If your ever at a driving range and want to practice your iron shots, but the range mats are just too hard you need to be aware of the “drop-kick effect” 

With lower grade and old style range mats you may hit behind the ball and slide into the ball producing false results. Many time you will slide across the mat and into the ball for much better results than you would get in the true fairway.
Here’s an online golf tip I saw from Golf Magazine top 100 teacher Roger Gunn.

“The next time you’re at the range, pull up some grass from an inconspicuous spot and place the pile one clubhead in front of the ball on the practice mat. On each swing, try to hit the ball, then the grass.

Great iron shots happen when you swing down into the ball and take a divot in front it. Catching the ball off the mat and taking the grass pile in front along for the ride helps you groove this type of contact, even if you can’t make or see a divot.”

If your looking for the most realistic golf mat, there has been great progress the last few years. The Golf Mat that has stood up to side by side tests at country clubs is the Real Feel Golf Mat available at here:  THE REAL FEEL GOLF MAT

More often than not, the only time a fourteen year old will have spent golfing in their life is on a miniature golf course.  Don’t tell that to ninth grader and Coral Springs, Florida native Alexis Thompson, however.  Thompson, a fourteen year old, is doing the unbelievable by simply competing in the Navistar LPGA Classic.  Even more unbelievable, however, is that Thompson is currently tied for the 36-hole lead with perennial power Lorena Ochoa, and three other competitors.

Thompson shot 3 under par on Friday to reach an overall score of 10 under for the first two rounds.  She credits the idea that, as an amateur, she has nothing to really lose in the tournament and can just relax and have a great time out on the course with the professionals.

Regarding her feelings on playing, Thompson said, “I was a little nervous in the beginning. I don’t know why, but I was just playing it as a normal tournament. I mean, maybe just because I was at the top. I don’t know. But I’m just going to go out there on the weekend and just be relaxed and just play my game.”

Keeping this kind of mentality may help Thompson capture her first LPGA win this weekend, thus making her the youngest player to ever win an event at less than 18 years of age.  Hopefully Thompson can continue to have these successes, and she will certainly have plenty of fans from Coral Springs supporting her.