Looking for a putting mat to help hone your skills? Wondering if the WellPutt mat is the one to go with? Wondering if it’s worth the cost? Let’s see if I can answer some of your questions with my review of the WellPut Mat.
The 3m WellPutt Mat and the Perfect Practice Mat both came in at £129 ($149) at the time of writing this, the highest-priced products out of the ones I reviewed. I own and used a PuttOut Mat with the Pressure Trainer, which comes in at £98.99.
WellPutt vs PuttOut
So I’ll be honest, I got the WellPutt Mat and was really not wanting it to beat the PuttOut. I love my PuttOut, it gets a fair amount of use. And to be honest I figured all putting mats were the same… they were a surface to practice my putting on.
And at an extra £30, I was wondering if there really was an extra £30 worth of value there. And in full transparency, I actually got the 4m mat which was £149 ($179), so actually an extra £50. I actually wasn’t sure my living room was going to be big enough.
Basically, the WellPutt Mat was fighting an uphill battle from the start.
Then I rolled the mat out…with a slight shift of one piece of furniture and slightly diagonal across the room and it fits beautifully. I really should have measured my living room first.
And it immediately hits me…
This isn’t just any old putting mat.
This is a putting training system. That’s my words, not theirs. That’s what I feel it is anyway.
And if you read through, at the bottom you’ll see how you can get 15% off WellPutt products.
WellPutt Mat Review
WellPutt Mat Features:
Taken from the WellPutt website, here are the features of the mat (although I’ll be showing a few more specific features):
- Multiple visual aids for body and putter head alignment, stroke amplitude and eye positioning
- The “Good zone / Bad zone”
- 2 play directions: accuracy & distance control
- The roll, speed and feel of a real-life green at 3/3.5m (10/11.5ft) stimp
- Wellputt App for iOS & android including 54 practice exercises
- Lifetime guarantee. UV resistant. Easy to clean, easy to store
Let’s talk about come of the features a little more:
2 Play Directions: Accuracy & Distance Control
The accuracy play direction is the way I imagine most people use this mat, most of the time. Aim at the main hole with the “Good Zone” behind it. This way gives you the alignment lines, the putt length markers etc. On the 4m mat, you’ve set positions to putt from at 3ft, 6ft and 10ft.
I didn’t use the distance control side until I opened the app and tried one of the training routines. The goal is to get the ball to stop in the zone you are aiming for. And I SUCKED at it. It was annoyingly hard, which meant I found myself doing more of it. A great way to work on your distance/pace control.
Just to be clear all the markings you can see in the images above are on one side of the mat. The images just show the features based on the direction you are putting.
Speed Of The Green/Putting Mat
You’ve got 2 different speeds to putt on. But the main focus has obvioulsy been to get to as close as they can to feeling of putting on a real green. So when putting towards the hole you are on a green speed of 10 ft and when getting the distance control you are at an 11.5 ft.
The WellPutt Zone
“Good Zone / Bad Zone” – NEVER LEAVE A PUTT SHORT!
Leave putts short and yes you guessed it, they are in the bad zone. The Good Zone is beyond the hole indicating you’ve hit the putt at the right pace. According to WellPutt, it’s been proven that to make more putts you should hit them at a pace that would leave the ball 12-24 inches (30-60cm) past the whole. Why? Putts at this pace will resist slopes better.
This for me, is a BIG selling point for this mat. A lot of the other mats out on the market don’t have this area behind the hole, so unless they have an acutal hole, which some do, then I would now avoid mats without this “Good Zone”.
In the app, using the Good zone, you also get an “uphill” and “downhill” putt challenge and this will help you develop some serious touch on the greens.
The Uphill Putt Zone
You want to be a bit more aggressive with an uphill putt. So to practice these, aim to leave the ball in the uphill putt zone. This was not an easy challenge…. Some say I’m still trying to do it.
The Downhill Putt Zone
A downhill putt means you need to ease off the pace, so challenge yourself at leaving it in the downhill putt zone.. still past the hole, but only just. I’ll be honest… leaving putts short is basically my specialty, so tempting me to ease off the pace felt worrying, but working on getting the control feels really good.
Alignment Line For The Putter Face
Getting the club face square at impact is obviously vital, in fact, starting it square also helps. Make sure you’ve got a great initial setup using the alignment lines.
Alignment Line – Direction
Making sure you are set up actually aiming at the target is very useful. Sounds blindly obvious, but I’d bet out on the course I’m often not aiming exactly where I think I am. Having the alignment lines gives you a great visual for setup and to make sure you start the ball off on the right line. This is a feature that most putting mats have, and I’m pleased they do.
Putter Head Stroke Control
Ever wondered how long your putting stroke should be? This shows you.
You’ll see guides on the mat for how far back and through your putter should travel in order to consistently hit those good putts. I found this feature very useful. The length of my putting stroke felt much longer than what they were suggesting. Bringing it back to a more compact movement makes sense to me… less time for stuff to go wrong.
