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Just want to say thank you for creating and doing this review video. I imagine it would take a lot of time, planning, etc... based on how informative and thorough it indeed is. I'm new to golf (live in a snow state) and due to weather factors only have so many available months for outdoors. Thus choosing a mat is important to me. Thanks again, and look forward to more of your videos.
Really good review, thanks for the content! Would love to see the bullseye hitting strip in the mix… I think it’s a really great option that combines great feeling turf with some foam cushion underneath.
Great video. I have the fiber built as well and am looking to replace it with the sigpro softy. This was the confirmation I needed to go ahead with it. Thanks!
I noticed that someone asked you about the Monster Mat, I purchased one originally when I built my simulator, but after a few months of using it I injured myself. I found it was to firm for me, they were incredibly good to deal with and offered to reimburse me if I paid for the shipping. Instead I kept it but cut out a section and installed the SigPro Softy and I love it. It's very realistic yet kept injury free. Hope this helps you.
I can share, after having the True Strike for a number of years, the gel does make a difference. I’ve had elbow issues, but not from this mat, and I hit a lot of balls. The gel is noticeably in my opinion, just step on it and you know it’s there. The mat also doesn’t show any pattern after 3 years, which with the Sigpro it seems to quite quickly. That being said, I have noticed this winter season the gel has shifted or is somewhat compressed in the middle. If you place a ball off the middle it will roll back to the middle. That is a concern for me as without the cushion of the gel it could be injury waiting to happen. However, your review has me convinced to buy the Sigpro
Thanks for sharing. I'm pretty sure you can buy replacement gel for the True Strike. You're right, the SIGPro does show wear almost immediately. It's mostly cosmetic but it looks like I'm starting to form a slight depression in the middle too.
Thank you very helpful. I actually have the true strike with a foresight monitor. Being based in Europe, it was the easiest to get ahold of. I’m reasonably happy with it though but have not tried all of them.
LOL. I've improved that a lot since making this video but I still tend to be on the inside. It's amazing how things start to feel normal and you don't feel the difference anymore.
Great video! Appreciate you taking the time to review all of these. Random question though, what is the original stance mat that you are using at the beginning of the video that you were able to drop all of the hitting strips into. I have a garge setup that I have to break down sometimes in the winter to get my car in during storms. I usually hit off of the country club elite hitting strip and built my own stance mat with a drop in spot. Yours looked very sturdy and easy to move around if needed. If you have a video on that stance mat let me know! Thanks and again great video!
Thanks for the recommendation on the sigpro softy. My wrist began having issues when trying to speed up my swing and occasionally hitting some fat shots on my 'ok' quality mat. Didn't know which reviews to believe on a good mat, but you convinced me to spend the extra $.
I've broken 2 irons at the hosel now on fiberbuilt grass. It honestly feels like the bristles kind of grab the club on decent impacts. I seem to be the only one having this problem, but I'm thinking maybe trying a carls divot strip or just something non those bristles? Have you had any clubs break on any of the mats? I'm basically paranoid to swing in my sim now
Wow. Are you feeling the base under the bristles when you hit? You must have a pretty steep angle of attack. Also, there’s 2 versions of the grass. The first one has bristles that are kind of curly and the second has straight up and down bristles. I wonder if you have the first one. Definitely something like the carl’s divot strip (softer) might be better. It’s just putting turf on top so there’s nothing to grab the club. Sounds like you should go with the softer version of it too.
Hi. First of all, thank you so much for your mat series videos. I’ve watched them all and they were excellent and thorough. I felt your comments were fair, honest and very helpful. I think now you’ve had your new Sigpro Softy 4x7 mat for about 2 months and I’ve noticed it already setup on subsequent videos. I read your response to one of your viewers about the mat shifting over time. Since yours is on bare cement, do you think it’ll shift more on low pile carpeting? Thinking back when you tested the Fiberbuilt Player Preferred Studio Series mat, with its heavy base foundation, do you think it would shift on carpeting? As far as a the stance mats, how does the studio stance mat from Fiberbuilt compare versus the one on the Sigpro Pro Softy, meaning stability particularly during driver swings and not feeling too squishy?
Glad you’ve enjoyed the videos! The SIGPRO Softy does shift on concrete just a little bit but I do NOT have it velcroed down. They include 4 big pieces of Velcro for the corners that you can use to stick to the floor. Mine is pressed up against the foam tiles that cover the area in front my screen and every once in a while I notice that it’s moved away from the tiles about an inch so I just kick it forward again. I doubt it would move if I put the Velcro down. As for putting it on carpeting - my guess is that it would move less just from having something to grip onto. The Player Preferred studio mat is HEAVY (specifically the rubber tile base) so I don’t think it would move on carpet or bare cement. The stance area on the fiberbuilt is literally just turf sitting loose on top of the tiles. The tiles are solid so there’s definitely no squishy feeling. The Softy mat is solid foam and the pieces fit together like a puzzle. I guess it’s slightly softer to stand on but I wouldn’t say squishy at all. Only negative is that the seam from the two pieces is right where you stand for irons but I do not notice it all. I don’t feel any movement in the mat. Overall I would say neither of them are squishy, fiberbuilt is harder and heavier.
