If you've been to any decent driving range, you'll notice that most offer two options when it comes to playing surfaces: real grass, which is basically golf-course-maintained grass that you can hit off of, and plastic mats, which are made up of artificial grass for non-driver shots with a rubber tee for driving. Naturally if the option is available, it always makes sense to choose the grass tees, in order to simulate hitting/ground conditions as much as you can and make practicing more realistic.
However, if you have no choice but to play off plastic mats, here are a few things that I've noticed over the years about how playing off of mats compares to playing off of real grass and how your golf game changes from playing on one to another.
Let's start with driving, which is probably the most common thing you'll do at the driving range. Since you tee up your ball when you hit a drive, the surface under the ball doesn't affect the shot all that much. However, the rubber tees on plastic mats will. These tees are usually made out of tough rubber and are at a preset height, and can only be placed in a couple positions on either side of the mat. Aside from the tee position, what I've noticed is that if you hit under the ball, even slightly, with your driver, the rubber tee slows down your club a lot and you feel the impact you make with the tee. On grass tees, you tee up with your own wooden/plastic tees which if this were to happen, you wouldn't feel the tee impact as much (or not at all) since these tees have freedom to move about and out of the ground. This isn't the case for the rubber tees, which are firmly set in the mat and only movable by lifting the actual mat.
Now for the rest of the clubs, that is, the clubs that make contact with the ground surface (woods, hybrid, irons, and wedges). The main thing I've noticed is that hitting irons off of plastic mats gives you a false impression of your iron game, making you think that you're making good clean contact, when you might not actually be. This is probably because you can't take divots on plastic mats. Plus, if you hit a bad iron shot, you'll feel the impact you make with the ground a lot more compared to hitting off of fairway grass, again maybe because you can't take a divot. As for the plastic mat surface itself, this will probably vary from one driving range to the next, but most usually have a rougher strip of grass and a harder fairway-like area beside it (see image below). What's common among most, if not all, plastic mat surfaces is that they leave a thin green film on your irons, which is a nuisance to clean off after.
To sum up, it's in your best interest to always choose to practice off of real grass compared to plastic driving range mats. But if you're left with no choice, just remember that playing off of the mats could have an affect on your game, to some degree.
However, if you have no choice but to play off plastic mats, here are a few things that I've noticed over the years about how playing off of mats compares to playing off of real grass and how your golf game changes from playing on one to another.
Let's start with driving, which is probably the most common thing you'll do at the driving range. Since you tee up your ball when you hit a drive, the surface under the ball doesn't affect the shot all that much. However, the rubber tees on plastic mats will. These tees are usually made out of tough rubber and are at a preset height, and can only be placed in a couple positions on either side of the mat. Aside from the tee position, what I've noticed is that if you hit under the ball, even slightly, with your driver, the rubber tee slows down your club a lot and you feel the impact you make with the tee. On grass tees, you tee up with your own wooden/plastic tees which if this were to happen, you wouldn't feel the tee impact as much (or not at all) since these tees have freedom to move about and out of the ground. This isn't the case for the rubber tees, which are firmly set in the mat and only movable by lifting the actual mat.
Now for the rest of the clubs, that is, the clubs that make contact with the ground surface (woods, hybrid, irons, and wedges). The main thing I've noticed is that hitting irons off of plastic mats gives you a false impression of your iron game, making you think that you're making good clean contact, when you might not actually be. This is probably because you can't take divots on plastic mats. Plus, if you hit a bad iron shot, you'll feel the impact you make with the ground a lot more compared to hitting off of fairway grass, again maybe because you can't take a divot. As for the plastic mat surface itself, this will probably vary from one driving range to the next, but most usually have a rougher strip of grass and a harder fairway-like area beside it (see image below). What's common among most, if not all, plastic mat surfaces is that they leave a thin green film on your irons, which is a nuisance to clean off after.
To sum up, it's in your best interest to always choose to practice off of real grass compared to plastic driving range mats. But if you're left with no choice, just remember that playing off of the mats could have an affect on your game, to some degree.
-Nick
Toronto Golf Reviews
Toronto Golf Reviews©
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