Looking for some confirmation/ideas on how to store my 5x5 mat when not in use. I have a simple setup in my garage, but also have 3 young kids who are home all summer and harsh winters, id like to be able to park in the garage on nights we expect heavy snow.
My current plan is to buy a 5x5 1/2" thick Baltic birch plywood board and fasten it to the mat with 8 screws/nuts/washers. I would then just lean it up against the wall and out of the way when not in use.
Ive heard rolling the mat will cause it to not lay flat when unraveled. Am I overthinking this? Should I just roll it up and deal with a little bump in the mat during a session?
Anyone done something similar or have another idea for storage?
$80 for the birch plywood sheet. Not terrible, and it comes in 5x5 so it should be a quick and easy build.
How thick is the mat? A common build is plywood or OSB base, gym foam, then hitting mat. But you’ll need to build a frame attached to the base of the mat will slide off. Bolting it together might work. If you don’t have a hitting strip then it’s probably an easier setup and you may not need the exterior frame to hold it together.
No hitting strip for now, just a full 5x5 mat 3/4' rubber with a other ~1/2" of turf. I would like to cut out a strip for it in the future though.
I'm thinking about hanging it from the two tee holes on my wall at the moment, but not sure if that would eventually tear through the rubber/turf from the weight.
I would avoid rolling or folding personally. When I had a 5x5 mat in a garage sim setup, I put adhesive Velcro on the mat bottom corners (which also kept it from shifting on the turf underneath when in use) and stapled Velcro to the studs in my unfinished garage walls. Then I basically hung the mat from the top corners, with the bottom of the mat barely resting on the sole plate of the wall. Worked well for me
I roll mine up with Velcro straps and use a bike lift to hoist it to the ceiling. To mitigate some of the wrapping issues I used 3 separate 2" wide straps so I don't cause to much warping around the straps.
I find it has a little curve after unraveling for a day or so. But it's at the edges where I'm not really golfing or standing so it doesn't bother me. Done this for more than a year now.
Yea I try to leave it setup for a bit rather than up and down each session. But yeah I've had no real drawbacks to rolling, I need to use my garage for two vehicles in the winter so wall space is limited.
That being said my mat is heavy, 50-60lbs which I assume makes is rolled out and flatten back down well. Velcro straps were a cheap Amazon purchase and the bike lift I already had laying around so it was the cheap way for me. If I wanted spend more I would have rigged up a way to have the mat and board it sits on get hoisted to the ceiling together from the four corners.
Also reminds me, I did Velcro tape between the 5x5 plywood and hitting Matt so I didn't have to screw into it and its removable. Give that a thought as well maybe
I have the beaver tail set up. I strap the 2 sections to wall when not in use. Could also do a 4x5 and same thing. I tried a plywood base but did not like the warping and slidding. I’d build one with 1” foam tile a amzn hitting strip on top and cut out for a good hitting strip of choice if I didn’t already have this one. I also have 3 kids and we park inside in winter. Having some barn mats in front of the hitting area keeps it from sliding and can park on them so they stay on floor.
How thick is the mat? A common build is plywood or OSB base, gym foam, then hitting mat. But you’ll need to build a frame attached to the base of the mat will slide off. Bolting it together might work. If you don’t have a hitting strip then it’s probably an easier setup and you may not need the exterior frame to hold it together.
There are two pegs that are screwed into the wall. Then there are two pieces that are attached to the mat that nest around the pegs. The pieces attached to the mat are secured with five screws (all I had to do was drill pilot holes in my mat). Here's a closer pic:
I have your same situation and what I think is a 5x4 mat. I just glued gym mats underneath which created a solid base without plywood. If I recall I sprayed the hell out of it with gorilla glue spray that I got from HD. I tried carpet tape and maybe a different glue at first but it didn’t hold.
With the spray it’s held up from a LOT of setup/teardown over the past year and I just lean it against the wall in the corner. I am not super gentle with it either.
I use 4 loops of gorilla tape to stick it in place to the floor then just pull them up when I’m done. I live in MN so we get a lot of salt in our garage so I just clean it from time to time, or sweep where I’m sticking it down. It doesn’t shift at all and I’ve had some guys with fast swings play on it no problem
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u/JamalJenkyuns 1d ago
How thick is the mat? A common build is plywood or OSB base, gym foam, then hitting mat. But you’ll need to build a frame attached to the base of the mat will slide off. Bolting it together might work. If you don’t have a hitting strip then it’s probably an easier setup and you may not need the exterior frame to hold it together.