Do I need a stance mat and a base under my hitting mat?

Three layers, three jobs

Under and around a hitting mat you can have up to three things. If a term is new, the glossary explains it.

• A rubber base: a heavy rubber sheet a little bigger than the mat. It stops the mat sliding, spreads the impact and protects the floor.
• A stance mat: turf you stand on, next to a separate hitting strip. Some mats build it in; some setups add it.
• An underlay: foam tiles under the whole bay, for comfort, noise and the floor.

The rubber base

Our SimSpace room packages put a rubber base under the hitting mat. It's a separate layer from the 12mm rubber backing built into the SimSpace mats. Bought separately, the bases we sell are:

• The GolfBays rubber base, 5ft 9in square (about 1.75m), made for 1.5 × 1.5m mats. GolfBays says it holds the mat in place, reduces vibration and noise, and protects the floor.
• The FORB rubber bases: the Standard is 1.6 × 1.6m and 25kg and fits FORB and FORZA mats only; the Pro is a 1.7 × 1.7m jigsaw base, 64kg, and fits any 5ft × 5ft mat. Both have drainage holes, which matters more in a garden cage than a simulator.

For a SimSpace mat indoors, the GolfBays base is the one made for it. The FORB bases are built round FORB and FORZA garden mats.

Do you need a separate stance mat?

Usually not. The SimSpace and GolfBays 1.5 × 1.5m mats are one piece, so you stand and hit on the same surface at the same height. A stance mat matters with a narrow hitting strip: standing on the floor beside a raised strip puts your feet lower than the ball. Two designs we sell build the stance in:

• The SimSpace Transition mat, 1.5 × 1.2m, with a removable hitting insert set into the stance turf.
• The GolfBays Combi mat, 129 × 159cm, which pairs stance turf with a replaceable hitting strip.

Underlay for the whole bay

The GolfBays turf underlay is five interlocking EVA foam tiles, each 1 × 1m and 20mm thick, covering 5 square metres. EVA is a dense, springy foam. The tiles reverse from black to grey and have removable straight edges for a neat border. GolfBays says it cushions impact, deadens noise for the room below and protects the floor. It's worth having over floorboards or a finished floor; on a garage slab it mainly adds comfort.

Levelling and garage floors

A mat that rocks or slopes changes your lie and can upset the launch monitor. To set it up:

1. Sweep the floor. Grit under a base wears it and stops it lying flat.
2. Check the area with a spirit level, front to back and side to side. Garage slabs often aren't flat.
3. Pack any dip under the base until it reads level, before the mat goes down.
4. Lay the base, then the mat, with the hitting spot 2.5m from the screen.
5. Leave a new mat a few hours to settle flat, as SimSpace advises.

Watch the height for your launch monitor

Every layer raises the ball. That matters for launch monitors that sit on the floor:

• FlightScope's Mevo Gen2 manual allows a maximum of 76mm between the floor the unit sits on and the hitting surface.
• Uneekor's EYE MINI must be level with the hitting surface.
• Full Swing's KIT wants level ground 3.05m behind the ball.

The Tee Turf mat alone is 42mm thick; add a rubber base and you can be near the Mevo's limit. If your unit sits on the floor, lift it on a level platform to match, or check the total before you add an underlay. Launch monitor placement and lighting has each unit's rules.