birdie_man
New
It's easier for long clubs.............and to me just plain weird with anything higher than an 8 iron probably.
Range Mats affect on Golf Swing
- Thread starter bray
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It's easier for long clubs.............and to me just plain weird with anything higher than an 8 iron probably.
thefuture37
Banned
if so, stick a regular tee between the mat and the outside edge of the rubber tee. usually for me the rubber tee is way to high for driver. in that case you can get a set of different height mat tees from golfsmith for a couple bucks
Richie3Jack
New
I used to think the "getting injured hitting off a mat" was more for people who didn't know how to swing the club. In my 'comeback' about a month ago I badly hurt myself under the right shoulder blade and it carried over to the right rib cage. Once that went away, after hitting off of mats I then hurt my left shoulder blade to left rib cage. I'm not Ben Hogan by any means, but I can swing the club pretty well, so injuries can happen if the mat is pretty hard (and the mats I hit off are about as hard as they get).
My other problem with mats is you have no divot to look at and help analyze your impact positions.
3JACK
My other problem with mats is you have no divot to look at and help analyze your impact positions.
3JACK
Our range installed a mat tee line last year. When it rains we are the tee line. It's fairly soft. Twice a year they redo the grass area and we are on the mats for a month or so while the grass comes back to life. During one of these reconstruction periods I was working daily trying to figure out how to use a pivot. I was hitting 100+ balls a day. After a week I developed what felt like arthritis in my fingers on my right hand. It got so bad I couldn't grip the club well and had to take a couple a weeks off. Some of this was do to my swing but I know the mats had something to do with it too because another guy up there had the same problem. I now limit myself to no more than a medium bucket with the irons on the mats now or I'll just chip.
Brian Manzella
Administrator
Really, now.
I may be the biggest fan in the world of "QuickStand" Bermuda. The tee line at Different Strokes in Louisville, Kentucky where I teach the majority of the time in the spring and summer, has a nice 40 yard by 40 yard patch of it just for my teaching area.
Sweet.
Better than any surface ever for teaching.
But...
I have given thousands of lesson off of todays modern range mats, and I can tell you, they are nowhere near as bad as folks in this thread would have you believe.
They have ZERO EFFECT on a good swing.
The folks that thought, after watching some of my ultra high speed video, that the mat effects the clubface rotation through the ball, are WISHING they are right.
One thing I can tell from some "ultra high speed" video, the clubface doesn't rotate much at all anytime.
I may be the biggest fan in the world of "QuickStand" Bermuda. The tee line at Different Strokes in Louisville, Kentucky where I teach the majority of the time in the spring and summer, has a nice 40 yard by 40 yard patch of it just for my teaching area.
Sweet.
Better than any surface ever for teaching.
But...
I have given thousands of lesson off of todays modern range mats, and I can tell you, they are nowhere near as bad as folks in this thread would have you believe.
They have ZERO EFFECT on a good swing.
The folks that thought, after watching some of my ultra high speed video, that the mat effects the clubface rotation through the ball, are WISHING they are right.
One thing I can tell from some "ultra high speed" video, the clubface doesn't rotate much at all anytime.
Steve Greffen
New
Hello I am new to the Forum. Did I miss where the link for the videos was or has Mr. Manzella posted them yet?
I instruct on a range with no option for grass and am interested in the answer/findings. I tend to agree with the Mr. Manzella that mats are not necessarily so detrimental as many others are suggesting.
I instruct on a range with no option for grass and am interested in the answer/findings. I tend to agree with the Mr. Manzella that mats are not necessarily so detrimental as many others are suggesting.
Jim Kobylinski
Super Moderator
Brian i am not saying that the matt itself changes the clubface; what i'm saying is that:
- good players will hit the ball off a matt the same but it can cause minor/noticable injuries if used too much
- due to the above, even good players will begin to develop compenstations to not "hit down" so much on the matt (however this would be over a prolonged period of hitting off matts)
- matts can mask proper contact because you can hit it slightly fat and still get good contact out of it; however most players can notice this and adjust.
Again i'm not saying matts are the root of all evil but they can and do cause issues. They have happened to me and some students. I do agree that the matts themselves don't change anything.
- good players will hit the ball off a matt the same but it can cause minor/noticable injuries if used too much
- due to the above, even good players will begin to develop compenstations to not "hit down" so much on the matt (however this would be over a prolonged period of hitting off matts)
- matts can mask proper contact because you can hit it slightly fat and still get good contact out of it; however most players can notice this and adjust.
Again i'm not saying matts are the root of all evil but they can and do cause issues. They have happened to me and some students. I do agree that the matts themselves don't change anything.
Brian Manzella
Administrator
So....
Only a ball hit off of a fairly high tee would not have ANY effect on "low point" or the rate of clubface closing.
Even on slightly wet, just watered, major championship quality, bent grass fairways, off some resistance.
A soft, modern range mat:
would probably effect low point and clubface rotation LESS than a firm fairway.
The real point is this:
Horizontal Hinge action—which mean that the clubface is always vertical to the ground—just does not happen in a real golf swing.
Angle Hinge Action, where the the clubface stays vertical to the plane, doesn't even seem to happen all the time either in the swings of the best golfers.
All that stuff everyone was "Seeing" and "Calling" Horizontal and Angled Hinging, is happening WAY BEFORE and WAY, WAY after impact.
Hope I didn't burst your bubble. I know I bursted a few others'.
Only a ball hit off of a fairly high tee would not have ANY effect on "low point" or the rate of clubface closing.
Even on slightly wet, just watered, major championship quality, bent grass fairways, off some resistance.
A soft, modern range mat:
would probably effect low point and clubface rotation LESS than a firm fairway.
The real point is this:
Horizontal Hinge action—which mean that the clubface is always vertical to the ground—just does not happen in a real golf swing.
Angle Hinge Action, where the the clubface stays vertical to the plane, doesn't even seem to happen all the time either in the swings of the best golfers.
All that stuff everyone was "Seeing" and "Calling" Horizontal and Angled Hinging, is happening WAY BEFORE and WAY, WAY after impact.
Hope I didn't burst your bubble. I know I bursted a few others'.
tongzilla
New
First, any effect the mat has on the rate of clubface closing should be irrelevant because the ball would've already left the clubface before the club hits the ground. Right? If so, range mats and grass should not have any effect on ball flight other than psychological?Only a ball hit off of a fairly high tee would not have ANY effect on "low point" or the rate of clubface closing.
Even on slightly wet, just watered, major championship quality, bent grass fairways, off some resistance.
A soft, modern range mat:
would probably effect low point and clubface rotation LESS than a firm fairway.
The real point is this:
Horizontal Hinge action—which mean that the clubface is always vertical to the ground—just does not happen in a real golf swing.
Angle Hinge Action, where the the clubface stays vertical to the plane, doesn't even seem to happen all the time either in the swings of the best golfers.
All that stuff everyone was "Seeing" and "Calling" Horizontal and Angled Hinging, is happening WAY BEFORE and WAY, WAY after impact.
Hope I didn't burst your bubble. I know I bursted a few others'.
Also, if neither HH nor AH happens, then what does actually happen? VH?
mjstrong
New
maybe...
Some kind of "Sequenced Hinging?"
Also, if neither HH nor AH happens, then what does actually happen? VH?
Some kind of "Sequenced Hinging?"
birdie_man
New
I have never really tried any kind of real modern range mat.........only the old clunkers! I really do have to think the firmer ones are hard on the joints though.
I have tried 4 different types of mats hitting thousands of balls on each - maybe its middle age - but mats can hurt you.
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