Golf Mat Injuries

[lehigh]

Hi! My name is Hanna and I am student at Lehigh University researching golf training aids and golf mats. I was wondering if anyone has ever injured themselves from hitting off golf mats at driving ranges or any golf mat. By a golf mat, I am specifically talking about the classic turf mat, rather than the carpet-like material that the standing platform is usually made of. If it was not the mat itself but rather the setup, please comment on that as well. Any response below will be a world of help, and I have attached a link to a short survey as well. Thank you so much for your time!

https://goo.gl/forms/3oI7Ka0O5aXVA8VB2

[larrybud]

Your question is too general, as there are many types of mats out there. I've been injured on some, never injured on others.

[i*windows]

hi Hanna, I looked at your form (and filled it in), but this needs changing :

 

What material is the driving range mat?

 

Mats are normally some form of artificial turf, I wouldn't consider a mat to be Turf or Real grass, to me those mean the same thing - grass which is growing. Maybe you meant something else.

 

 

[NotZoro]

I sustained a prolonged bout of tennis elbow due to golf mats. Once the tendonitis kicked in, I laid off the clubs for 2-3 weeks but should have stayed away longer since I just made it worse when I returned. At it's worst, I couldn't lift or hold the club, much less swing it, so it took ~7-8 months of no golf at all, before I was fully healed. Even though I stayed off the sticks, it proved far too easy to re-injure just through regular day-to-day use. Painful & frustrating lesson to learn so now I'll only practice irons off grass and not nearly as many buckets as I used to.

[jasonfish11]

I agree with others that you need to be more specific.

 

I bought a cheapish mat knowing that I likely would need to modify it. Prior to modifying it I hit off of it for 1 week or so. After about 15 balls I felt "soreness" in my leading elbow & wrist. I made some modifications to the mat and now can hit hundreds of balls with out soreness in those areas.

 

So do I claim my mat would lead to injury or not because of the mods?

[SomedayScratch]

Never injured, but don't like mats at all, but in the winter I have to use, so if there was one that was more like real grass that would be amazing, if it were possible.

[davep043]

I sustained a prolonged bout of tennis elbow due to golf mats. Once the tendonitis kicked in, I laid off the clubs for 2-3 weeks but should have stayed away longer since I just made it worse when I returned. At it's worst, I couldn't lift or hold the club, much less swing it, so it took ~7-8 months of no golf at all, before I was fully healed. Even though I stayed off the sticks, it proved far too easy to re-injure just through regular day-to-day use. Painful & frustrating lesson to learn so now I'll only practice irons off grass and not nearly as many buckets as I used to.

How can you differentiate the cause, mats or too many swings?

 

And for the OP, this poll will inherently be biased, it will definitely attract people who DO feel like they've been hurt because of mats. Those of us who haven't been injured will be less likely to take the poll.

[mocokid]

it's definitely NOT the mat, it's WHAT is below. Most driving ranges, it's concrete, that's the cause of my shoulder, elbow issues. Do lots of stretching, yoga, etc.

[vernon]

Yep, I have playing privileges at several courses in the area. Some have excellent mats like the Country Club Elite model which has plenty of cushion and a couple of others do not. I don't know what the non-Elite models are but they are horrible and I refuse to hit even a single ball off of them.

 

I equate hitting balls off of them to throwing a towel down in the parking and hitting balls from there.

 

I have definitely injured myself numerous times on inferior brand mats all of which were installed on concrete. Numerous cortisone injections over the years to both sides of both elbows as well as thumbs and wrists.

 

Not smart you might say? No argument here but it is what is. Or was.

 

Good luck with the survey but I agree that it could use some modification in order to be more pertinent.

[hobbes928]

really depends on the mat. I have 2 mats, real feel mat which I stopped using once I bought a simulator because the sheer number of balls I hit increased and it was messing up my elbow. I switched to fiberbuilt and no elbow pain regardless of how many balls I hit.

[The General]

Yep, I have playing privileges at several courses in the area. Some have excellent mats like the Country Club Elite model which has plenty of cushion and a couple of others do not. I don't know what the non-Elite models are but they are horrible and I refuse to hit even a single ball off of them.

 

I equate hitting balls off of them to throwing a towel down in the parking and hitting balls from there.

 

I have definitely injured myself numerous times on inferior brand mats all of which were installed on concrete. Numerous cortisone injections over the years to both sides of both elbows as well as thumbs and wrists.

