Best Putting Mats: Which Mat for Your Space, Including Ones With Break
A putting mat makes a useful present for a golfer who likes to practise at home. The right one depends mostly on two things: how much floor you've got, and what they want to practise, whether that's holing short putts, getting the pace right or reading break. This guide matches the mat to both, with the sizes, speeds and prices checked at the maker or on Amazon.
Straight to the Pin
Pick by space first. For a small room, PuttOut's Slim mat (240 × 25cm, £39.99). For an all-rounder, the PuttOut Pro (240 × 50cm, £59.99). For a longer home practice area, PuttOut's Large mat (367cm, £99.99). Golf Monthly's best overall in its 2026 tests is the Perfect Practice (9.5ft, £129.99). To practise breaking putts, Me and My Golf's Breaking Ball mat (£99.99) or PuttOut's adjustable AirBreak (£319.99). For kids, the Longridge Putt 'N' Hazard (£22.99).
Which putting mat?
What matters most: the space, or what they want to practise?
The mat
A slim mat you can leave out
Narrow enough for a hallway or beside a desk, and it rolls up into a bag. PuttOut says it reads 10 on the Stimpmeter, a medium-to-fast green.
Our pick: PuttOut Slim (240 × 25cm)
Before you buy: a 2.4m run of floor.
Not sure what's costing shots on the green? A putting lesson shows them, and the mat helps them practise it. Lessons with a PGA pro
For a small space: PuttOut Slim
PuttOut's narrowest mat, made for limited space: leave it out, keep it in a drawer or take it with you in its drawstring bag. PuttOut says it reads 10 on the Stimpmeter, a medium-to-fast green, with simple alignment markings.
The all-rounder: PuttOut Pro
A cut-pile surface on a heavy rubber backing, so it lies flat on any floor, with printed alignment guides, target points and distance markings. PuttOut says it reads 10 on the Stimpmeter. It rolls up into a carry bag. Use it with any flat putting cup.
A 3m (10ft) mat aimed at the short putts, with visual guides for putter-face alignment, ball position and stroke path, and three practice distances for pace. Wellputt says tour players use its mats.
For a longer home practice area
Our pick for a longer mat
From PuttOut, price checked 12 Nov 2026
4.5 stars·47 reviews
PuttOut's biggest mat, which it calls 'a practice area for your home': distance markings up to 10ft, alignment lines and five separate targets, on an extra-thick rubber backing that rolls flat out of the box. PuttOut says it reads 10 on the Stimpmeter. Free shipping and 30-day returns from PuttOut.
Golf Monthly's 2026 best overall
In stock
4.4 stars·1,587 reviews
Perfect Practice's Version 2.0 mat, sold as the official putting mat of former world number one Dustin Johnson, and Golf Monthly's best overall in its 2026 tests (it tested a 9ft version). It's 9.5ft long with markings at 2, 4, 6 and 8ft, and weighs 7.5lb. Amazon lists it as an international product sold from abroad, so allow for delivery time.
To practise breaking putts
A flat mat helps the stroke, the pace and the start line, but every putt on it is straight. These two add break in different ways: the Breaking Ball mat with weighted balls that curve on a flat surface, the AirBreak with a surface you tilt into real slopes. The extra £220 for the AirBreak buys a physical slope you can change; the Breaking Ball mat teaches pace and start line on a curve for much less. For reading real greens, see our guide to how to read a green.
Our pick for reading break
From Me and My Golf, price checked 12 Nov 2026
4.5 stars·30 reviews
A putting mat that comes with three weighted balls: one breaks heavily, one moderately and one slightly. You putt them on the flat mat and see how much pace and how wide a start line each break needs, and whether you tend to push or pull on left-to-right or right-to-left putts. 7.5ft, with an 11ft version.
A mat you can raise to create real slopes, which PuttOut says gives hundreds of slope combinations, so you practise breaking putts on an actual tilt. 8ft, or 12ft for the AirBreak Max (£599.99). Free shipping and 30-day returns from PuttOut.