Great video. I've heard that golf mats can destroy your game (in that they don't simulate real "earth"). Which mats are the best to simulate actual golf (you can answer in different prices ranges as well, but I'm only interested in mats where any improvements I make from practicing on the mats will translate onto real golf courses). Thanks!
I think the most realistic are the SIGPro Softy and the EZ Tee Hybrid. Both have turf fibers that are about 1” long so there’s some turf to hit through. The SIGPro has a layer of foam underneath the turf that absorbs some impact and should prevent some potential injuries. That said, I’ve never found a mat that is truly similar to real grass. Those two are the closest but it’s still not the same.
Great video thanks for doing this and will definitely buy through your links. Question on the Sigpro - is the mat easy to move? I'd be putting it in a dual purpose space so thats important for me...
Shame about the sig pro softy. Height is a big issue in my setup. I cant hit driver due to it. I went with a generic mat off of Amazon that I had previously used outdoors and it felt good, but I'm hitting way more balls inside now and it falls apart real fast so Ive rotated it about 4 times in 8 months. Excellent reviews of these.
I’ve been told that the there is a new bullseye hitting strip coming out this month that is very similar to the SIGPRO softy but it’s 1.5” tall. Might be worth a look.
Loved the video and subscribed. I will be building my budget golf sim in my garage in the next few months and have limited funds being on fixed income and retired. What do you recommend as a starter hitting mat and do you have any you no longer need available? Thank you so much.
I recommend the SIGPro Softy the most but the EZ Tee Hybrid is probably the best price-wise. You can order just a strip or make it your full size mat. Just be prepared to modify it with some extra foam underneath or something if you find it too hard on the joints. Some people do and some people don't.
Good review thx. You can ignore my other question on the fiber built pro review. I too I’m coming back from tennis elbow so very good and mean for years. Curious, did you ever try out the country club elite Mat??
Ahh ok thx. I guess I’m the one who got it. 😂 I don’t think it’s bad but was coming from a budget GoSports mat that gave me joint pain really fast 😢 Another question. Your offset looks close to mine. Did u go with the 4x10? Or 4x7? If u have the 4x7 Also curious to know if you can stand on the other side of the hitting strip and hit left handed off the Mat?? And since there is no rubber tray and the Matt looks light do u have any movement when hitting?? Thx ☺️
I have the 4x7 and there’s not enough room on the other side to hit left handed. I do notice that the mat moves over time but I did not use the included Velcro to secure it to the floor. It came with 4 big patches of Velcro for the corners. I probably should find where I put those and use them.
I'm not crazy about the SigPro softy as far as the height of it. Was kind of waiting for the Bullseye 3D hitting mat to be released mid September. From what I saw on another review it's supposed to be very much like the SigPro softy but only 1.5" tall. So it will probably fit better into a lot of people's existing stance mat.
I've never seen it discussed online where people did not complain about it causing injury. Since I already had some elbow problems I was not interested in trying it out.
I am confused, I see in this video you say you kept the Sig Pro Softy and I also see a video where you kept the Fiberbuilt Player Preferred mat after you had a lesson, can you confirm which one you kept?
Sorry for the confusion. I kept the SIGPro Softy. I liked the Player Preferred but I was just too concerned about it being too firm when I already had existing elbow pain.
Thanks for the detailed review. I found it very useful. I see that you have a indoor simulator setup. Do you know if the sigpro softy can be used outdoors?
Hi, I'm just finding your channel. Great video! I also landed on the Sig Pro Softy a while back, after developing tennis elbow on a Country Club Elite mat. Did the tennis elbow ever improve for you? The only thing I've found that improves it is scraping.
It has improved but I still wear a brace and I’m always worried it will come back. I saw 2 different physical therapists and the main thing that worked for me was very light strength training of the wrist and forearm muscles. Building the strength there very slowly has worked best. The first physical therapist gave me the same exercises but also a lot of stretches and the second one said the stretches are fine but they’re not really going to help.
No. The only hitting strip that's a perfect fit for a fiberbuilt grass replacement is the gungho holy grail. They have a size made specifically for it. There's also a new SIGPro super softy mat that includes a rubber base everything fits in just like the fiberbuilt mats: friendlygolfer.com/recommends/sigpro-mats/
It’s the base from the fiberbuilt 4x5 traditional grass mat. It just happened to work out where I could use it to hold several of the other hitting strips for testing.
