Golf practice and exercise mat

Abstract

A golf practice and exercise mat having two striking contours with different heights and contours of artificial grass which gives golfers practice and exercise by swinging a golf club through the contoured pile that applies resistance to the golf club as the club head travels though the pile, thus enhancing strength and improving muscle memory. One contour, for irons, has the grass pile of the carpet increasing in height at a moderate, curved upward slope to an apex and then decreasing in height at a gradual, linear downward slope. The second contour, for woods, has the grass pile increasing in height at a gradual approximately linear slope until a transition point is reached at which the grass strand height increases in a single step change to a height at least two times greater than the height of the previous pile, and then decreasing in height in a linear downward slope.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A golf practice and exercise mat comprising: 
 at least one contoured hitting surface having an upwardly sloping pile followed by a downwardly sloping pile.    
     
     
         2 . A golf practice and exercise mat according to  claim 1 , wherein the upwardly sloping pile has a curved, moderately steep slope and the downwardly sloping pile has a gradual, approximately linear slope, the upwardly sloping pile and the downwardly sloping pile meeting at an apex.  
     
     
         3 . A golf practice and exercise mat according to  claim 2  wherein the upwardly sloping pile at the apex is sufficient in height to completely envelope a face of an iron club head.  
     
     
         4 . A golf practice and exercise mat according to  claim 1 , wherein the upwardly sloping pile has a gradual approximately linear slope and the downwardly sloping pile has a gradual approximately linear slope, the upwardly sloping pile and the downwardly sloping pile meeting at a transition point wherein the downwardly sloping pile has a height at least 2 times greater than the upwardly sloping pile height.  
     
     
         5 . A golf practice and exercise mat according to  claim 4 , wherein the downwardly sloping pile has a height between 3 and 5 times greater than the height of the upwardly sloping pile at the transition point.  
     
     
         6 . A golf practice and exercise mat according to  claim 4 , wherein the downwardly sloping pile at the transition point is sufficient in height to completely envelope the face of a wood type club head.  
     
     
         7 . A golf practice and exercise mat according to  claim 1 , wherein the at least one contoured hitting surface includes a contour, for striking by a iron club, with the upwardly sloping pile having a curved, moderately steep slope and the downwardly sloping pile having a gradual, approximately linear slope, the upwardly sloping pile and the downwardly sloping pile meeting at an apex, and a contour, for striking by a wood type club, with an upwardly sloping pile having a gradual approximately linear slope and a downwardly sloping pile having a gradual approximately linear slope, the upwardly sloping pile and the downwardly sloping pile meeting at a transition point wherein the downwardly sloping pile has a height at least 2 times greater than the upwardly sloping pile height.  
     
     
         8 . A golf practice and exercise mat according to  claim 7 , wherein the mat includes a portion on which a golfer may take stances to swing a golf club along either contour.  
     
     
         9 . A golf practice and exercise mat comprising a carpet of artificial grass having a plurality of striking areas with different contours created by grass pile of varying heights.  
     
     
         10 . A golf practice and exercise mat according to  claim 9  wherein a first striking area has a first portion, a second portion and a third portion, the first portion having grass pile of a first height, the second portion having grass pile progressing from the first height to a second height, and the third portion having grass pile decreasing from the second height.  
     
     
         11 . A golf practice and exercise mat according to  claim 10  wherein the grass pile of the second portion progress in a curved upward slope.  
     
     
         12 . A golf practice and exercise mat according to  claim 10  wherein the grass pile of the third portion decrease in an about linear downward slope.  
     
     
         13 . A golf practice and exercise mat according to  claim 9  wherein a second striking area has a first portion and a second portion.  
     
     
         14 . A golf practice and exercise mat according to  claim 13  characterized further in that an interface between the second portion and the first portion is a vertical transition.  
     
     
         15 . A golf practice and exercise mat according to  claim 13  wherein the first portion has grass pile progressing from a first height to a second height and the second portion has grass pile decreasing from a third height, the third height being greater than the second height.  
     
     
         16 . A golf practice and exercise mat according to  claim 15  characterized further in that the grass pile of the third height of the second portion of the second striking area are at least 2 times greater than the grass pile of the second height of the first portion of the second striking area.  
     
     
         17 . A golf practice and exercise mat according to  claim 15  characterized further in that the grass pile of the third height are between about 3 to 5 times greater than the grass pile at the second height.  
     
     
         18 . A golf practice and exercise mat according to  claim 15  wherein the grass pile of the first portion of the second striking area increase from the first height to the second height in an about linear upward slope and the grass pile of the second portion of the second striking area decrease from the third height in an about linear downward slope.  
     
     
         19 . A golf practice and exercise mat according to  claim 9  wherein the practice mat is sufficiently large to accommodate two striking areas and a location on which a golfer may take a stance to swing a golf club.  
     
     
         20 . A golf practice and exercise mat according to  claim 9 , wherein heights of the grass pile are between about 2 inches and about 8 inches.  
     
     
         21 . A golf practice and exercise mat comprising: 
 a lower carpet of artificial grass having a plurality of striking areas with different contours created by grass pile of varying heights;    an upper carpet having different contours created by piles of varying heights; and    a support structure for maintaining the upper carpet in a vertically spaced relationship relative to the lower carpet    wherein the piles of the upper carpet are oriented downwardly to intersect with the piles of the lower carpet to form an area of increasing density of carpet piles.    
     
     
         22 . A golf practice and exercise mat according to  claim 21 , wherein the support structure is L-shaped with a horizontal leg and a vertical leg, the upper carpet attached to the vertical leg.