Which hitting mat should I buy for a golf simulator?

What a hitting mat does

The mat is what you stand on and hit off. A good one gives a consistent strike, holds a tee, and takes some of the shock out of each shot so your wrists and elbows don't take it all. If a term is new, the glossary explains it.

Three things separate the mats we sell:

• Turf pile: how long the artificial grass is. A deeper pile lets the club move through the fibres more like real grass; a short, firm pile gives a consistent, quick strike.
• Base: the rubber or foam layer under the turf, which cushions impact and stops the mat moving.
• Tees: whether you push a real tee into the turf, or put a rubber tee in a pre-cut hole.

The SimSpace mats

Tee Turf, 1.5 × 1.5m

The SimSpace Tee Turf mat has a 30mm turf pile on a 12mm rubber base, 42mm in all. SimSpace designed the deeper pile so the club moves through the fibres more naturally, and it takes standard wooden tees anywhere, with no pre-cut holes, so you set the height you want. Plastic tees come in the box. This is the mat in our SimSpace room packages.

Standard, 1.5 × 1.5m

The SimSpace Standard mat has a short, firm 17mm pile on the same 12mm rubber base, 29mm in all. It has six perforated tee holes, three on each side, so it works for left- and right-handed golfers, and comes with rubber and plastic tees.

Transition switchable, 1.5 × 1.2m

The SimSpace Transition mat has the Standard mat's 17mm turf and 12mm base, with a removable hitting section. It comes with two inserts: a standard turf insert for iron and fairway shots, and a tee turf insert for drivers. When the hitting area wears, you replace the insert rather than the mat. It has six tee holes and rubber and plastic tees.

Teaching, 1.5 × 1.5m

The SimSpace Teaching mat adds a yellow centre cross and white alignment lines for ball position, stance and swing path. It has four tee holes, top, bottom, left and right, and a thick rubber base. SimSpace doesn't publish its thicknesses.

The GolfBays mats

We also stock GolfBays mats. The Quad Tech is built in four layers including a foam layer, which GolfBays describes as very soft underfoot and kinder to wrists; the Premium Black is the same idea in black, for a room that shouldn't look like a golf range. The Combi mat is 129 × 159cm and pairs stance turf with a replaceable hitting strip. GolfBays doesn't publish pile or base thicknesses for these.

Real tees or rubber tees

With Tee Turf you push a real tee in anywhere and set any height, as you would on a tee box. With the Standard, Transition and Teaching mats you use rubber tees in the pre-cut holes, so the ball position is fixed to those holes. Rubber tees are quick and don't break; real tees feel more like the course.

Joints and feel

SimSpace says the rubber base and the thicker pile on the Tee Turf soften impact on hands and wrists. Every mat here has a cushioned base. No mat takes a divot, so a heavy strike that would dig on grass skids instead; a mat with a deeper pile is more forgiving of that than a short one. If you play several times a week, I'd put the extra money into the Tee Turf.

Size and position

A 1.5 × 1.5m mat gives room for your stance and the ball. The Transition is 1.2m deep, which takes up less room front to back. Lay the mat with the hitting spot 2.5m from the screen and in line with its middle; Do I need a stance mat and a base? covers what goes underneath.

Choosing

1. If you want to tee up like on the course, choose Tee Turf.
2. If you want a firm, quick surface and fixed tee holes, choose the Standard.
3. If you'd rather replace a worn strip than a whole mat, choose the Transition.
4. If you're working on alignment, choose the Teaching mat.