What We Tried
The SIGPRO Softy, a golf hitting mat bought solely by means of The Indoor Golf Store.
Your SIGPRO Softy Tester
Tony Covey. MyGolfSpy Editorial Director and a man making an attempt to take advantage of out of a golf simulator in a limited-height surroundings.
The Requisite Background
Earlier than we get into the main points, I need to provide you with some fast background.
Simply over a 12 months in the past, my spouse and I moved into a brand new home. The undertaking began together with her need for a brand new kitchen. On the time, constructing was a greater possibility than renovating so we determined that within the new place, she’d get her dream kitchen and I’d get an area for a golf simulator.
As is the case with many issues, once we acquired deep into issues, compromises needed to be made. And so, yada, yada, yada, my spouse acquired her kitchen and I acquired a basement with an 8’6” ceiling..
Certainly one of us acquired hosed on that deal.
Anyway, this would be the first in a sequence of opinions of indoor/golf simulator parts. Whereas they need to be relevant to anybody seeking to create an area to hit balls of their home, they arrive from the attitude of a man who has much less area—or at the very least much less top—than is good.
In regards to the SIGPRO Softy Golf Hitting Mat
Because the title implies, one level of emphasis of The Indoor Golf Store’s SIGPRO Softy hitting mat is softness. Whereas a great little bit of that comes from the Softy hitting insert, it’s price declaring that the hitting platform is constructed from a dense foam with a turf overlay that gives some measure of softness.
It’s a bit totally different from the hitting mats I’ve encountered up to now however it offers what’s, in my view, a steady hitting platform with slightly little bit of give. I’m going to inform you it’s good although I’d be remiss to not level out that at the very least one reviewer discovered it too smooth.
For context, I’m just a bit over 200 kilos (If I don’t get again to my Tonal, I’ll be greater than slightly over 200 earlier than Thanksgiving) and I don’t discover myself sinking. It’s only a slight give.
As I stated, I prefer it however it might not be for everybody.
My narrowly relevant criticism of the SIGPRO Softy golf mat design is that it’s thicker than most. It’s not misplaced on me that the thickness is a key side of the design however, for some, the two 3/8” thickness could also be a difficulty.
For context, the Softy hitting mat is roughly ¾” thicker than The Indoor Golf Store’s Fairway Collection mat. If top isn’t a difficulty in your area, then it’s no huge deal. If you happen to’re in a limited-height surroundings like I’m in my basement, a thinner mat goes to assist you to hit longer golf equipment.
In case you have loads of top (like I do in my storage), it’s not a difficulty.
The SIGPRO Softy Insert
The important thing to the Softy design is the Softy hitting strip. The blokes at The Indoor Golf Store describe it as a smooth foam insert with a full inch of turf. On the underside, you’ll discover three compression slots. The concept is that the Softy insert helps dissipate air, resulting in smoother, vibration-free motion by means of the turf.
What I’d say is that the insert has a springiness that gives a little bit of give at impression.
If the Softy insert isn’t your factor, The Indoor Golf Store has two different insert choices. The 3D Hitting Strip ($149) is designed with sturdiness in thoughts whereas the Most popular Hitting Strip ($99) seeks to imitate the efficiency of pure grass whereas nonetheless decreasing joint pressure.
Simple on the Joints?
The Softy insert is meant to be the best in your joints and, whereas I don’t have sufficient proof to both assist or dispute the declare, I’ll say it needs to be one thing you think about when shopping for a hitting mat. There’s some anecdotal proof to counsel that as indoor golf/simulator use has elevated so, too, have joint accidents like tennis and golf elbow.
And whereas that’s been good for enterprise over at Fiix Elbow, my non-medically certified recommendation is to do no matter you possibly can to attenuate your threat.
Efficiency
Full disclosure: I haven’t accomplished a full evaluation to see how intently my SIGPRO Softy numbers match my out of doors numbers. Historical past has taught me that I’m a couple of full membership shorter indoors with the irons and that’s with nearly each mat I’ve hit off.
