Pain Pain Go Away
Several years ago I was hitting golf balls in the garage of my old home. I was in pain with both the elbow and wrists but just wrote it off that I was hitting a bunch of balls. I started to do some research to see if there were exercises I could do to help what looked like not golfers elbow but tennis elbow. So I bought a Thera-band Flex Bar and used it consistently. Felt slightly better with an increase in forearm strength but something still seemed off with the pain. So I started researching golf mats. Lo and behold one person after another mentioned issues with elbow and or wrist pain with the current mat they were using. That is how I stumbled onto Fiberbuilt Golf and the Fiberbuilt Flight Deck and also why I decided to do this Fiberbuilt Flight Deck review.
After moving to my new home and starting to conceive and create what came to be known as a golf cave, there were a few golf related purchases that I needed to make a good decision on. Golf simulator, projector, laptop, impact screen, golf stand to put clubs in, turf, mat to hit off of, etc…
Old School Hitting Mat
I had been using a 3’x5′ golf mat which I picked up from Amazon. Actually, it looks like it is no longer available but it went under the name 36″ X 60″ XL Super Tee Golf Mat – Holds A Wooden Tee. It felt comfortable to stand on and hit (initially). Good cushion feel to it. I even cut a hole in the mat to place a plastic tee. I’m sure this mat works fine for a golfer who casually hits balls or maybe someone who umm errr isn’t my age. But for me this seemed to be the culprit which was causing pain. I needed to find a solution.
My research into golf mats led me to a number of products. I should say a number of fine products. It was just for the time being and with the number of golf items I would be purchasing for my golf cave, many were out of reach in regards to price. At some point in the future I may look into GungHo or Country Club Elite or TrueStrike amongst others. They’ve received great ratings but just aren’t in my price point.
Fiberbuilt Practice Station
Fiberbuilt sells something they call the Fiberbuilt Practice Station which includes the flight deck as well as a place to stand and an area for ball storage. At approximately $400 or so the price wasn’t bad but since I had the 36″ X 60″ XL Super Tee Golf Mat, I didn’t feel the need to pay the extra money for the Practice Station. The other option was to purchase a Fiberbuilt Flight Deck. I saw this in a variety of price points up to $99.99 and can’t guarantee you will get the same price I did but I got the Flight Deck for less than $60.
Fiberbuilt Flight Deck
What I noticed immediately about the Fiberbuilt Flight Deck is that compared to hitting off the 36″ X 60″ XL Super Tee Golf Mat, I got more backspin. I was told that a neat test is to put a ball on a tee and hit an iron. Got basically the same backspin numbers off the Super Tee Golf Mat as well as the Flight Deck. If you think about it, it is because the turf isn’t involved at all when hitting the golf ball. As soon as I put the ball on the Super Tee Golf Mat and hit a handful of shots, followed by the Fiberbuilt Flight Deck while doing the same, yep… the Flight Deck saw way more backspin and is more towards reality with hitting on the golf course. My SkyTrak Golf Launch Monitor proved that in shot after shot with the same ball. The extra backspin with the Flight Deck might be because of the way the ball sits on top of the artificial grass. By the way, this is supposed to be the same artificial grass that is used in Fiberbuilt’s mats. Actually, they call it Fiberbuilt Grass.
Personally, I like the feel of hitting golf balls off the Flight Deck although some say it seems unnatural. Others have said they don’t get the same feeling of compression as compared to other mats. Let me back up here. Because I was feeling pain from using the 36″ X 60″ XL Super Tee Golf Mat while hitting down and through the ball, I did what a normal golfer might do. I started to thin or pick the golf ball off the mat. If I wasn’t hitting down on the ball it meant less pain. But that meant I was no longer compressing the golf ball.
Not so once I started using the Fiberbuilt Flight Deck. I learned to hit down and through the ball and had no issues with that as the elbow and wrist pain went away.
The Fiberbuilt Flight Deck is an oval shape and measures 21.5 inches long by 13.5 inches wide. So not what you would call a mat but perhaps a hitting surface instead. The Fiberbuilt grass is 1 inch tall but because of the base it stands about 1.8 inches tall. The base around the outside of the grass is very sturdy.
It comes with two adjustable tees that can be used up to 2 inches in height. Works well with irons, hybrids, 3 wood and driver for me. Took me about 6 months before I broke a tee off. Along the way, I bought some BirTee Pro Winter Tee Golf Tees in different sizes. This product works great but the tees fly off as you hit a golf ball.
The Flight Deck comes with a 300,000 shot guarantee. I’ve been using it for well over a year now and if you look at the picture above, you can hardly tell it has been used.
Portability
The Fiberbuilt Flight Deck is very light so you can easily move it for use indoors or outdoors. In fact, while using indoors with my SkyTrak, I typically put a ball up on the adjustable tee and then hit a drive, turn the Flight Deck around and to the other side (away from the adjustable tee), put the ball on the laser and hit my next shot. Takes literally 3 seconds or so.
On nicer days, I sometimes take the Flight Deck outdoors when practicing shorter shots and pitches up to about 30 yards. The nice thing is by using the Flight Deck, you aren’t putting divots and holes in your yard. My wife is happy about that. For outside use, you can keep the product in place by putting tees into the stabilizer holes.
I use the Fiberbuilt Flight Deck with irons, hybrids, 3 wood and driver. I also putt off the deck when using it with SkyTrak. The feel I get when using this product is like hitting off a fairway. No getting the iron caught up like you might get when hitting out of the rough.
My Current Setup with the Fiberbuilt Flight Deck
Which brings me back to the discussion about pain when hitting off the Super Tee Golf Mat. It got to a point where I felt like I needed to practice, yet I knew it would be painful the following day when using the Super Tee Golf Mat. That painful feeling slowly went away after I started using the Fiberbuilt Flight Deck. It took a while to learn that I didn’t have to scoop or pick the ball off the mat with the Flight Deck to avoid pain. As for the Super Tee Golf Mat, it makes a great mat to stand on while hitting golf balls.
One thing I have contemplated doing as a winter project is to cut out a portion of my mat to insert the Fiberbuilt Flight Deck. I have seen others do the same and if I can figure out how to make the height of the mat level with Flight Deck, this could make the product stay stable.
What I mean by that is as I am hitting inside my golf cave with the SkyTrak, the Flight Deck moves slightly with each shot. Not a big deal to adjust it every 10 shots or so but if I don’t have to adjust it at all (if I build it into the mat), there would be one less thing to think about.
The negative to putting the Fiberbuilt Flight Deck into my mat would be that I would no longer be able to pick it up as easily to take it outside. Can still be done but I would have to drag the mat out as well. It’s just a thought for now.
Final Thoughts on the Fiberbuilt Flight Deck
After all is said and done, tonight I will walk into the golf cave and hit approximately 100 shots off the Fiberbuilt Flight Deck. A combination of practice and playing 9 holes with SkyTrak and TGC2019. I am happy as all heck with the Flight Deck and will continue to use it in the foreseeable future. Sure, as an attempt to continuously update my golf cave I will always look for the latest and greatest products and that includes golf turf. However for the price and feel of the Fiberbuilt Flight Deck, in my determination it can’t be beat.