However, there’s a steep ramp at the end that’s supposed to help with packing and the ball return. At first, this seemed like a good idea, but I noticed that if your putt comes up just short, the ball rolls back the entire length of the mat and beyond. You can see this by simply dropping a ball from the height of the hole—it easily rolls the full distance of the mat.
What’s the point of a putting mat that makes you add 8+ feet of power to a 4-foot putt? The pace training from this device is terrible—you have to hit a 4-footer like it’s 12 feet to get the ball to the hole. While I enjoy it as an alignment aid for directional putting, I’ve stopped using the hole entirely because of the crazy pacing.
Well, pace should be rehearsed on the actual greens of the course you’re about to play. These mats are designed to help golfers improve their swing. This is essentially a putting net. It doesn’t matter what occurs after the ball leaves your putter. The majority of the claims are marketing.
Using a putting practice mat can be helpful, but it may not fully replicate real course conditions. If you leave a putt short, the ball might still roll beyond the mat’s length, which doesn’t reflect a real putt that would stop at the hole. Dropping the ball from the height of the hole can demonstrate this effect, as it easily rolls the entire length of the mat.
I find that the perfect putting mat is great for building a repeatable stroke and confidence for those 3 and 4 foot putts. Definitely should not be used for practice with distance control.