 

Not smart you might say? No argument here but it is what is. Or was.

 

Good luck with the survey but I agree that it could use some modification in order to be more pertinent.

 

Country Club Elite mat is the goat mat. Definitely worth the money, $350 for 4'x5' at costco. A warning to others hitting off cheap crappy mats: YOU WILL INJURE YOURSELF, be careful.

[lehigh]

I agree with others that you need to be more specific.

 

I bought a cheapish mat knowing that I likely would need to modify it. Prior to modifying it I hit off of it for 1 week or so. After about 15 balls I felt "soreness" in my leading elbow & wrist. I made some modifications to the mat and now can hit hundreds of balls with out soreness in those areas.

 

So do I claim my mat would lead to injury or not because of the mods?

 

Can I ask what types of modifications you made to the mat?

 

I also apologize for the general post, I am trying to get a broad gauge of the issues with hitting off mats. All comments/concerns are very helpful!

[clp34vmp]

I don't know the specific brand, but the mats we have at my club would definitely fall into the more high end category. There is definitely some level of cushion beneath the top surface. I still do have problems even hitting off of those. They close the primary range at the course before Thanksgiving and reopen it in late March usually depending on the weather, so there is a good block of time where if you want to hit balls it's going to be off the mats. I tried to take advantage this winter of any decent weather to get out there and my lead wrist just took a beating. By February I pretty much decided no more extended sessions off the mats. I have a fairly steep swing and take pretty big divots off natural grass, so hitting off of mats where there is no "give" in the turf is just not a good idea for me.

[jasonfish11]

I agree with others that you need to be more specific.

 

I bought a cheapish mat knowing that I likely would need to modify it. Prior to modifying it I hit off of it for 1 week or so. After about 15 balls I felt "soreness" in my leading elbow & wrist. I made some modifications to the mat and now can hit hundreds of balls with out soreness in those areas.

 

So do I claim my mat would lead to injury or not because of the mods?

 

Can I ask what types of modifications you made to the mat?

 

I also apologize for the general post, I am trying to get a broad gauge of the issues with hitting off mats. All comments/concerns are very helpful!

 

I bought a gel insert (I think they are for motorcycle seats) then cut a hole in a piece of plywood that fits the gel insert. I laid the mat on top of the plywood/insert and I hit off the area that is cushioned by the gel insert. Essentially the one in this link, except I didn't cut out the rubber part at the bottom of the mat to fit the insert (to be fair my mat didn't have the rubber anyways).

 

https://golfsimulato...for-only-271-50

 

Hopefully Golfwrx won't be mad at that link.

[Switter]

Bought a cheap 4' x 6' mat off the Bay. It wasnt to bad, except when hitting several baskets of balls. I supplemented the cheap mat using a 4' x 6' horse/barn mat with a layer of low pile carpeting. On thebottom the .75" horse matt, .25" low pile carpet then the cheap golf mat. This has mostly eliminated any injuries.

 

In my experiences with several mats, any of them can cause injury when they are overused. A cheap mat with limited cushioning will not allow the body to endure as many strikes & shocks as a higher quality mat will. The body via pain & soreness will usually alert the user that they are approaching the maximum use limit prior to injury. The problem is the user ignoring the body's signals & continuing to swing away enduring grwatet & greater amounts of shock & vibrations to their bodies.

 

IMO almost all mat injuries can be attributed to user ignorance & error.

 

[jacobEDGE]

I never take divots on the course, and I'm a clean sweeper of the ball. So mats have never bothered me. Just pick it right off without much interaction of the turf itself.

[NotZoro]

re: "How can you differentiate the cause, mats or too many swings?"

 

Davep043,

my frequency for visiting the range and quantity of balls/buckets was a constant for weeks/months prior to the onset of the injury, although then I was strictly hitting off grass. What changed, however, was the days I was able to practice switching to mid-weekdays when the two local course ranges limited you to mats only. As our kids were getting older, weekends were filled with other obligations, so I'd just hit the range on the way home from work during the week and occasionally, I'd hit the nearby range by my work on my lunch hour ...once again, that was strictly mats. Having never had the tennis elbow prior to the extended mat-only iron practice and also having not had it repeat since I returned to grass only, I attributed that injury to the mats. I'm not saying there aren't better mats out there, they just weren't high grade at these ranges. I also agree with the post about inferior mats sitting on concrete or asphalt most likely contributed.

