ProTee Sensor Mat gel modification?

[Brettster]

Hello everyone,

I've not seen this, and wanted to make sure I do not have any problems with wrist injury.. Is it possible to modify the ProTee sensor mat in any way to make some type of Gel, or Foam under it so that it does not cause wrist injuries? I've had sore wrists playing on other sims that are only hitting mats underneath.

Has anyone modified their own ProTee sensor, and how did they do it? How much can you add to it, without affecting the sensor reading the ball/club strike properly, is it possible to add Gel underneath the entire sensor to maybe help with this problem?

Thanks in advance...
-Brett

[gene438]

Hi Brettster,

I modified my sensor mat in a couple of ways...some success and some failures.

First, I had a plexi-glass insert made that I installed between the sensor and the hitting turf. The thought was to help protect the light sensors which are very fragile. It worked buy I ended up taking it off because I am the only one who hit on my system and I really didn't need it and I notice that is blocked some of the sound when I putted and on very short putts would not pick up the putt at all. Once I removed it, I never had a problem of picking up putts.

Second, I had 2 or 3 custom turf mats made and they all worked. They very in thickness and comfort. Here ars some pictures.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/WxhVZiLPYukWuRwt7

[Brettster]

I see all those custom mats... Did you have any problems with wrist injuries, or why were you trying all the different mats? My biggest issue I think may be that I will damage my wrists hitting off of the ProTee sensor mat?

[gene438]

Actually, the fiberbuilt mat that comes standard with the Protee is the most forgiving mat in terms of impact on the wrists. If you read in the forums, most guys rave about the fiberbuilt mats......the ProTee mat is a Fiberbuilt mat. I actually used another mat because I wanted a tighter lie and I like to compress the ball as I take a very shallow divot. If your concern is your wrist then using the standard protee mat will be your best bet.

[PROTEE UK]

I would advise against modifying. As gene said the Fiberbuilt is most forgiving. If a gel mat burst then it would be goodbye sensor mat I feel

[Stonebattle]

I have found that if a 2 11/16" to 2 3/4 fit in hole brush tee is used, it is much easier on the wrists and feels much more like grass. It sits just about the Protee mat.

[Brettster]

Thanks Stonebattle - do you mean a zero-friction brush tee? I've been using zero-friction, but with 3 points on them, and quite high up - oops, reading that again it sounds like you use that brush tee to get the ball raised just above the ProTee Mat so when you swing, you have little to no impact on the wrists, is that right?

That being the case, it seems that would be an unrealistic 'lie', and one of the things I wondered about most with the ProTee setup - for example, I really want to be able to try to hit from thicker 'rough' type lies, or anything that is not like a fairway lie as I don't think that hitting every shot from a perfect, or even a fairway lie, will help me improve my game, when I am missing the fairways? But, maybe the penalty from TGC 2019 will be enough and the spin will be reduced anyway, so it really does not matter, but I wanted to actually get the feel of that when swinging - maybe that is not possible with the ProTee sensor as the ball has to sit on the mat in just the right position? ProTee United what is your take on that?

Thanks,
-Brett

[Stonebattle]

I find the Protee mat hard on my wrists as well. It feels like a tight thick lie and not at all what I play on.
I use the tall one in this set. https://www.golfgalaxy.com/p/brush-t...rbbrrngtxxxacc
Or you can just search for - Drop in Brush Range Tee. I use the tall one in the set. It's not perfect and one can still hit fat shots. One has to adjust after each hit because it moves around, but the feel is much closer to real grass. At least to me. The top of the brushes sets just above the Protee mat. I would say perhaps 1/3 of a millimeter. These tees are hollow in the center and the bottom of the ball sets at about mat height. All I can suggest is give it a try and see for yourself. A fairly low cost option. If I have to hit from the rough, I place the ball just in front of the tee to get the thicker lie feel.

[Brettster]

Stonebattle

The top of the brushes sets just above the Protee mat. I would say perhaps 1/3 of a millimeter. These tees are hollow in the center and the bottom of the ball sets at about mat height. All I can suggest is give it a try and see for yourself. A fairly low cost option. If I have to hit from the rough, I place the ball just in front of the tee to get the thicker lie feel.

That's brilliant, I never thought of that, I'm close to getting my sim setup, so will order these to test out... So, for light rough, you place the ball directly on top of one of the brush tees, to give it that lifted feel, or that 'sit down' feel of being in thicker grass, and for heavy rough - you place the ball just in front of the tee - that sounds like a great way to have a feel of hitting from rough, does it affect the launch data of the ball coming from in front of that tee at all (as if the ball was in rough when it was hit)? This all sounds really intriguing to me and sounds like a great way to actually have the feel I'm looking for when hitting off of the ProTee Sensor/Mats.

One problem I see is that I have several mats (that I purchased with my used ProTee) to use, and one of these already has the tee hole filled in with a rubber insert to allow an actual tee to fit in that spot. I guess I will not be able to use that mat as I can't imagine a brush tee fitting there... but, in the other mats it should be fine. Let me ask you this, when using the brush tee, if you want to place an actual tee in, do you just remove the brush tee at this point, and drop in the rubber tee holder in it's place (I think mine is glued in, have to look at it more closely tomorrow).

Also, as I have several mats, I think I have 1.) FiberBuilt, 2.) TrueStrike, but even that seems to much like a tight lie fairway to me, 3.) Custom home/made similar to TrueStrike, and 4.) Custom home/made that is very thin, and with thin foam cushion (so even tighter type of lie)...

I wonder - has anyone experimented with interchangeable custom ProTee Sensor mats that would actually have the longer/rough grass on them, or is that a problem with the Sensors reading the ball strike coming off of that type of mat? I'm going to post a separate post about that to see if ProTee has any response...

Thanks again for the great idea! If you have a few photos showing the placement of the ball in (and in front of) the brush tees that would be great.
-Brett