Driving Range Issue...
 

During the winter I frequent an outdoor driving range
* heated bays
* automatic teeing thats adustable per millimeter
* Over 300 yards of outdoor landing area with measured targets

So when I am using these rubber tee things you find at driving ranges that use mats I cant hit my driver to save my life. its adjusted to my normal tee height but it just doesn't work for me. Its like i can barely make contact with the ball.

On the flip side, when I practice on a grass range where I can use normal tees, its a much more productive practice session. good ball striking and the ability to work on adjustments.

Does anyone else have an issue with hitting off those things?

I'm thinking it may be a mental block on my end...

I personally hate those rubber tees. They use them at the shop where I got fitted for clubs and I couldn't stand the way I hit off of them.

Fortunately all of the driving ranges here are turf so I don't have to see them there....

They've never really bothered me except for the fact that the ones I've used weren't adjustable, so you were either hitting a ball that was teed higher or lower than normal.

they used to bother me a lot. I could never hit off of them. I'm pretty sure it was all in my head because now I have no issues with them. Hitting from the grass always produces a better range session for me.

I have never had a problem hitting from the rubber tees, but I absolutely hate hitting off of the mats.

and the cows thank you for that

I hate the rubber tees, I being my own tees and stick them into the mat...

There's actually a range at a local that uses mats that are the most realistic hitting surface i've seen... you can actually tee up yourself. Only place I've seen that. I would imagine those mats are a little more pricey but I wish more people would use em...

i think the rubber tees are a mental block with me. One of my playing partners who I outdrive by at least 20 yards consistently, goes with me to range and he flat out kills it off those rubber tees...

Besides height, I can't see why the rubber tee would throw you off so much. If you're looking at the tee at address, then you're not looking at the ball, and maybe that's leading to your poor results?

I was at the range tonight (to pick up my luuuuvly new burner 2.0's) & it was very quiet due to the freakish snow we are having here in the UK at the moment, so I got talking to the guys in the pro shop. (mainly them laughing at my determination to get there through the snow)

They were talking about offering up the fitting booth for hire by the hour (unmanned) & what I thought would be a reasonable price.

In this fitting booth are heaters & various training aids. The main aspect is the flightscope radar technology.
They suggested hiring the booth for £20 an hour ($30 ish) & this could be occupied by a maximum of 4 people.

I thought this seemed a reasonable price considering the technology available, although I would only want to share the hour with 1 other person. (so £10 each)

Do any of you use a similar setup near you & do you find this price reasonable?

There's a place where I live called Golf Nation and they have an indoor simulator... no bad at all. they give you all your swing and ball speed characteristics and the hitting surface feels like fairway... its it quiet expensive though.

Honestly, i think its the whole setup... the metal beams on the sides, the card reader in back, the rubber tees, the hard mat (which I've seen people break clubs on when hitting a fat shot)... I think i focus on everyhting else except the task at hand and thus the diminishing results.

You're making contact with the ball before your club face gets close to the rubber tee. Probably a mental thing.

Ha!



I hate hitting off mats, let alone those rubber tees. When the grass part of the range is closed, I'll practice chipping, putting or sand shots. In the wintertime, going to the range is like playing golf: I don't do either when it's too cold.

I find those matt's really screw with my mental set up. I get so use to them when I get on the course that when I'm on an angled lie or off colour grass I starting thinking about what I'm doing instead of just doing it.

Any yes, I also loathe those tees. They're never at the correct height.

There's a golf shop in Hilton head that has slim rubber cones that fit in the mats and they take regular tees.