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If you’re like me and this year has resulted in much more working from home than normal you’ve probably been thinking about ways to practice your golf at home. And for our long game a practice net is an obvious answer. But since you can’t tell where your golf balls go after you hit them into a net is it really good practice? ‘Deliberate practice’ sessions hitting golf balls into a net is good practice for all golfers. The convenience of nets allows more frequent practice while the lack of distraction of seeing where golf balls go enables players to focus better on ‘feeling’ how swing changes affect their ball striking. But when the subject of whether hitting golf balls into a net is good practice is brought up I often hear the following comment – “Well, it can’t hurt especially if there’s no alternative.” But that attitude to practicing with a golf net misses the point. Done correctly hitting balls into a net can lead to significant improvements in your game and indeed has some key advantages over a normal session of hitting balls on the practice range. Top tip: If you are interested in using a practice net to help you improve your game you can check out the best nets on Amazon now:
You Can ‘Feel’ the Difference Hitting Golf Balls Into a NetPractice as every golfer knows is crucial if you want to improve. But although a lot of practice is always required to make a lot of improvement it’s how you practice that is equally if not more important than the volume. Standing up and just hitting 50 or 100 balls into a net without thinking about it is not good practice. However a structured session hitting balls into a net which is taking account of the principles of ‘deliberate practice’ will undoubtedly reap rewards. ‘Deliberate practice’ is a concept pioneered by Anders Ericsson, an internationally recognised professor in the psychological nature of expertise, and in summary states that to improve practice requires the following:
Deliberate practice is the ‘gold standard’ of all practice sessions. To achieve it in every practice session is clearly very difficult and Professor Ericsson and his team’s focus of study has been the practice habits of the elite of golf and other sports and skills. However if we think of these principles when we’re hitting golf balls into a practice net and use as many of them as we can each time we practice with a net those sessions will undoubtedly lead to improvements. Because golf net practice has two clear advantages over normal practice on the range:
For golfers also who’s golf club doesn’t have a range, or for players who simply don’t have easy access to a practice facility or course, a golf practice net is a great piece of equipment to get a useful practice session. Good deliberate practice sessions hitting balls into a net is definitely good practice. 4-time Major Champion Brooks Koepka on how it’s important to ‘listen’ to your ball striking Are Golf Hitting Nets Worth it?While hitting golf balls into a net can unquestionably be good practice the follow up question of whether they are worth it or not inevitably leads us to talk about money. And also the effort of course required to set it up. So is the price and effort of getting a golf hitting net worth it? Golf hitting nets are worth it for any golfer looking for a convenient way to improve their swing. Good hitting nets start at $150 and provide more opportunities to practice. They also force golfers to focus on swing technique and ball striking without the distraction of seeing where the ball goes. More expensive nets by comparison though can get up closer to the $600-$700 dollars mark. And don’t forget also that if you want to use a hitting mat you are going to probably want to buy a hitting mat also with it. Unless of course your family are going to be happy with you taking chunks out of the lawn on a regular basis! Again you can go crazy on these and spend a few hundred dollars on the best quality ‘full size’ ones which aim to be as close to grass as possible but you can also pick up a small mat that is perfectly usable for $30-40. So based on those costs and the space you’ll need to give up to the net the question of whether they are worth it for an individual player can simply come down to how serious they are about their golf and how much they want to improve. If you are keen to get better then a golf hitting net is worth the investment as it can provide a comparatively inexpensive way to add a lot of extra hours of practice time to your schedule. By comparison if you are happy to just keep knocking it around the course as you do now and don’t really want to give up a couple of hundred of bucks and some space in the yard or garage for a golf net then it is not likely to be an option for you. If you want to invest the money and space into a golf hitting net however it can lead to great improvements in your swing and ball striking providing you practice right. And for those of you who want to go ahead and start looking at them here the key elements to think about when it comes to practice nets:
One additional benefit of getting a practice net is that it can allow you to start to build towards a more sophisticated set up in the future if you want to. You definitely do not need a launch monitor for example to take full advantage of a practice net but if you decide you want to keep adding to your home practice set up in the future you can easily combine the two later on – i.e. using the launch monitor together with your net to get even more data on how you are striking the ball. Ideas for How to Practice Hitting Into a Golf NetIf you have a golf hitting net whatever you do please do not just start bashing balls endlessly into it. As we’ve already discussed ‘deliberate practice’, where you have a clear ‘goal’ to focus on ideally using some feedback from a video camera or smartphone is what you are aiming for. Simply hitting ball after ball into a net without any purpose not only gets boring pretty quickly but it can also harm your game more than it hinders it. Remember practice makes permanenent rather than perfect so if you are consistently practicing the wrong things it will simply ingrain bad habits making your game potentially worse rather than better. So here are a few simple ideas to think about adding into your next ‘net’ practice session:
While golf hitting nets can lead to improvements in any golfer’s game and are indeed used often by professionals, there are potential downsides to using it if you are using a practice mat to hit into it. Most of us are not going to be hitting off the grass in our yard when we practice into a net so a mat is a necessity. There are some great ‘full size’ mats out there which let you both stand on the mat and hit the ball of it like you would at the range. This ensures you are standing on level ground with the ball when you practice. But these mats, and especially those ones which are as close to grass as it possible to get, can be expensive and it’s more likely and more convenient for alot of golfers to use a smaller mat. A short coming of these smaller mats though, which tend to be not so grass like, is that you can hit well behind the ball and not always know it. That is because the material of the mat allows the club to slide into the ball disguising that fact that you hit behind it or ‘fat’ as you would see on the golf course.
There are ways around this however, such as putting a lie board or towel behind your ball so that you know if you hit those objects rather than the ball it will give you clue that on grass that shot would have been fat. In addition because you are standing on the ground and hitting off the mat you need to try and do your best to make sure the ball is as level as possible with your feet as possible and as it would be on a normal practice range. Bear in mind also that smaller mats tend to move around after each shot you hit into the net which can get a bit annoying if you are constantly having to adjust it each time. Stay Safe When Hitting Into a Golf NetOne of the key aspects when it comes to practicing hitting balls in to a golf net is safety. The last thing anyone wants to do is to hurt themselves or worse anyone else simply because they didn’t take the right precautions when setting up their golf net. Golf balls can do alot of damage as we all know. And the thought of sending a ball into a net after which it then flies through to hit heaven knows what is enough to give any golfer a few nightmares. Anyone who has hit a few hundred balls into a golf net will also know weird things can happen. Sometimes you can hit a ball and it seems to just disappear for a second or two before it somehow ends up on the opposite side of the net to where you hit it! So are golf nets safe? Good quality golf practice nets, properly set up, are safe. Nets with a thickness of 4-ply or more are advised and extra strength is given by nets using ‘knotless’ mesh. Double-netted nets with side barriers provide additional benefits from a safety perspective. Nylon nets are also the most durable. From a setup perspective here are an additional couple of things to think about to make sure your practice net is a safe as possible:
Safety is clearly as the top priority when it comes to setting up a golf practice net and if you are worried even if you think you have everything covered build up slowly to full shots to give yourself confidence everything will be ok. And for those players who want to try the low budget options using bed sheets, old doormats combined with poles or clothes rails please make sure you don’t injure yourself or anyone else! Golfing Focus recommended training aids Check out our top picks of golf training aids here. We’ve tested and used a bunch of training aids over the years and our selections are battle-tested and can be recommended without hesitation! More great articles related to this topic:
How far away should I stand from the golf ball?How Far Should You Stand From A Golf Ball? The ideal distance you should stand from the golf ball is one where the butt of the club is pointing at your belt buckle and is about 6 inches away from your thighs. This should be the same for all clubs in the bag.
How far should you be from impact screen?Your impact screen should be 12"-16” away from the wall behind it. Then, it's a best practice to place your tee 10'-12' away from the impact screen. Lastly, give yourself 7' behind the tee to swing easily. In total, at least 18' deep is ideal for a golf simulator room.
How far from wall should golf net be?But having at least 9'-10' of length is recommended. You have to keep in mind that even if you have enough space to make a full swing, you need space for your hitting net, then you need an extra 1'-2' between your net and the wall. As the ball hits the net it will give way slightly.
Am I standing too far away from the golf ball?As Bova illustrates: Set up to the golf ball and once you're comfortable, let go of the club with your trail hand. If your hand swings closer to your body, that's an indication that you're standing too far away from the ball.
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