Have you ever tried the monster mat? I'm no looking to spend 1k as I'm on a budget and most like the monster mat feel and durability but not the particles that come off. Thanks, love the videos.
Hey man where can one get that black enclosure you have around your mat and strip? And also what mat are you standing on? Would love a link to those two items to support you as well
The black base and the stance mat are both from the Fiberbuilt Traditional Grass mat 5x4 that I already owned. It just worked out that I could drop some other hitting strips in it to test out. Here's the exact product: fiberbuiltgolf.com/products/4-x-5-single-sided-traditional-stance-mat-system-nylon-grass
I am looking at 4x7 Sig Softie mat. My question is do you feel there is enough room for my Uneekor Eye Mini to be on the Mat as well. I thought about buying an extra Softie strike mat to be sure but wanted your option first. Thanks for the video as it helped tremendously
Yes! It fits on the side just fine. Here's a video where I'm using the Eye Mini on my 4x7 SIGPro Softy. I have some old mats next to it but the back of the Eye Mini is just inside the edge of the SIGPro mat. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-rzUv-8jjTKA.html
Also like the Bullseye Soft review. I would love to get the Sigpro Softy, I have the same setup as you with the fiberbuilt tray, replacing the grass for more accurate feel. How bad would the sigpro be in the Fiberbuilt tray do you think? Thanks for all your work on the videos, been using them to build my simulator.
I don’t think the sigpro softy would work in the fiberbuilt tray. I don’t remember how tall the grass hitting strip is but the softy is 2.5” tall and I think would stick up above the stance mat. You might consider using ez tee hybrid and adding some foam underneath to match up the height and get some extra protection. Just an idea if you’re wanting to keep the fiberbuilt base.
If you sell your eztee strip , let me know. Want to try it with foam/ rubber backing in the Fiberbuilt tray, ordered a bullseye soft strike, want to compare.
The truestrike one feels awesome. Want to say it feels the most realistic out of all of them. Yeah, price is pretty high which is one of the biggest negative things against it. I’ve had mine for 3yrs and so far so good but depending on it’s longevity it is my favorite for its feel. As far as using foresight or any camera based launch monitors the truestrike mat I have had another piece on the other side of the gel piece so no issues there
I asked a few weeks ago and they said they stopped making it because they had quality issues in the manufacturing. Didn’t sound like they were going to offer them anymore…
I have the trustrike, I like it, but I find that my spin numbers on gcquad are 700-1200 rpm lower than they should be. Which mat do you get the most realistic results?
I wish I had a good answer but I don’t. I tested all these mats with a PW and then took my Quad to the course to compare. The only thing I learned was that I’m way more consistent on any mat than on real grass. All of the mats were reasonably close to each other in spin and launch angle but it varied widely from shot to shot when I hit on real grass. I couldn’t tell much from the data so I left all of that out of the videos.
You would want a "center hitting" mat so you can stand on either side of the hitting strip. My preference is the SIGPro Softy and you would need the 4x10 version. Aside from that, either the fiberbuilt grass or player preferred could work. Grass if you're more concerned about injury prevention of making it easy to hit and player preferred if you want something much firmer.
I have the 4x7 mat. Since it's 2.5" tall it makes it a little tougher to use the strip only but it can be done. 2" material with turf on top matches up perfectly. I use 2x 1" foam tiles with turf on top as a runway for my mevo plus. 2" foam board insulation is probably a good option.
What kind of gaming laptop are you using in your setup? The link to Amazon isn’t working. Also, how perfect is the BenQ TH671ST 1080p Short Throw Gaming Projector for a home simulator?
It’s an ASUS TUF Dash gaming laptop with an RTX 3070 gpu. As far as the projector, it’s the only one I have any experience with so I can’t really compare to anything else. My take is that I don’t really have any complaints but I’m also not blown away by it. It does the job. At some point I will probably upgrade everything and go with 4K but I’m in no rush to do that.
I have a pretty steep swing and take a fairly deep divot at times. I’m currently using EZ tee hybrid on top of some foam and I still find it’s pretty rough on me at times. I get too deep into it and it grabs and I get vibration in my wrists/elbows. In your opinion Would I be alright with the sigpro softy, or do I need to go with the divot action? Thanks for the video.
@@friendly_golfer Interesting! I have a Matzilla (basically the same as the EZ Tee) I've noticed it's started to aggravate my lead wrist and elbow because it grabs the club so aggressively. That dense turf to hold a tee is nice, but it doesn't allow the club to work down and through like hitting from real grass.
@@friendly_golfer well with that glowing review I’m surprised the TrueStrike is still available😂. Really though I bought the SigPro Softie insert thinking I’d make my own station by mounting an old driving range mat to some foam gym mats but I can’t get the heights to line up, any suggestions for making your own platform for the sigpro insert?