If sport enchancment is your goal, so long as you perceive the variations between what you see indoors and what you get outdoor, you need to be effective.
The Softy insert doesn’t have any premade holes for an adjustable-height tee however you need to use an ordinary tee. As you’d anticipate, it can go flying so that you’ll most likely need to use one thing like TeeClaw or BirTee.
Hitting Each Membership within the Bag
For me, the extra necessary (and neglected consideration) when shopping for a hitting mat is how effectively it responds to each membership within the bag. With some mats, we’ve discovered you merely can’t reliably hit a few of the golf equipment in your bag off them.
For instance, I can’t hit a fairway wooden off the mats at my residence course to avoid wasting my life. And simply so that you don’t suppose that’s a unique-to-me form of downside, a number of years in the past we needed to change all of the mats in our facility after discovering that almost all of our testers struggled to hit clear pictures—once more, with fairway woods.
For what it’s price, I’ve hit each membership within the bag off the SIGPRO Softy and nothing has jumped out as uncommon.
And I assume that’s the ripple with shopping for one thing like a golf mat.
A superb little bit of the stuff we purchase for golf is, to some extent, “attempt before you purchase.” You may demo nearly each membership, you possibly can see and contact a great little bit of the opposite stuff at your native professional store or huge field retailer, however virtually no one shares a full choice of mats or offers a possibility to check choices to see what feels/works greatest for you.
In consequence, once you’re searching for a golf hitting mat, you’re largely on the mercy of on-line reviewers to steer you in the proper course and so right here we’re, I suppose.
Choices and Pricing
The SIGPRO Softy is offered in 4’x10’ and 4’x7’ sizes. It’s a modular design with the bigger mat having three items and the smaller one two. The 4’x10’ offers sufficient room for each right- and left-handed hitters with loads of area for a side-sitting launch monitor like GC Quad, Launch Professional or SkyTrak+.
Customers of rear-placed launch displays like Mevo+ and Rapsodo MLM2 Professional might want to test their manuals to search out out if they should elevate the machine to match the additional top of the mat.
What units The Indoor Golf Store’s SIGPRO Softy aside from different giant mats is the load. If you happen to’ve ever handled full and even mid-sized hitting mats, you understand they’re heavy and awkward.
The three-piece Softy weighs simply over 30 kilos in whole which, along with making it a lot simpler to maneuver in a common type of means, makes it ideally suited to pack-away conditions and different non-permanent installations.
For instance, when you have a spouse who often needs to park her automobile in your simulator bay, it’s useful in case your mat is simple to maneuver and stow.
Regardless of the comparatively mild weight, the SIGPRO Softy hitting mat is comparatively steady. On my concrete flooring, it’s moved slightly over time however actually not with each swing. It’s simple sufficient to faucet again to the place you need it but when relocating the mat isn’t a priority, it ships with a few adhesive pads which ought to assist lock all the pieces down.
The 4’x10’ SIGPRO Softy sells for $1,099 and whereas that’s not a small quantity, it’s fairly a bit lower than equally sized mats from some opponents.
The 4’x7′ SIGPRO Softy, which needs to be giant sufficient for many use instances, is $899.
The Indoor Golf Store’s Fairway Collection mat (I’ll submit a overview of that as effectively) is a little more reasonably priced at $549.
The Takeaway
Whereas I’m trying ahead to seeing how the SIGPRO Softy stacks as much as different mats, I can’t see any purpose why I wouldn’t be proud of it over the long run, offered the supporting foam stays steady. I like the best way the Softy insert offers at impression and, with that, it ought to show a bit simpler on the joints, although I’m additionally curious how the design influences the numbers relative to The Indoor Golf Store’s different choices.
If you happen to’re available in the market for a golf mat, the SIGPRO Softy is one to contemplate, particularly in case your hitting space is one thing aside from a everlasting set up.
The SIGPRO Softy golf hitting mat is bought solely by means of The Indoor Golf Store.
