Game Improvement Present From Izzo

Posted by John

December 12, 2008

I’ve tried a couple of hitting nets in the past without much luck. In fact, once I had really bad luck – OK, I was just stupid. My kids gave me a net so, of course, I had to try it right away. Now I know I should have set it up with its back towards the open field behind the house. Why I did it the other way I’ll never know, it must have been the 12 year old in me.

You’ve probably already guessed the outcome – I put the fourth ball through the neighbors window. I’m happy to say I finally have a great system in a very small part of the backyard that allows me to hit balls whenever the mood strikes me. I looked at a lot of nets and finally chose the Izzo Giant Jr.™. It hasn’t disappointed. Being constructed like a modern camping tent, it takes all of two minutes to set up.

And it stays up. By mistake, I left it standing in a near hurricane and it just collapsed in place. When it was over I lifted it up and was good to go in 10 seconds. It’s big enough that I’ve hit hundreds of balls without even a near miss. No matter what you club you use, the balls fall harmlessly straight down onto the net floor. If you’re so inclined, Izzo makes the same net in an even bigger size.

Normally I hate hitting off mats, but I actually found a way to make them work with irons. I went to the local range and bought one of their used mats for $25. The problem I have with a mat is when you try to hit directly off it. It’s very easy to get into the habit of hitting behind the ball without knowing it.

Until you’re out on the course that is. To eliminate this, I took a range tee and trimmed it so it sits about 1/8 inch above the mat. When I hit irons using this setup, it’s easy to tell when I’ve hit the ball first. I can also tell when I’ve hit the mat afterwards so I know I’m striking down on the ball as one should with irons. I’ve found this setup really helps me ‘feel’ clubhead/ball contact, something that can be hard to do even when you’re hitting off grass.

So, for less than a $150 you can hit a couple of balls whenever you have the urge. When the sun is shining and there’s no wind, I’m comfortable even when it’s in the forties. Now there’s no excuse for losing your feel this winter!