GoSports Golf Hitting Net Review: Months of Real Use on the Course

I bought the GoSports hitting net in the spring, mostly because I got tired of driving twenty minutes to the range twice a week just to hit forty balls. I am 61, I took up golf seriously at 52, and I play to about an 18, so I am not trying to qualify for anything. I just wanted a way to keep my swing from falling apart between Tuesday rounds with my regular group. The net has been set up in my garage and in the backyard for over a year now, through a South Carolina summer and a couple of wet winters, and I have hit thousands of balls into it. Here is what that actually looks like.

How I've Used It

My setup is simple. I have a small mat I hit off, the GoSports net, and a bucket of used balls I picked up at the local course. I set the net up in the garage when the weather is bad and in the backyard when it is nice. The whole thing takes about five minutes to put together. The frame is fiberglass poles that thread through sleeves in the netting, and the base is a set of weighted bags you fill with sand or water. I filled mine with sand because I did not want to deal with draining them in the winter.

I hit into it three or four times a week, usually thirty to fifty balls a session. I work on the same things my Tuesday group makes fun of me for: keeping my head still, finishing high, and not trying to kill the ball. The net does not care if I hit it well or badly. It just stops the ball and drops it at my feet, which is exactly what I need.

One session that sticks with me happened last January. It was 38 degrees and drizzling, too wet for the range, and I had a swing thought I wanted to test: taking the club back slower. I dragged the net to the back corner of the garage, set up the mat, and hit 75 balls while Karen ran errands. I was not trying to hit them hard. I was trying to hit them smooth, the way the pro at the course keeps telling me. By the end, my hands were cold and my swing felt better than it had in weeks. That is what this net is for.

One thing I will say up front: this is a net, not a simulator. It tells you nothing about where the ball went. I have paired it with a cheap launch monitor I already owned, and that combination gives me enough feedback to make the practice useful. If you are expecting the net to tell you your carry distance, you will be disappointed. If you just want to swing without chasing balls, it does that job perfectly.

Build Quality and Setup

The GoSports net is built around a fiberglass frame and a heavy nylon net. The frame poles are thick enough that they do not bend when a ball hits them, and the net itself has held up to thousands of impacts. I have hit full wedges, 7-irons, and the occasional driver into it, and I have not put a single hole in the netting. That surprised me, honestly. I expected to be patching it within a month.

Setup is straightforward. The poles slide into sleeves, the net stretches over the frame, and the base bags weigh it down. Taking it down is just as easy as putting it up, which matters if you are storing it between sessions. The whole thing folds down flat enough to lean against a garage wall.

The first time I set it up, I did it wrong. I threaded the top pole through the wrong sleeve and ended up with a net that sagged in the middle like a hammock. My shop teacher instincts kicked in, so I read the directions, and the second attempt went up flat and tight in about ten minutes. The poles are marked at the joints so you can tell which end goes where, and they lock together with a simple twist. I have set it up maybe fifty times since, and I can do it in the dark if I have to. The whole package lives in a canvas carry bag when it is down, and the zipper on that bag is starting to show wear, but it still does the job.

The one weak point I have found is the stakes. The net comes with small stakes to hold the base in place on grass, and they work fine on a calm day. But if you are hitting in a breeze, the net can shift a little. I solved that by filling the base bags with sand and adding a couple of sandbags of my own on the back corners. With that setup, it has not moved an inch, even when I hit a ball high on the frame.

How It Performs Over Time

I have owned the GoSports net for over a year, and I have hit thousands of balls into it. The netting still looks almost new. There is no sagging, no fraying, and no holes. The fiberglass frame has not cracked or splintered, even though I have left it up in the garage during a few hot weeks and a couple of freezing nights. The base bags have held their sand without leaking.

The net has also survived things it probably should not have. Last summer we had a stretch of afternoons in the mid-nineties, and the garage got hot enough that I would not have blamed the fiberglass for going brittle. It did not. Then in February we had a hard freeze, and the netting froze stiff one morning. I left it alone until it thawed, and it was fine. The sand in the base bags has never leaked, which surprised me, because I half expected a seam to give after a year of being dragged across concrete. One ball did ricochet off the frame and bounce off the garage door, but that was a high toe strike I should not have been hitting anyway.

