Golf Mats vs. Grass

Let’s first discuss the advantages of hitting off golf mats.

The first advantage is consistency. With a mat, you get the same lie every time. This consistency allows you to work on your game with no variation in your lie. A slice is a slice and you don’t have an excuse!

Mats also allow you to work on certain swing drills without needing to change locations after each shot. For example, if you want to work on your ball positioning you would set up a club or alignment stick perpendicular to your target line and take your stance. Off grass, your divot would require you to move the ball after each shot, thus having to reset your alignment stick.

Most of all, our launch monitors will always perform the best off of mats. There is no divot debris, the ball is always in the same place, and there is no need to move around the launch monitor. Our SwingTurf was designed with all of this in mind.

Mats can have a tendency to be tougher on your clubs and your body. Mats might wear down your clubs slightly faster than grass would. In addition, a firm mat can be tougher on your wrists over long range sessions. The steeper your swing is, the more this will be the case.

Mats also tend to be more forgiving than grass - especially on shots that are hit fat. Your club will bounce off the mat into the ball rather than dig into the grass. Thus golf mats are less telling than grass and could lead you to develop a bad habit without knowing it.

Lastly, golf mats can affect the ball flight of your shot slightly. Just like a different lie on the golf course will affect the distance and flight of your shot, the type of mat can affect the total distance of your shot.

In a few different tests, mats were shown to affect the distance of your shot by around 2-8% compared to grass. The biggest numbers affected are spin and launch angle.

In the end, a solidly struck shot is a solidly struck shot and there should be very little difference between the average mat and a fairway. The main differences between mats and grass will show up on mishits.

The extent of the disadvantages discussed above will also depend on the type of mat you are on. Unfortunately, many driving ranges use old worn out mats that are behind current technology. These mats will accentuate the disadvantages.

However, many of the new golf mats have really great technology that makes the difference between mats and grass very minimal. Our SwingTurf was designed with all of the common pros and cons in mind to ensure you have the best possible experience with artificial turf.