Well for the northern half of the country, winter is unfortunately here. Unless you are a person who loves snow for the sake of snow, then you are likely starting to get into the rut that leads to that awful “cabin fever” of February. During this time, you are missing out on the outdoor activities that you love. One of these activities, for many, is golf. However, with the ProInfinity Putting Mat from ProAdvanced, you have the ability to practice, at least a part, of your game over the cold winter months.
Market
When you look at putting mats, or any golfing accessory in generally, you need to look at the type of audience that the product is designed for. In most cases, you are going to be looking at a product that is designed for a very small niche of the market. As a result, if I look at a mat that is for people at my level of skill, then it is unlikely that the mat will be suited for people who are better or those very few who are worse than me. However, the ProInfinity Putting Mat moves away from this trend.
With different skill levels and excercises, the Proinfinity Putting Mat allows duffers of all skill levels to practice in the comfort of their own home. Through an innovative system of pile on the top side of the mat, the speed and difficulty of the project can be modified. If you want an easy green, start with the basic mat. If you want a pro-style green, then brush the pile and set up the slope indicators. This allows the mat to be functional for any level of golfer, which opens it up to the entire market (10 of 10 for market).
Usefulness
Though I have already touched on this, when the weather gets cold you need somewhere to keep your game fresh. While this mat only focuses on one area of your game, it does allow you to keep your putting fresh during the winter months. Personally, I realize that putting is the area of my game that suffers most during the cold winter months. This product is the type of thing that I need to keep my, admittedly poor, putting game going during the winter months (6 of 10).
Usability
For those of you who have used a putting mat in the past, you generally accept that it is a piece of foam or AstroTurf that you put your ball across. To be quite honest, while most of us could use the practice, you are only going to improve so much putting across a completely flat surface of the same length over an over. Most of us can nail those 6 foot completely flat puts!
The Proinfinity Putting Mat ups its game in this area. With a series of trainings and exercises, there are multiple targets that you can use. This is the first putting mat that I have seen with a 38 page manual for how to use a putting green. This increases the usefulness because once you have conquered the initial (easy) setting there are several more challenges to set up. Further, within each challenge there are multiple levels to help you hone in your skill (7 of 10).
Utility
As noted above, most putting mats are simply foam or fake grass. This means that there is not a whole lot you can do to change up the practice. The Proinfinity Putting Mat comes with several add-ons that you can use to increase your skill level. The first is the putting mirror, which allows you to practice your head position when you are putting the ball. I found this to be one of the most useful tools (also a tool that you may spend $100 online to buy on its own from other companies). There is also a backstop (to stop those misses you have), a trail eraser brush (so you can see where you put goes each time and set the green speed), two slop simulators and foam wedges (which allow you to change the green), a cage style goal (to change up your accuracy), a standard silicone hole, three putting arches (to help you set up your path) and of course the guide book to tell you how to use the system. This is the most innovative home putting system I have seen with this many accessories. (8.5 of 10)
Cool Factor
If you have ever been in the office of someone who keeps a putting mat there to “brush up,” you know that mats are just as much status symbols as they are tools for your game. Stepping into this world, a company needs to be “cooler” than others to be a leader. There are two ways to do this, price or usefulness. ProAdvanced chose to go with usefulness and they hit this out of the park. The accessories alone allow you to set up your practice green to look like you know what you are doing, even if you are a 9 handicap like me. This is a great little system that looks good in either your home or your office (7.5 of 10).
Overall Score
Unlike golf, when your product is being reviewed you want a higher score rather than a lower score. ProAdvanced has set a pro-level score with their product! Coming in at 39 of 50, this product is one of the highest scoring products of the year. While the manual can seem long, really long for a putting mat, it gives you the details to make this a pro level system. If you take the time to build your game around putting, you will shave points off your score. This product will help you do that if you follow the drills and play the games. Even kids can have fun with this making a must have for the holiday and winter season.
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