For kids or for fun
A 200 × 35cm synthetic mat with a bunker and a water hazard to avoid, and a ball-return slope at the hole end that sends the ball back after each putt.
How to choose a putting mat
- Measure the floor first. Allow more than the mat's length: they need room to stand behind the ball and swing the putter. A mat that doesn't fit gets rolled up and forgotten.
- Speed. PuttOut rates its mats at 10 on the Stimpmeter, which it calls medium-to-fast. Not every maker publishes a figure, and the actual roll varies with the floor underneath.
- Backing. A heavier rubber backing helps a mat lie flat, though thick carpet or an uneven floor can still affect the roll.
- Ball return. A ramp or return saves fetching the ball, but most of the best-rated mats don't have one. Amazon lists plenty of cheaper mats with automatic returns; check the brand and the number of reviews before you buy one.
- Break. Only the Breaking Ball mat (weighted balls) and the AirBreak (real slope) add break; the rest are flat.
- How we chose. We haven't tested these mats ourselves. The picks come from the makers' published sizes and speeds, the Amazon ratings, and Golf Monthly's 2026 tests. Golf Monthly also rates mats from PrimePutt, Pure 2 Improve and Eyeline Golf (Roll the Rock), which are worth a look if none of these fits.
Would a putting lesson help?
A mat is a practice tool. If they're not sure what to work on, a lesson with a PGA professional can show them, and then the mat gets better use. Of the 1,591 PGA professional profiles in our database, 1,286 list putting lessons (April 2026). Neither needs the other: plenty of golfers just want the mat.
Find out what to work on
A lesson with a PGA professional near them: 30 minutes, an hour or two hours. Ask for a putting session and they'll look at the stroke, the set-up and the pace.
Duration: 30 min to 2 hrs
Coach: PGA professional
Not sure whether they'd rather have the mat or the lesson? The Golf Gift Voucher lets them choose a lesson themselves, from £50.
More practice kit
For aids that fix a slice, grip, tempo, speed or strike, see our guide to the best golf training aids. Putting aids (mirrors, gates and the like) and indoor putting greens will get their own guides.
Where these details come from: PuttOut (puttout.golf) and Me and My Golf (shop.meandmygolf.com) on their own sites, and the Amazon UK listings, read on 12 November 2026; and our PGA professionals database (April 2026). We earn a commission on Amazon links, not on the links to PuttOut or Me and My Golf.
Frequently asked questions
Is a putting mat worth it?
Yes, if it gets used. A mat lets you practise the short putts and the stroke at home, a few minutes at a time, which is hard to do any other way. Pick one that fits the space you actually have: a mat that's too long to leave out tends to stay rolled up.
Which putting mat is the most realistic?
No flat mat reproduces a real green, because real greens have slopes. Two products get closer. Me and My Golf's Breaking Ball mat comes with weighted balls that break heavily, moderately or slightly, and PuttOut's AirBreak lets you raise the surface to create slopes. For a flat mat, PuttOut says its mats read 10 on the Stimpmeter, a medium-to-fast green.
Can a putting mat help you read greens?
A flat mat helps your stroke, pace and start line, but it can't reproduce a green's slopes. Two products here help with break in different ways: Me and My Golf's Breaking Ball mat (£99.99) uses weighted balls that curve, to show how pace and start line change on a breaking putt, while PuttOut's AirBreak (£319.99) lets you tilt the surface into real slopes. Our guide to reading a green covers the rest.
Why do some putting mats have a ramp?
To send the ball back to you. Some mats have a slope or ramp at the hole end, like the Longridge Putt 'N' Hazard, so the ball rolls back after each putt and you don't have to fetch it.
Do pros use putting mats?
Some do. Perfect Practice sells its mat as the official putting mat of former world number one Dustin Johnson, and Wellputt says tour players use its mats.
What is the best way to practise putting at home?
Short, regular sessions: a few minutes on short putts and pace, most days, beats an hour once a month. A mat with distance markings and alignment lines gives you something specific to aim at. If you're not sure what to work on, a putting lesson with a PGA professional will tell you.
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