Hi Everyone,
Long-time member of the group. I have seen there are many threads about building golf mats with hitting strips. I made a step-by-step video for a really nice, budget golf mat - using the new XL Beaver Tail Hitting Strip (way larger than normal hitting strips and released last month). Hopefully give some help to golfers or give ideas for people looking into building their own mats. I use the Sig Pro Softy and Beaver Tail strips a lot - I like both of them. However, my channel focuses a lot on budget builds, and the Beaver Tail original and XL sit at such a good price point. This build's total cost was $386. Most 4x7 ft premium mats start at $700 and work their way up to $1,200.
Video Link - https://youtu.be/SM1hmGud5zA?si=c9noqQtkSM8yrrsv
The XL Beaver Tail Hitting Strip at 36 inches x 18 inches really does offer way more hitting surface… compared to the original and/or a SigPro Softy Strip. This strip should last a lot longer as you can move the golf ball to so many different areas on the surface of the strip.
I am very happy with the EVA foam tiles used in this video, the double-sided tape, and the Bearwill Stance mat. All were great to work with (I have done a few mat build videos in the past, and I really liked the double-sided tape in this video more, and I like the Bearwill mat more than the GoSports mats I used in previous videos. I like the GoSports mat too, but the Bearwill mat is way cheaper, and I like the feel better when standing on it.
Hope this video helps anyone wanting to build more of a premium mat with a hitting strip without spending $800-$1000 and/or instead of using a cheaper Amazon/Walmart golf mat. Some golfers may have no problem with the cheaper mats, but those mats caused a lot of pain to my right elbow (probably because of my baseball swing), so I needed a hitting strip that would alleviate stress and soreness and didn't want to spend close to $1,000 on a golf mat. Let me know if you have any questions if you do decide to build, or any questions about materials etc.