How a session works

Every session has the same shape — 5 minutes warm-up · 10 minutes technical · 10 minutes game. The technical block trains one skill with full attention; the game scores you, because practice without consequence doesn't transfer. Sessions are labelled A, B and C each week — do them on any three days that suit. Miss one? Pick up where you left off. The programme is sequential, not calendar-locked.

Choose your track

Every drill gives you a way to judge it. Pick the track that matches your setup — the sessions are identical, and you can switch any time:

Net Track: no launch monitor needed. Your feedback is four honest witnesses — the strike mark on the face (foot-spray method), the ball's start direction against your net target, the brush mark on the mat, and your finish balance.

What you need

Everything came in the box with your Pro Golf Cage & Hitting Mat Bundle except three cheap extras: a can of athlete's-foot powder spray (~£3, any chemist — it's your strike monitor), a roll of masking tape for net targets, and two alignment sticks (old shafts or bamboo canes work). Real golf balls — your cage is built for them, and the ball you play is the feedback you want. Most sessions use driver, 7-iron and a wedge.

Week 0 · Before Day 1

The Setup Lab

Ninety days of feedback are only as good as the ground the cage stands on. An afternoon of decisions here — where it sits, what it stands on, what you hit from — pays back every single session.

1 · Site it right

Level ground first. The cage tolerates a slight slope; your hitting mat and your feedback don't. Pick the flattest spot you have, or make one (see bases below).

Clear sky above. Avoid overhanging trees — the net roof collects leaves, sap and debris all year, and clearing it is nobody's hobby. If a tree is unavoidable, plan a seasonal brush-down.

Think about sight lines. The cage is 3m tall and that's not negotiable — a 2.5m cage would put your driver swing into the roof netting. What you can control is the base: a raised platform lifts the whole structure another 20–30cm into your neighbours' view; a ground-level or sunken base keeps it tucked behind the hedge.

Give yourself room. A single bay of the heavy-duty golf cage is 3m × 3m × 3m. Leave walk-around space on the entry side, and face the hitting direction away from windows, greenhouses and footpaths — nets are excellent, but siting is your first safety layer.

3 · Your hitting surface

The bundle's mats take regular tee pegs (the Ultra Tee Turf holds them like a fairway — our preference, it replicates the course) — the Driving Range mat uses rubber tees. One under-rated benefit of a mat on a rubber base versus turf laid on the ground: shock absorption. Hundreds of balls a month with no base is a conversation your elbows and back will eventually start. If you want a wider stretch of the same turf across the bay, custom-cut strips from the roll are possible — ask us.

4 · The data corner (optional)

The programme's Net Track needs no electronics. If you want numbers, the ladder looks like this:

Entry (~£200): ShotScope LM1 — ball speed and carry basics.
The sweet spot: FlightScope Mevo Gen2 — the programme's 📊 Mevo Track is written for it: club speed, ball speed, smash factor, carry.
The sim experience: Garmin R50 — built-in screen, simulator rounds; brilliant if the kids will use it too.

Will it fit in the cage? Yes. Camera units like the R50 sit about 60cm from the ball — well inside the bay. Radar units like the Mevo sit ~2m behind the ball, which also fits the 3m footprint with your normal stance position. Mount a phone or iPad on the cage frame or a tripod to see your numbers between balls.

5 · The filming station

A phone tripod is the cheapest coaching upgrade there is. Film face-on (chest height, square to you) and down-the-line (hand height, along the ball–target line), in slow motion. The programme tells you when to film — Day 1 test swings become your "before" video — and a swing app turns clips into intention for every session.

Questions real cage owners asked us

Reference

The Drill Library

Twenty-four drills behind the codes in your sessions. Open any drill for the setup, the reps, and what good looks like on your track.

Days 1 · 30 · 60 · 90

The Test Centre

Four benchmark days, scored and saved here. Same warm-up every time, no mulligans, fresh spray on the face. The test measures golf, not luck.

After the programme

Day 91 and Beyond

The real product of 90 days isn't the scores — it's the habit of three short, purposeful sessions a week. Here's how to keep the engine running.

Upgrades that actually help

In honest order: a launch monitor if you ran the Net Track wishing you had the 📊 lines · target sheets to take over from masking tape · a second bay if the cage now has a household queue · fresh premium balls and spray/tape spares to keep feedback honest. A phone tripod if the filming station never got built — it's the cheapest coaching there is. The 2-bay golf cage configuration uses your existing frame side, so upgrading later wastes nothing.

Show us your Day 90

If your Day 90 column beat Day 1, we'd genuinely love to see it — send your progress table to hello@opengolfer.co.uk or tag @opengolfer. And if you've a minute, a review telling other golfers what 90 days in the cage did for your game helps more than you'd think.

Build your setup — Pro Golf Cage & Hitting Mat Bundle →