Indoor Short Game Practice Works

big green putting green in chicago with chipping pad

At Pro Putt Systems, we have been bringing incredibly realistic indoor short game practice putting greens to the market for quite some time. Recently we decided to slightly expand our offerings after a few months of research, R and D, testing, more testing and even more testing.

We view indoor short game practice as serious business and we know our customers do too. With that in mind we set out to tackle other areas of short game practice outside of putting. We have to admit that our previous chipping pad offering was not quite perfect and it bothered us.

On November 1st, 2012 we launched our new and improved indoor chipping pad. It’s not just any chipping pad, it’s a multi-surface chipping pad which has been specifically engineered to improve the all around short game skills – inside your home, at any time of day and any time of year.

4 foot chipping pad

As you can see the 4’ circle chipping pad is fully portable and can be moved around the room to hit little shots from an assortment of distances and even from an assortment of lies. You can even place a $11 piece of Wainscoting underneath one side and “prop up” the hitting surface to replicate side hill, up hill and down hill lies.

1.75” Thick Rough – On the right hand side of the chipping pad you have a semi-circle of thick, natural feeling, club grabbing, indoor short game practice goodness.

The blades of grass you can see are not what you may be used to. They are specially designed with a natural feel. How do you get a natural feel? Each blade has a certain percentage (it’s a secret) of rubber blend which gives the blades an awesome feel to the touch and a highly realistic feel to the club head.

Indoor Chipping Turf

We have these specially cut, so the grain of the blades are laying into and against the right handed player. This creates real feed back, on a fat shot, your club head cannot just breeze through it. Further, there is a thick thatch woven into the blades which is about .75 inches thick. This adds to the feedback factor and allows for even more club head resistance. It also creates a slight cushion so you can practice for hours and not get a sore wrist.

1.25″ Thick Fairway –  On the left side of the two surface chipping pad is another new product for us. This turf is used at high end clubs for range material when the grass is closed and during winter months.

This hitting or chipping surface is so tightly woven that it weighs over 1.5 lbs per sq ft. It is highly durable and a fantastic substitute for the real thing. Designed to mimic the fairway or tight lie around the green, it too provides resistance to the club head on heavy or miss-hit shots.

Fairway Hitting Material

While indoor short game practice is our specialty, the news gets even better. This chipping pad can be taken outside and hit into a net or at targets in your yard. It holds a real wooden tee, no more dealing with those stupid rubber tees which have no flexibility for tee height.

Speaking of Nets – We started offering them too! Take a look at our Indoor Golf Studio Packages

So, this is great but, let’s hear about the results that indoor short game practice can give me?

Good question and one we’re going to answer right now.

The title of this article is “Indoor Short Game Practice Works” well, says who?

Says me. I mentioned that we ran extensive testing of the chipping pads combined with the putting greens. One of the many tests was handled by your’s truly.

I “took one for the team”…and you. Let me explain.

One Last Test

All summer I had been working on my scrambling numbers and you can read about thishere. My scores had improved drastically late in the summer, mainly from 2-a-days on my putting green working on 8′ or less putts almost exclusively.

In October we were getting ready to launch the final versions of our new chipping surfaces and I decided to run one last test. I took 4 weeks off from hitting any full shots. No range, no on course play, no full swings of any kind. Only putting and chipping on my indoor green and off of my multi-surface chipping pad. No real PUTTING PRACTICE…only synthetic everything. And once again, no full shots or actual play.

I knew I was going to Florida to play golf in November and I wanted to see how I’d play after only indoor putting and chipping practice for a full month. Needless to say, my first few shots on the range at Grand Cypress in Orlando were pretty rough, almost embarrassing.

Well, the results of all that indoor short game practice was far from embarrassing. As mentioned earlier, my scores were improving at the end of last summer. However my best round in at least 15 years was at New England Country Club and it was a 76. This is a course I know very well having played many rounds, quite regularly. For the last part of the summer my scores ranged consistently from 77 – 81 and again these were courses I knew quite well.

I took the 4 weeks off and only practiced chipping and putting….that’s it. In November I went to Florida and here are the results of 4 weeks of indoor short game practice…ONLY.

Here’s my scorecard from that first round at Grand Cypress “The New Course” (Jack’s Tribute to “The Old Course”)

Indoor Golf Practice Works

As you can see on the card above, after no play for a full month I was able to drop my best score in over 15 years, a 74 with 6 One-Putts, 3 birdies and I was -2 on the Par 3’s. Even more importantly, my scrambling percentage was 43%. As you can see I hit all but one fairway and if you’ve played there, you’d know why. Nicklaus built massive fairways that are hard to miss. But he built tough greens with extravagant bunker complexes and tons of trouble around the greens.

Three days later I played a combination of the East 9 and the North 9 again at Grand Cypress. Here’s that scorecard.

Results of Indoor Short Game Practice

Even though the score was one shot higher I think you’ll appreciate this round even more than the last. Again, 29 putts with only 2 birdies. However, 8 One-Putts and I scrambled at a percentage of 62%. In terms of scoring this 75 came courtesy of a late round Double Bogey. 75 w a double is a score I’ll take anytime!

Results not Typical?

Here’s the deal. These results are typical for customers of Pro Putt Systems. Over the last year we have had numerous players report that they’ve shaved 4 to even 6 from their handicaps in just a few months.

Indoor Short Game Practice Testimonial

Indoor Short Game Practice Works…there is a caveat however.

If you think you’re going to buy cheap, mass produced practice greens from one of those other companies and get these results, I’m sorry to say, you’re sadly mistaken. Meaningful practice on high quality and realistic indoor practice equipment is the only way you’ll realize the results you’re looking for and deserve.

“I can’t afford it”…yes you can. We also recently launched highly affordable Putting Stripsand Hitting Mats which give top notch performance at a significant discount. You can’t afford not to have it if you’re serious about improving your short game.

Just wait…in January we’re expanding our Indoor Golf Studio Packages to include Full Simulators and Launch Monitors at package prices you won’t believe and haven’t seen elsewhere.

In January we’re also launching our New Tri-Surface Professional Hitting Mats shown below. These will be available in Mid-January and are rated for indoor or outdoor use. Stay Tuned and don’t forget to bookmark this website for even more innovations coming at ya in the early part of 2013.

Triple Surface Hitting Mats