Our new rower and mat just arrived and while my original impulse was to put the rib side down to grip our hardwood floors, I called customer service and learned that the SHINY side is the non-slip, grip side. So we've placed it shiny side down, rib side up, and it works well.

TLDR: Matte Side = Down Shiny Ribbed Side = Up So…I was confused, so you might also be. I had no idea which way this was meant to go, so, I laid it ribbed (shiny) side down. It was sliding around like crazy on my concrete garage floor. Figured this was normal, and I would just have to deal with it. I came here to the reviews only to see that others were experiencing the same issue. I decided to re-read the item description. •Ribbed Corrugated Surface •Non-Slip Backing Or something along those lines. So I went outside, flipped it over, and it is INDEED non slip! So, if you’re having issues with your mat sliding around, and it’s ribbed (shiny side) down…flip that baddie over!

Just received my mat today. It worked just as I expected. I put in my first 30 minute row today and I have no complaints.

It fits perfectly. Easy to clean Looks cool for a mat You know does the job

I should have read the reviews. This mat is useless. It bunches up while rowing. This mat had one job. Fail

I use this for my Concept 2 rower at home. It keeps my floor protected and is the perfect size for the rower. I was a little worried about some of the other reviews mentioning sliding around, but I could seriously not even get mine to budge. Even on all out efforts with the cal/hour at 1350+, neither the rower nor mat budged.

If you're looking for a mat just to make your rowing area look nicer, and/or you use it exclusively on hot asphalt or rough, unsealed concrete, then this is a good mat. If you're trying to keep your rower from sliding around, this thing is laughable. Not only does it not stop the sliding, it promotes sliding. I just moved my rower into a room with hardwood floors and the bare rower on the ground is perfect. No movement. With the mat, it moves about 4" on each stroke if I'm really getting into it. Amazing. I don't know who thought it was a good idea to make the bottom of this mat out of a hard plastic instead of, you know, SOMETHING GRIPPY like you would expect. But they did. Don't get this unless it's for decoration.

We have a Concept 2 rower for our garage gym, which has concrete floors. We bought this mat to protect the floors and prevent slipping. The size of the mat is perfect for the rower - there is just the right amount of room around the rower. However, a major problem with the mat is that it doesn't prevent slipping at all! Even 1 or 2 minutes into a row, if I'm exerting any decent speed (~1000-1200 calories / hr), the rower will scoot itself off the mat, and I have to hop off the rower, pull it back onto the mat, and then continue with my workout. At lower speeds (600-700 calories / hr), it does not seem to slip for us. However, as another reviewer said, this defeats the entire purpose of the mat.