Great review, I appreciate it. How do you think this system would work on top of carpet? My SIM is in a carpeted room with a thick pad. The house is brand new and as much as I'd like to remove the carpet, we won't be in it long enough to make it worthwhile. My current hitting mat (fairly standard, can't remember brand) has a foam base which slides around on the carpet and is way too squishy on top of carpet and pad. I'm thinking something with a heavy duty rubber base would work much better which it looks like this has.
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Hi there,
Well... I would speculate that this mat will work a little better than a foam backed hitting stance/pad over carpet given it's weight... I think it may depend on the thickness or plushness of your carpet... but there may still be some issues.
The rubber is heavy. There are large cutouts in the rubber, where foam sections are inserted, to give the stance mat some stability while keeping down the weight... it works well, but I could see that perhaps being an issue if the surface underneath is not solid... I think the surface underneath the system still needs to be pretty solid or firm for it to work effectively. The foam inserts may sink into the carpet when standing on it since they kind of "float" inside the ribber mat "frame".
What you could do, is maybe cut some plywood, waferboard, etc the size of the platform/mat and place that down first, to stabilize the surface underneath.. would leave a pretty large "dent" in your carpet either way if you are good with that.
I looked up the shipping weight, and the total system weight shipped was 72 lbs if that's helpful at all.
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tonybrown32 Thanks for the review and pics Tony. I've been wanting to get something better for years now, and you helped me finally decide what I want to do. Much appreciated.Comment
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No problem! If anyone has any specific questions I can help answer as well now that I've had it a few weeks.. happy to try and help out. There really is no perfect mat for my situation, having to move it out of the way quickly and easily, but this come close...
Only downside so far for my application is that this thing is HEAVY. Adding 65-70lbs on to my wood stance platform, makes it a little harder to move around, so my younger daughter can't really set up/take down easily on her own anymore. Alternatively though, I tend to leave it set up for longer periods of time now as well, and has seen some additional use just because it's ready and available more often as well..
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So I bought the Fiberbuilt Flight Deck to try out. Place a Gorilla Grip mat below and it won't move on impact and you're all good to go.
So far so good - night and day vs. CCE. However, because it's so easy to hit down and thru, does anyone think it might be "too forgiving" vs real-life fairways?Comment
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Does it last ? It is a lot more expensive then the CCE. So I hope it will last a while. -
I don't think it's that much more expensive than the CCE. I got the performance mat system for $300 shipped.. just have to shop around like anything else... Best price I could find on the CCE is what $350 at Costco for the 4x5 mat.
If you want to get into a Fiberbuilt even cheaper, the Flight Deck is really inexpensive to use for a hitting strip if you can deal with the oval shape... it's around $80 on Amazon. It will go along with the Launch Pad practice station that looks pretty interesting as well, showcased at last years PGA show (found this on YouTube... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGUenHbMcBs).
I inquired about the Launch Pad practice station with Fiberbuilt when I bought my mat, and I was told it's not available yet, but may be in January or February, and will be on Amazon as well for around $250. I don't know if that $250 included the Launch Pad or not... This setup looked pretty easy to snap together in my garage, and tear down and store out of the way when I need to get the cars in. I was a little concerned about how wide it looks though, and didn't want to feel too cramped hitting driver, but looks like a great little practice station.. love the way you can use this with alignment rods for various drills.
Also, as far as how long it will last, Fiberbuilt says 100,000 swings... and with the hitting strips, they have three 1'x1' squares you can rotate, so 300,000 swings for the performance mat system that has a 3 foot hitting strip... should last pretty much forever for me if those estimates are true.Last edited by tonybrown32; 01-11-2018, 09:49 PM. -
I would love to shop around, however I'm in Germany and there was only one distributer of fiberbuilt mats. I paid 250 for 3 inserts (12"x12"each) and paid 100 for the CCE (10"x46") 2 years ago when i bought it. For Golf stuff it sucks to be in Europe. Everything ist just soooo much more expensive if it is available.
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I don't think it's too forgiving. Actually, the more I use it, the more I feel like I get better feedback than I used to on my Monster Turf. It may in a sense be "too forgiving" as in, if I hit a seriously fat shot, it is much less physically punishing than real-life fairways yes.... but I don't feel like the Fiberbuilt in anyway masks a crummy shot... I can still tell when I strike one poorly.Originally posted by doublebogey View PostComment
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A few more observations on Fiberbuilt:
- After hitting on Fiberbuilt, some of the green fibers seem to come off easily? And it seems to kick up a lot of green dust? Is this normal or just because it's new and will go away over time?
- The green dust it kicks up gets all over screen of my SkyTrak (and hard to wipe off as I'm using the FMJ protective cover) and might have caused some no-reads or mis-reads (def observed slightly more no-reads and mis-reads using Fiberbuilt vs CCE). Green dust is also all over my clubs esp bottom of my fairway wood - so wondering if this kicking up of green dust is normal?
- Though easier to hit, the irons seems to have slightly shorter distances than using CCE - maybe because ball compresses less using Fiberbuilt than using CCE?