Eye Position When Putting
You want to make sure that you are standing over the ball correctly. If you can see any part of the circle below the ball, then you are not in the right position.
Measure Your Progress – The WellPutt Mat App
I knew that WellPutt had an app when I got the mat, but I didn’t think I’d ever use it. It’s a putting mat, I put the ball down and aim at the hole, right? Why do I need an app for that. I was an idiot.
Now you don’t need the app for practice. Just want to roll a few putts in between work calls, go ahead. Just want to get dialed in from 3, 6 or 10 feet, go nuts.
But if you want a focused practice session involving challenges, different-paced putts, different-length putts etc… Grab the app and work through their different challenges.
Putting Training
The app (there is a book too) provides you with different challenges, or rounds of golf… 18 holes and different levels of difficulty.
You then track your performance and hopefully see yourself improve. If you want to improve at something you should always track it, so you have something to measure each session against.
Putting Games
If a mate comes round, or in the summer when the BBQ is out, the putting mat often makes an appearance. They have two suggested games, one of which, “The Putt Range” I’m fairly sure is totally impossible and there would never be a winner.
The other game, “The Good Zone”, sounds absolutely brilliant and involves selecting zones to aim at. Hit the zone you get that zones number of points, e.g. go for zone 8 and get it you get 8 points. Putt beyond the zone and you get nothing, but leave the putt short and you lose points. One zone short = 1 point lost. Two zones short and you lose 2 points. Now that is making practice fun and competitive.
If I’m honest, the app isn’t the best in terms of functionality or looks in comparison to some others, but it works. I accidentally clicked the wrong button on the 14th hole, and then instead of editing a score wiped the full previous 14… that was annoying, but I learned my lesson.
The Ball Doesn’t Come Back To You
With the PuttOut if you make a putt, the ball rolls back .. some of the way at least. With the Perfect Practice mat, the ball rolls back every time.
It seems people really like this feature of putting mats. And I get it. After using the PuttOut pressure trainer I thought the fact that it doesn’t come back to me would bug me. It didn’t, not even a little bit. Turns out, walking a couple of feet to grab the balls isn’t an issue. Plus, because you’ve got the 2-way games on this mat. You can just putt them back the other way aiming for a particular zone.
Storage – Keep The Box
The PuttOut mat came with a carry bag, which is a great way to store the mat. The WellPutt mat doesn’t come with a carry case. While I don’t travel with my putting mat, I also don’t leave the mat laid out on the living room floor 24/7.
So the only tip here is… Make sure you keep the box.
It rolls up and fits in the box super easily, making storage easy.
Price
At the time of writing it’s, £129 ($149) for the 3m and £149 ($179) for the 4m this is certainly in the “premium” market of putting mats, but make sure you click here to check the current price. Lucky for you readers, if you decide this mat is the one you want, there is a 15% off special offer for you, I’ll get to that in a minute.
At this price I wanted to not like it. I wanted to be here saying it’s not worth it. But in reality… it’s better than the lower cost mats. Not just because of the materials of the mat. But because of the variation of practice it gives you and the skills it helps you develop. And even the training routines that measure your progress.
Is it in the premium price point…Yes.
Is it appropriately priced based on other products in the market… In my opinion…Yes.
Special Offer For Sunday Red Members:
Sunday Red members get 15% Off WellPutt Mats and Products!
Your code to get 15% off is…
AFF15_SUNDAYRED
Click here to go check out the different products they have.
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Sunday Red members get 15% Off WellPutt Mats and Products!
Your code to get 15% off is...
AFF15_SUNDAYRED
Which WellPutt Mat Should You Get?
I would say this comes down to how much space you have and your budget. Definitely measure how much space you have for the length of the mat. Also just bear in mind that as you practice putting in 2 directions you need space to stand on either side of the mat.
If you have the space and the budget then I would absolutely recommend the 4m (13ft) classic version. Click here to take a look at that one.
If you simply don’t have the room or budget for the 4m (13ft) version then I recommend you grab the 3m (10ft) classic version.
Sunday Red members get 15% Off WellPutt Mats and Products!
Your code to get 15% off is...
AFF15_SUNDAYRED
Summary – I LOVE IT!
Very quickly this mat became the putting mat of choice, replacing the PuttOut. Mainly because it’s not just a mat. It’s a putting training system. Along with the technical focus on setup, putting stroke, accuracy, and speed control, it also provides games, that allows you to track and measure your progress. And making practice fun is a HUGE part of actually getting results.
If it’s within your budget then I recommend you grab this putting mat for your at-home practice.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Sunday Red members get 15% Off WellPutt Mats and Products!
Your code to get 15% off is...
AFF15_SUNDAYRED
If you are still undecided and want to see how this mat stacked up against 4 other putting mats (including the PuttOut), then check out the review of 5 of the best putting mats, click here to read that now.
If you enjoyed this review, then keep an eye out as more product reviews will be on their way. In the meantime, have you ever wondered how many dimples are on a golf ball? Or why golf balls even have dimples? I did too, click here to go find out why golf balls have dimples.
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