Softening or Eliminating Bounce Back?

[PerfGolfTX]

I just installed a 10 foot high by 15 foot wide impact screen in my teaching studio, made of heavyweight 18 mil tarp material manufactured for me by a local company. It is suspended from the ceiling, and also has a angle iron frame to attach it to the walls. I have an additional impact net directly behind the screen.

I am having a major issue with bounce back. Hitting from 15 feet away (necessary to allow the Trackman 4 to pick up the ball), low shots will hit and drop with little bounce back, but shots in the middle of the screen bounce back quickly 8-15 feet depending on the velocity of the shot. Had a student catch their own driver shot with their hand yesterday like a pitcher catching a line drive...funny, but not good for safety or customer enjoyment.

So far I've tried having the screen and net hung fairly tightly with about a foot of give in the center of the screen, and I've also tried having the screen and net hang loose from the sides, so there is minimal resistance to the screen moving...ball still rockets back too far and too fast on center hits.

What can I put behind the screen to deaden those impacts? I've thought about putting moving blankets right up behind the screen, or adhering memory foam or acoustic foam to it, but don't want to waste time with something that won't work.

Any ideas to get my bounce back down to 4-6 feet?

Thanks!

Patrick

[TheCoupe]

Hi Patrick, how stiff is your tarp material? I'm wondering if there's not enough 'give' in the material to flex and catch the ball to slow its bounce, regardless of how loose you have it. Also, it the screen attached with bungees to allow more flex?

[mthunt]

Make your screen only tight enough to not be loose and wrinkled. Too tight makes the ball bounce back. Also, put archery netting or golf netting behind it with bungees.

[JV17]

PerfGolfTX, I hung curtains behind my screen...Nice heavy ones. Works great! No bounce back at all. Good luck.

[PerfGolfTX]

PerfGolfTX, I hung curtains behind my screen...Nice heavy ones. Works great! No bounce back at all. Good luck.

Does your screen flex back into the curtains and then they absorb and deaden the impact? How heavy / how many curtains and how close to the back of the screen are they?

Thanks!

[gene438]

Your tarp is definitely too tight side to side. If you back it off a bit the bounce will go away.

[PerfGolfTX]

Your tarp is definitely too tight side to side. If you back it off a bit the bounce will go away.

Currently I don't even have it attached on the sides, and it still is bouncing back 10 feet or more on any shots hit in the center of the screen.

[bionicboogerboy]

PerfGolfTX,

My guess is that your fabric is too rigid. Changing your design won't help much if that is the case. Also, the fact that you are required to be so far back because the Trackman doesn't help either. The further back you are the higher the ball hits on the screen. Balls hit high on the screen not only travel a greater distance to the ground, they travel a greater distance away from the screen.

[PerfGolfTX]

Update...got a big king size 1 1/2" thick memory foam mattress topper from Target, used spray adhesive to attach it to the back of the screen in the center, bounce backs are now under control! On a high ball speed hit into the center of the screen they'll come back anywhere from 4-9 feet and they land very softly. Since the hitting mat is 15 feet from the screen, no worries about a ball ricocheting into a customer now.

Thanks for everyone's feedback, this site has been very informative in my build!