[irvtrain]

I had wrist pain for a lot of last year from hitting off mats and it worsened after hitting off mats from TopGolf. Even had some forearm and elbow issues. I don't hit off any mats any more.

[davep043]

re: "How can you differentiate the cause, mats or too many swings?"

 

Davep043,

my frequency for visiting the range and quantity of balls/buckets was a constant for weeks/months prior to the onset of the injury, although then I was strictly hitting off grass. What changed, however, was the days I was able to practice switching to mid-weekdays when the two local course ranges limited you to mats only. As our kids were getting older, weekends were filled with other obligations, so I'd just hit the range on the way home from work during the week and occasionally, I'd hit the nearby range by my work on my lunch hour ...once again, that was strictly mats. Having never had the tennis elbow prior to the extended mat-only iron practice and also having not had it repeat since I returned to grass only, I attributed that injury to the mats. I'm not saying there aren't better mats out there, they just weren't high grade at these ranges. I also agree with the post about inferior mats sitting on concrete or asphalt most likely contributed.

Very logical.

The reason I asked, it seems like many of the avid golfers on the various forums talk about hitting hundreds of balls per practice session, spending hours practicing. And of course any time you go to any range, you'll see guys hitting balls one after another, 10 or 15 seconds apart. My personal opinion, that type of practice isn't really "practice", its exercise. Its generally more productive to use drills and slow swings to reinforce swing changes, to concentrate on a specific thing for each and every shot, and to stop well before you get tired. It may also be healthier to practice that way.

[vernon]

The Country Club Elite or "Real Feel" brand/model is marketed as being the only mat that allows a player to "hit down and through" the shot as if taking a divot.

 

I'm not sure if it truly is the "only" mat that offers this feature but, to me, it is the single most important consideration when selecting a mat whether it be for purchase or simply to hit a bucket of balls off of.

 

The added cushion that enables an iron to be struck with a descending blow also provides significant protection for elbows, wrists, etc. and I have never had any problems hitting balls from this type of range mat.

 

Most all of the others, however, are accidents waiting to happen. My nephew is 30 and a former college baseball player who fits the typical young, tough guy stereotype. He could never understand how both my brother and I had hurt ourselves hitting balls off of mats over the years and loved to make fun of us and how "soft" we were.

 

Well, despite our explanations and warnings he continued to think he was eight foot tall and bulletproof and slashed away all winter long on inferior mats and guess what? He now has elbow tendinitis to the extent that he can't lift a glass of water or turn a door knob and can't figure out what went wrong.

 

So much for his spring golf and softball schedule - maybe he'll start paying a little bit more attention to his "elders" now.

 

Nah.

[JDFish]

Fiberbuilt mats allow you to hit down/through and, from what I found from reviews before I purchased mine, there were no complaints of joint pain like many I saw from using the CCE mats.

[Torrey4Life]

Mats give me elbow tendonitis after too long, it's awful.

[MMB1500]

Fiberbuilt mats allow you to hit down/through and, from what I found from reviews before I purchased mine, there were no complaints of joint pain like many I saw from using the CCE mats.

 

+1. I have a Fiberbuilt. Best mat I've used by far. I've hit thousands of balls off it and have never had any issues.

[vernon]

Personally, I've had problems with Fiberbuilt but never with Country Club Elite which is what I have at home.

 

That being said, I think that Fiberbuilt is much better than lots if not most of the others.

 

Just goes to show the difference in how different people react to different things I guess.

[dornstar]

Mats like the CCE or anything similar dampen the club/ground impact, but cause too much club deceleration. If you hit any volume of balls, you'll eventually run into problems.

[Big Ben]

I refuse to hit balls off of mats it's a recipe for injury. BB

[msg]

I used to hit off a CCE mat, it only took me almost a month to feel some pain on my wrist and elbows due to the way I swing. I switched to a random ebay mat and took me around 5 months to finally feel some pain again after using it almost every day. I think bottom line is whatever mat you use, if you use it frequently, it will injure you.

[Need2golfalot]

I've hurt my left elbow from hitting off of turf only. Hit several shots fat. The grass was thin and the turf underneath was wet clay. Obviously my technique was less than optimal.

 

I've hit off mats of various quality in the past and never had a problem. Usually the club slides on a mat instead of digging as on turf. Be careful on the cheap mats with no cushion.