HQ2 Screen questions

[mthunt]

I received my HQ2 screen material. I ordered 16 feet as the room is 16 and I'll have side panels in black. I've done a lot of reading and HoganWoods had some good information. The wall behind consists of ICF foundation. I'm not sure if I'm going to drywall it or just put OSB. The city permit group said ICF has to be drywalled so I'll confirm with the inspector.

I'm looking to confirm my thoughts:

-best way to stitch: I plan to use a special needle called "ball point". Recommend the "stretchy nylon thread" or the "stretch stitch" on the sewing machine or both? I tested the stretch stitch and it gives a lot of stretch. The material doesn't seem to stretch much so do I need nylon thread? Seems like overkill given you have to hand wind bobbins.
-put a loop every foot?
-how far from wall? This is the big one. I read that people put memory foam between the screen and wall but I ordered 16 feet. That's a lot of expensive memory foam. I'm thinking I'd like to go 8 inches from the wall and hang 2 inch dense foam 4 inches from the wall. Would that work or should I put it further away?

Thanks,
Mike

[aja]

Use the information in the thread about Impact Screens.

ICF is combustible - it should be drywalled.

8 inches to the wall is definitely too little, especially if your screen is going to be 16 feet wide. Most recommendations call for a minimum of 12 inches, with your width, I'd say it would be safer with 16 inches. Remember, you are hitting a golf ball which will have a large amount of force acting on a screen which is the equivalent of a sail in the wind at the instant it is struck by the ball. The material will give quite a bit when struck.

Nylon thread is a no brainer - that's what the impact screen is made of. It must be stitched with something strong. Don't use stretch stitch.

The middle of the impact screen is the area that moves the most (since most shots strike there). Additional netting backing up the screen in the central part will help reduce deflection and conserve the screen. The central area is also the place to put padding on the wall, in case the screen travels that far. You don't need foam covering the entire back wall.

As before - read the thread about Impact Screens.

[Maverick]

Excellent advise aja. Agree with 16 inches from back wall and add netting right behind screen.

[Archv6625]

I'll third the 16" recommendation. I'm in a similar stage to you and have a 15'6" wide net up and a well struck driver in the right place on the screen - between the zip-ties temporarily holding the net up on the angle iron, which are spaced about every foot I have put dents in my wall. The screen is not all that loose either - the ball does bounce back past the hitting position in many cases. I don't know but would imagine since the screen should act less like a trampoline than the net, that the bounceback would be less. The back of my angle iron is 17 3/4" from the wall. I added a 2" twin size memory foam mattress topper directly attached to the wall in the center of the screen to protect things and it helps a lot. I don't think its necessary to add a ton of memory foam to the sides. From the pushing I did on the net, it doesn't move nearly as far the closer you get to the ends - which are fixed points of course.