Driving Range questions

[KevinTPA]

Lately my local range has had the worst turf. It's almost impossible to find a decent place to hit balls. Do any of you move to the carpet mats if the turf is full of divots? Will hitting off the mats damage forged clubs?

 

[DaveE]

I hate hitting off mats. I'd rather tee it up just enough to get it off the ground.

I have heard that over time hitting off mats can screw up forged clubs.

 

[dave.]

I always hit from the mats,its quiet,private,dry and level.You can get range elbow unless you stick to a 5 iron and a driver though.
However,my wedges have been immeasurably better since i started to hit them off the mats.

 

[longiron]

I dont know about the heads but have heard of shafts being bent over time. I will find the smallest piece of grass to hit off before i move to mats.

 

[Big Brother Dunk]

I've never heard of clubs being damaged by hitting off mats, but there are other issues.

One winter I hit off a mat at a local golf dome about twice a week for the winter and developed a severe case of tendonitis. It was quite painful and very persistent. It stayed with me the entire golf season.

Secondly, hitting off a matt can disguise some swing flaws. For example, it's hard to tell if you're consistently hitting it fat.

 

[Silver]

you get used to the feeling if you know that you're hitting it fat, and you recognize it - or at least I do

out here, almost all ranges are all mats, so we don't have a lot of choice - but there are some pretty good mats, so it's usually not too bad

 

[bubba bazinski]

I hit off the mats several days a week, grass the others, the driving range I hit at here in Eugene OR rotates, no choice by the player. Going back and forth between the two I can tell when I am hitting slightly fat on the mats by the sound. If I hit it clean its click..thunk. If I hit a little fat its clunk , muffled click. Some times I put a post it stickey paper just behind the ball to see if how far behind the ball I am hitting. I agree about the tendonitis, I get it in the fingers of right hand and being someone who fights being just a bit fat the mats are tough on the hands in the cold weather.

Bubba

 

[Big Brother Dunk]

Ah yes, the old "thunk - muffled click" key. I should have remembered that. After all, I heard it often enough..

Actually, the sticky paper idea is a good idea, makes a lot of sense.

Another thing I should have mentioned is that the mats I was hitting off were crap. They were old and hard, so that would make things worse.

 

[Loop]

I've used quite extensively my forged 7-iron Mizuno MP-30 on mats, and it has a lot of marks on the bottom.
Harder brushed matts will damage them.
Always try to hit on grass with forged clubs.

 

[dave.]

Loop

I've hit 25,000 shots of mats since March with forged irons,and they aren't marked.

 

[Rockford35]

I always hit from the mats,its quiet,private,dry and level.

Which is how your ball ends up everytime.

I personally like the feel of "real life" over mats. How many times does you ball roll onto a flat, level, tight lie during the duration of your life, let alone your round?

If the ground gets tough, I practice contact. Get the balls as tight to trapping it as you can.

Then, when the shit hits the fan and you have to knock one off the cartpath, you're not swearing cuz you just dug your 7 iron 4 inches deep in the ashphalt.

R35

 

[dave.]

I can practice uneven lies all the time if I want on my awful practice ground at my club,but I'd rather groove a solid swing first.Each to their own.You need a swing to start with before you start moving spine angles around to play from slopes.

I like grass,don't get me wrong,but I don't have a decent pitch to play on,so I'm forced to learn to love mats.I just ignore the mat now.

 

[obagain]

If the range owners would show people how to hit off grass it would be much better.
Place the ball just behind the last divot. If you do this you will take a pretty clean straight line. When it gets to be about 2 foot long move over one club length and start over.

 

[SilverBullet]

If the range owners would show people how to hit off grass it would be much better.
Place the ball just behind the last divot. If you do this you will take a pretty clean straight line. When it gets to be about 2 foot long move over one club length and start over.

After all these years, I have never thought of that. I have seen others doing this, but never asked myself why. Good to know.

 

[Lamma]

Since I haven't said it in a while, I'll take the time to say it again: I hate the mats for iron and wedge shots. If I practice on them too much I begin to hit the ball really fat on the course. I also hit the ball much better off mats which gives me no real feedback as to what I'm really doing.

Fairway woods are fine though. It's a sweeping action so a mat can approximate grass in this regard. Obviously, anything you tee up is fine as well.

As for the marks, they come off with a decent cleaning for the most part. I've seen some little black scorch dots before that wouldn't come off.