

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Testing has shown most players hit irons further and straighter; off Range Mats than real grass.

 

WITB:

Driver:  Taylormade  SLDR Fujikura XLR8 61 S RH.   

3 Wood: TaylorMade RBZ 3W

Hybrid: Ping G400 3 Hyb 19 degree S

Irons: Titleist 710 AP1 5-PW Aerotek Steelfiber i110 cw S RH standard lie 

Wedges: 50 Callaway MD 4, 54 Vokey SM5, 58 Callaway Forged

Putters: Ping Grayhawk Putter

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21 minutes ago, Kaplack said:

Testing has shown most players hit irons further and straighter; off Range Mats than real grass.

 

INteresting.... can you post a link to the test results? I've never heard that.

DriverCobra  Aerojet LS
Woods-
Cobra  LTD 3w 15*, 5W 19*,  F9 24* 
Irons- XXIO X (6-A)

Wedges- Callaway Jaws Raw (54/58)

Putter- Bettinardi BB56
Ball- Maxfli Tour X/Wilson Triad
Buggy- Clicgear 4.0
Bag- Callaway Org 14/Fairway C

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On 6/21/2020 at 11:48 AM, RickyBobby_PR said:

Johnny Ruiz, Matt Wolff honed their skills hitting off mats and still do to this day. 
 

Gankas has numerous high ranking amateurs that hit off mats. 

 

I'd bet they're quality mats, though, and not the junk that's seen at most courses.

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Taylormade SIM2 Max 9° w/ UST ProForce V2 5F3 @ 45"

Callaway Epic Speed 4wd w/ AccuFLEX Evolution Reg

Dynacraft Genesis 3 hybrid w/ Steelfiber i95r

Srixon ZX5 4-6 and ZX7 7-GW w/ UST Recoil 95 F4 soft stepped once

Cleveland RTX Zipcore 54/10 w/ Recoil 95 F4 shaft

Cleveland RTX-4 58/03 w/ Recoil 95 F4 9i shaft

Odyssey SL EXO Marxman

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Too much to list

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14 minutes ago, seeking70's said:

I'd bet they're quality mats, though, and not the junk that's seen at most courses.

In the videos they look like most mats I’ve seen around here. 
 

 

Driver: PXG 0811 X+ Proto w/UST Helium 5F4

Wood: TaylorMade M5 5W w/Accra TZ5 +1/2”, TaylorMade Sim 3W w/Aldila rogue white

Hybrid: PXG Gen2 22* w/AD hybrid

Irons: PXG Gen3 0311T w/Nippon modus 120

Wedges: TaylorMade MG2 50*, Tiger grind 56/60

Putter: Scotty Caemeron Super Rat1

Ball: Titleist Prov1

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On 6/29/2020 at 10:38 AM, Kaplack said:

Testing has shown most players hit irons further and straighter; off Range Mats than real grass.

 

 

On 6/29/2020 at 11:00 AM, GolfSpy Stroker said:

INteresting.... can you post a link to the test results? I've never heard that.

As usual the TXG Guys all over it.   For the TLDW crowd.  Almost identical numbers across the board. Virtually no difference, that couldn't be attributed to human swing variance.

 

 

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Just now, Golfspy_CG2 said:

 

As usual the TXG Guys all over it.   For the TLDW crowd.  Almost identical numbers across the board. Virtually no difference, that couldn't be attributed to human swing variance.

that was what I understood as well. I was surprised to read 'further and straighter' off of mats. I've used both mats and grass (mainly mats) and didn't notice any differences.

DriverCobra  Aerojet LS
Woods-
Cobra  LTD 3w 15*, 5W 19*,  F9 24* 
Irons- XXIO X (6-A)

Wedges- Callaway Jaws Raw (54/58)

Putter- Bettinardi BB56
Ball- Maxfli Tour X/Wilson Triad
Buggy- Clicgear 4.0
Bag- Callaway Org 14/Fairway C

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17 minutes ago, GolfSpy Stroker said:

that was what I understood as well. I was surprised to read 'further and straighter' off of mats. I've used both mats and grass (mainly mats) and didn't notice any differences.

If that had been the case, I'd be carrying one around in the cart to drop on the course to hit each shot 🙂

 

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:titelist-small: TSiR1 15.0 Aldlia Ascent 60g

:titelist-small: TSR2 18.0 PX Aldila Ascent 6og

:titelist-small: TSi1 20 Aldila Ascent Shafts R

:titelist-small: T350 5-GW SteelFiber I80 

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:ping-small: S159 48S/52S/56W/60B

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:titelist-small: ProV1  Play number 12

 

 

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On 6/29/2020 at 8:00 AM, GolfSpy Stroker said:

INteresting.... can you post a link to the test results? I've never heard that.