The only real wear I have noticed is on the target sheet. The net comes with a large target banner that hangs in the middle of the net, and after a year of direct hits, the banner is starting to fade and show some wear at the edges. It is still perfectly usable, and GoSports sells replacements, but it is the first thing that will need replacing if you hit a lot of balls.

I have also learned that the net is not completely silent. A well-struck ball makes a satisfying thump, but a ball hit high on the frame makes a loud crack that my wife Karen can hear from the kitchen. If you are practicing early in the morning or late in the evening, you might want to warn your neighbors. I have not had any complaints, but I also do not hit before 9 a.m. on weekends.

After a year and thousands of balls, the netting still looks almost new. That is the part I did not expect.

What It Does Well

The GoSports net does exactly what a practice net should do: it stops the ball. I have hit full shots into it from as close as ten feet and as far as fifteen feet, and it catches everything. The netting is dense enough that balls do not punch through, and the frame is sturdy enough that it does not wobble when you hit the center of the target.

It is also genuinely portable. I have moved it between the garage and the backyard more times than I can count, and it has been in the back of my pickup truck twice when I took it to a friend's house. It folds down into a manageable size, and the whole thing weighs maybe twenty-five pounds with the sand in the base. I can carry it myself, and I am not a young man.

The size is another thing I appreciate. I have the 10 x 7 foot version, and it gives me a big enough target that I do not have to be precise about where I aim. I can work on my swing without worrying about shanking one past the edge of the net. The 7 x 7 version would probably work for most people, but I like the extra margin.

The other thing I did not expect is how much more I practice. When the net lived only at the range, I practiced when the weather and my schedule lined up, which was maybe twice a week. Now I will go out and hit twenty balls while the coffee is brewing, or ten balls before dinner. It is not dramatic practice, but it adds up. I have hit more balls in the last year than in the previous three years combined, and my handicap has gone from 21 down to about 18. The net did not do that by itself, but it made the reps possible.

Where It Falls Short

The biggest limitation is one I already mentioned: the net gives you no feedback. You know you hit the ball, but you do not know if it was straight, sliced, or hooked. Last month I spent a whole session convinced I was hitting the ball straight, and when I finally got to the range on Tuesday, one of the guys told me I was still coming over the top. The net let me practice the wrong move for two weeks. That is the real cost of no feedback. If you are working on a specific swing change, you need a launch monitor or a camera to tell you what is happening. I use a cheap launch monitor I already owned, and that works, but it is an extra cost to factor in.

The stakes are also not great. On a windy day, the net can shift if you do not add extra weight. One March afternoon a gust caught the top edge and lifted the whole thing a few inches off the ground before I got sandbags on it. I solved that with sandbags, but it is worth knowing before you buy. If you plan to use the net on grass in an open area, budget for a few extra sandbags or a set of heavier stakes.

Finally, the target banner is the first thing to wear out. After a year of use, mine is faded and a little frayed at the edges. It still works, but it is not as pretty as it was on day one. GoSports sells replacements, so it is not a dealbreaker, but it is a maintenance item to expect.

Who This Is For

The GoSports net is for the golfer who wants to practice at home without driving to the range. It is perfect for someone like me: a mid-handicap player who wants to keep the swing loose between rounds, work on a specific feel, or just hit balls when the mood strikes. It is also great for beginners who want to get comfortable with the swing without the pressure of a range full of people watching. I have let a couple of guys from my Tuesday group hit into it, and two of them have since bought their own.

It is also a good fit for anyone with limited time. I can be in the garage and hitting balls ten minutes after I decide to practice. That convenience has made me practice more than I ever did when I had to drive to the range. More practice has not turned me into a scratch golfer, but it has kept my swing from getting rusty between Tuesday rounds.

Who Should Skip It

If you are a low-handicap player who needs precise feedback on ball flight, this net alone will not be enough. You will want a launch monitor or a simulator setup, and the net is only one piece of that puzzle. If you are looking for a complete practice system, you will end up spending more than the net costs.

You should also skip it if you do not have a place to set it up. The net needs a flat area roughly ten by seven feet, plus room to swing. A small apartment balcony or a cramped garage will not work. And if you are not willing to add a little extra weight for windy days, you might find yourself chasing the net across the yard more than you would like.