So I guess jury is still out Fiberbuilt vs CCE - at least for me.Last edited by doublebogey; 01-12-2018, 12:08 PM.Comment
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Upon further use of Fiberbuilt, it beats CCE hands down. My CCE is now just a stance mat...Comment
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Good to hear!
I didn't have any dust issues with my mat that I recall... I did notice my ball was a little more dirty looking than usual after hitting for a while, but the garage was a mess with winter weather, so I attributed it to that.. but could have been some of the dust you mentioned. I've had it several weeks now, and don't see my screen getting any dirtier than it was, or any signs of it continuing. I don't see anything on my clubs.
I did have one or two loose fibers as well, but that's all. There has to be thousands if not hundreds of thousands of long fibers in the 3 foot mat, so expect to see a few lose ones show up at the beginning, kind of like breaking in my shaving brush
Glad you like your mat. I'm also really glad I went with the Fiberbuilt. My old MonsterTurf now catches balls underneath my screen.
So after using it a while now what are your thoughts on it being "too forgiving"? I had those same concerns, but the more I use mine, the more it's not even a factor... I can totally tell if I mishit one, and my Skytrack confirms it every time as well...
One other thing I'll add, is that although hitting off the Fiberbuilt is much easier on my body than my old mat as far as impact goes, it doesn't stop my tendonitis issues completely or anything... I didn't really expect it to, but others might given some of the reviews I've seen. Impact wise, the Fiberbuilt is certainly less physically punishing, and much better on my back, wrists, elbows... which allows me to hit more balls, for longer periods of time... and that's both good and bad! Good since I enjoy the longer hitting sessions... bad since the gripping action of squeezing my club for long periods is what can get my left forearm tendonitis flaring up... the 13" of snow this week, and several hours of squeezing the snowblower handle didn't help either!
Glad you are enjoying the mat! -
tonybrown32, still probably a little bit forgiving. But noticed I no longer say "too forgiving" because it still punishes you a bit if you hit it fat - however not as punishing as CCE. Compared to real-life, it seems like Fiberbuilt does replicate a nice fairway better than CCE - CCE feels more like a tighter lie or firmer fairway.
BTW the kicking up of dust issue is pretty much gone after some use - still some fibers come off but that's, like you said, pretty much expected like a new shaving brush (hopefully fewer and fewer fibers will come off going forward).Last edited by doublebogey; 01-26-2018, 10:57 AM.
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Do they offer a rectangular fiberbuilt strip that can be incorporated into (or placed next to) a stance mat? I don’t see this option available for purchase on the FB site or amazon.Comment
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Jrz, buy direct from the sales rep and you can get them in 1x1 foot squaresOriginally posted by jrzComment
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Agree... its kind of a modular system that way... what came with my performance mat system is three 1x1 foot interlocking squares, held together in a metal track/brace. Its pretty substatial/heavy... and quite thick. You would likely have to build up your stance mat or recess the hitting strip to get the hitting mat and Fiberbuilt surfaces level to each other...
You could as many 1x1 squares as you need for the length of hitting strip you want. I havnen't seen the squares sold separately through retailers either.. but I bought my whole mat system direct through a sales rep at Fiberbuilt. They were very helpful and informative.
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Can you post a picture at your set up? I am debating on getting a Flight deck since I have a CCE or get the whole set up. Does in stand level with your CCE?Originally posted by doublebogey View PostComment
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I sent an email asking Fiberbuilt if they would sell me the hitting strip part with 3 interlocking sections of the turf along with the strip base. I did not get a reply from them and I'm wondering if they don't want to promote this.Originally posted by Stingreye View PostComment
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Well I took the plunge and got the 4x5 performance mat. I have only got to hit a few balls on it so far, but I am very happy with the purchase. I totally agree with Tony's initial review and the only negative thing I can say is those zip ties are horrible.
Tony, if you get a chance, can you post a pic of how you screwed your rubber sections to your base with the casters. I think I might be interested in doing something similar.
Im looking forward to the weekend and playing a few rounds on TGC!Comment
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Oh my I forgot how horrible those zip ties were... I thought maybe it was because it was pretty cold in my garage when I was zipping the sections together, but apparently I'm not the only one that had problems with them. Lucky I had a whole bag of my own in my toolbox, since at least 50% of the provided zip ties didn't hold at all.. I threw most of them away and used my own.Originally posted by captnkrusty View Post
I plan on setting the net/screen back up tonight so I'll try to get some photos of my "portable" platform I use... we had 13" of snow on Monday, so had to close up the hitting area again to keep the cars in the garage, and haven't had time to get stuff back out this week.. looks like good weather ahead here in the near term so hoping I can leave my stuff set up for a few weeks before the next unpleasant weather event. Looking forward to spring!Comment
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Thanks Tony, I appreciate it. I played my first 18 today on the new mat today and I love it It is definitely better than the DIY gel mat that I had made!
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Agree the fiberbuilt is way better than the diy gel.
Originally posted by captnkrusty View PostThanks Tony, I appreciate it. I played my first 18 today on the new mat today and I love it It is definitely better than the DIY gel mat that I had made!Comment
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