Impact Screen 101

[Bubba22]

The impact screens for golf simulators are critical for its realism. The ideal impact screen will be durable, project well and not have a big bounce back. Most folks will have their sim room double as a theatre room so a good quality projector and impact screen are important. The impact screen may be flat, curved or have 3 screens to present a simulator surround experience. Full swing also has a Pass through screen that is very cool.

Most screens are built with an enclosure or stand alone. often side panels or netting is used to prevent stray balls from doing harm as well as cosmetics of the room. Make sure the screen is loose to prevent any big bounceback.




Certainly one can make an impact screen however various companies make high quality screens.

here are some links:

Protee Screen www.proteegolfsimulator.com/?option=com_virtuemart
HQ Screen at par2pro www.par2pro.com/shop/index.php?cPath=23_35
Par-20 screen West Coast netting www.westcoastnetting.com/
CDG screen www.customdesigngolf.com/the_affordable_...deo_impact_screens_1
Allspostsytems www.allsportsystems.com/golf-simulator-hitting-screen.html
Net return www.thenetreturn.com/practice-golf-nets/simulator-series.html

[bpep]

I'm getting ready to hang my net as well. I have angle iron down the sides and am going to use zip ties to secure it so it can support the screen that will be hung with bungees. how tight should it be made. Thoughts?

[Maverick]

Zip,

Go by feel, I made mine so the net can move back a foot on impact.

[Maverick]

I'm getting ready to hang my net as well. I have angle iron down the sides and am going to use zip ties to secure it so it can support the screen that will be hung with bungees. how tight should it be made. Thoughts?

Tight enough just so you don't have waves on the screen. But not too tight.

[bpep]

how tight do we make the net so it serves its supporting purpose?

[Maverick]

See my response to zip above.

[zip]

My screen area is framed 170 inches wide and 118 inches high. Along each vertical stud and along the bottom of the ceiling joist I secured 1-1/4 inch 14 gauge angle iron using 1-1/2 inch lag screws every 12 inches.

I purchased a 10x10 golf net from http://www.ejourneytohealth.com/.

I hung it with a 24 inch bungee in each corner and three 48 inch bungees on each side. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Keeper-24...6023/203635138

It's stretched to 12 feet at the top and bottom. The sides hang much looser.

[zip]

I purchased 192 inches of HQ2 raw material from Cory at Par2Pro. http://www.par2pro.com/shop/product_...products_id=98

I ended up needing a 164 inch finished screen, so I cut the screen to exact length and made a 1 inch double stitched hem around all 4 sides.

I bought this webbing for the straps. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I cut 6 inches pieces of webbing, folded them in half and sewed them with 5 passes in to the hem every 12 inches.




I used 12 inch bungees to secure the screen to the angle iron. http://www.menards.com/main/tools-ha.../p-1946592.htm

The screen comes to within about 3 inches of the angle iron on each side and along the top. The bottom hangs loose. I ran out of bungees for the bottom 3 feet, so the last picture isn't the finsihed product, as you can see by the waves/wrinkles in the bottom third of the screen. When I get those bungees installed the screen shouuld look pretty flat and uniform from top to bottom. Once I do that I'll double check the tightness and adjust as necessary. Then I plan to start hitting balls softly in to the net and have some watch from behind the net to see ho much deflection I get. Re-adjust bungees and keep hitting balls harder until I can hit a driver and get good deflection.

[Sullyberger]

When purchasing the angle iron for impact screen, should I be looking for slotted 1-1/2" x 14 gauge angle iron. I seem to only be able to find 3/8" punched angle. Do the slots help with the bungie straps? Sources for where members bought 10' slotted? Another question, do I use same angle to fasten my netting behind Protee screen? Getting real close. Thanks

[Maverick]

Yes, you use the same angle iron to fasten then netting behind the screen.

[DougieMn]

I like the Idea of mounting the impact screen to angle irons on 2x4s. My room width is 18' so the screen would be considerably narrower than walls plus the ceiling is vaulted so there is no good way of fastening the top of the screen other than having a cable or such going from wall to wall which would be unsightly.

Has anyone basically built a 2x4 structure to house the screen? Ideas/suggestions?

p.s. I'm thinking it would ultimately have to be secured to the floor to keep it from tipping?

[Hoosierdaddy]

My first enclosure was made of a 2x4 frame, didn't take long to get rid of it, a hard wedge shot coming back at you at mach one is enough to make you rethink the entire project. We tried putting foam on the 2x4 like they use for insulating a pipe and all that did was make the target bigger. As unsightly as it may seem now, a cable is still the best bet, or anything round and thin. I have 1" metal conduit now and a 2ft net at a 45 degree angle to catch the balls that get up there. With out it the balls still find a way to get back at you. To many close calls with nothing there. Now it is swing away and never worry.

[DougieMn]

So a frame like Cory has at Par2Pro is preferable? Not sure of the aesthetics, I want the finished product to look professional and fit into my space like it was custom made. Anybody done work with www.customdesigngolf.com?

[DougieMn]

Is there an affordable quality frame out there that will support a 12x9 impact screen? I'd like the sidewalls to angle out at a 45 instead of 90 and only be about 6ft in length.

When does the top net become an issue with the projector? If using a short throw projector it seems to me that the top netting can't be to terribly long otherwise it would interfere with the image?

[Dax]

I went the electric conduit route and it was very affordable. Get the pipe from you local home supply store like Home Depot and go to a canopy store or website like Creative Shelters for the fittings. As for the projector, mine sits back about ten feet and this is how long I built my cage thus I have no issues (my image is about a foot bigger than my screen, which I don't mind at all). It really depends on the ST projector that you choose and how far back it sits and more importantly, hopefully not too far in front of where you are hitting from.

[DougieMn]

You sealed the deal! I'm going to get some 45's and couplers and weld the 4 corners and grab some straights and get manufacturing. Thinking if I screw up I won't have much money invested and my time is all I'm out. With the weight of the impact screen is 1" big enough or should I go bigger? The price difference is not that much more for the bigger stuff but don't want to overkill the project.