Ive never heard that either lol

Rory A Gaddy

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https://blog.trackmangolf.com/mats-vs-grass-whats-difference/

Trackman website study

 

7 Iron Grass 179.7 Yards

7 Iron Mat 186.9   Yards

Tester was a +2 Handicap

WITB:

Driver:  Taylormade  SLDR Fujikura XLR8 61 S RH.   

3 Wood: TaylorMade RBZ 3W

Hybrid: Ping G400 3 Hyb 19 degree S

Irons: Titleist 710 AP1 5-PW Aerotek Steelfiber i110 cw S RH standard lie 

Wedges: 50 Callaway MD 4, 54 Vokey SM5, 58 Callaway Forged

Putters: Ping Grayhawk Putter

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One thing they didn't mention.  Where were the mat balls hit.  If it was in their studio then that is a huge variable.  As Trackman is not as accurate indoors as it is outside.  As outside it tracks the entire flight.  Inside it can only track 6 feet and relies on an algorithm for the rest. 

The TXG test. You saw they took their mat outside right next to the grass hitting area so the GCQuad would get the same reading. 

:ping-small: G430 Max 10K 

:titelist-small: TSiR1 15.0 Aldlia Ascent 60g

:titelist-small: TSR2 18.0 PX Aldila Ascent 6og

:titelist-small: TSi1 20 Aldila Ascent Shafts R

:titelist-small: T350 5-GW SteelFiber I80 

:titelist-small: SM10 48F/54M and58K

:ping-small: S159 48S/52S/56W/60B

:scotty-cameron-1: Select 5.5 Flowback 35" 

:titelist-small: ProV1  Play number 12

 

 

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24 minutes ago, Golfspy_CG2 said:

One thing they didn't mention.  Where were the mat balls hit.  If it was in their studio then that is a huge variable.  As Trackman is not as accurate indoors as it is outside.  As outside it tracks the entire flight.  Inside it can only track 6 feet and relies on an algorithm for the rest. 

The TXG test. You saw they took their mat outside right next to the grass hitting area so the GCQuad would get the same reading. 

That's a great point @Golfspy_CG2.  Into a hitting screen and outside on a range can really skew results - and this has been proven many times over.

DriverCobra  Aerojet LS
Woods-
Cobra  LTD 3w 15*, 5W 19*,  F9 24* 
Irons- XXIO X (6-A)

Wedges- Callaway Jaws Raw (54/58)

Putter- Bettinardi BB56
Ball- Maxfli Tour X/Wilson Triad
Buggy- Clicgear 4.0
Bag- Callaway Org 14/Fairway C

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I will made an educated guess that Matthew Wolff, hit a whole lot of balls of real grass; while at Oklahoma State.

I have never been there but I would bet 1 dollar to 100,  They have a nice grass range at the best college program in the country.

WITB:

Driver:  Taylormade  SLDR Fujikura XLR8 61 S RH.   

3 Wood: TaylorMade RBZ 3W

Hybrid: Ping G400 3 Hyb 19 degree S

Irons: Titleist 710 AP1 5-PW Aerotek Steelfiber i110 cw S RH standard lie 

Wedges: 50 Callaway MD 4, 54 Vokey SM5, 58 Callaway Forged

Putters: Ping Grayhawk Putter

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22 minutes ago, Kaplack said:

I will made an educated guess that Matthew Wolff, hit a whole lot of balls of real grass; while at Oklahoma State.

I have never been there but I would bet 1 dollar to 100,  They have a nice grass range at the best college program in the country.

Do you think he built his swing at OSU or was it dialed in by time he got there? 
 

GG has some very talented young high level amateurs who have learned the game hitting off mats. 
 

 

Driver: PXG 0811 X+ Proto w/UST Helium 5F4

Wood: TaylorMade M5 5W w/Accra TZ5 +1/2”, TaylorMade Sim 3W w/Aldila rogue white

Hybrid: PXG Gen2 22* w/AD hybrid

Irons: PXG Gen3 0311T w/Nippon modus 120

Wedges: TaylorMade MG2 50*, Tiger grind 56/60

Putter: Scotty Caemeron Super Rat1

Ball: Titleist Prov1

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