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Wanted to share this for anyone who has purchased a SuperTex set up from Spectrum Golf and is having a tough time with bounce back, or for anyone who is considering purchasing in the future. Through a lot of trial and error, and reading through the tips on this site, I feel like I can share this confidently to help you. It is a little different when you buy a kit like this, because you naturally want to follow their directions and use all the included parts. If you do that with your kit, you may kill yourself with a driver that bounces back twice as hard as you hit it!
So first things first, the basic set up is a steel cage that has 14" of clearance on the back, and three feet of tarp coverage on the sides and top. The screen is held in place by 4 pieces of PVC around the edges with 3-4 straps that wrap around the PVC and attach to the cage. Finally there is a large heavy black grommetted tarp that is attached directly behind the screen with zip ties every 12 inches. There is pipe insulation covering every visible part of the cage.
Now we start.
You want to build the steel cage part exactly as the instructions show.
When you build your set up, you are only going to use the one piece of PVC for the top of the screen. You will only strap down the top and sides (use the same holes on sides, you just won't have the PVC pipe in there so will be attaching directly to the screen). The top straps can be tight enough that there is no slack. The side straps should be attached but lose. The bottom will hang lose and unattached. You will attach the side and top tarp covers as instructed, but in my experience required a little modification but not that important for this discussion.
The back is the important part. First you are going to completely leave off the black tarp. This thing is the majority of the problem, and makes every shot loud to boot! Trust me, even if you think you can do the other parts I am going to tell you and then add the tarp...DON"T. I did that and so you get to learn from my mistakes.
You could technically hit balls into just your screen at this point without too much bounce back, but I recommend doing the following to finish the set up and protect yourself from putting holes in your screen prematurely. Go to Harbor Freight and by two large moving blankets for $9 each. My set up is 12' x 9' so I bought the 72" x 80" ones. You are going to cut small slits in the top of the moving blankets and attach them directly behind the screen at the top only. Sides and bottom will hang lose. I set mine up so the two blankets overlap by one foot in the middle where you'll be hitting most of your shots. I just used some cord I had laying round and tied simple square knots and used the top bar of the cage as the anchor point. Again, trust me...just go get the moving blankets and don't waste your time trying other blankets you have lying around your house, like I did.
Once you attach them you are DONE. Depending on the size of your set up this is going to leave just screen along the bottom 12-18" and about 6" on each side, but I have not had any issues at all. That being said I did add an old sheet behind the blankets with tarp clips that reaches the bottom and covers about 6 feet, but that was just my need to "mess" kicking in. Feel free to try that too if you like.
When you hit the ball should hit the ground immediately and depending on your flooring options, bounce along the ground back to your hitting point. That is the GOOD kind of bounce back!
Hope this helps
So first things first, the basic set up is a steel cage that has 14" of clearance on the back, and three feet of tarp coverage on the sides and top. The screen is held in place by 4 pieces of PVC around the edges with 3-4 straps that wrap around the PVC and attach to the cage. Finally there is a large heavy black grommetted tarp that is attached directly behind the screen with zip ties every 12 inches. There is pipe insulation covering every visible part of the cage.
Now we start.
You want to build the steel cage part exactly as the instructions show.
When you build your set up, you are only going to use the one piece of PVC for the top of the screen. You will only strap down the top and sides (use the same holes on sides, you just won't have the PVC pipe in there so will be attaching directly to the screen). The top straps can be tight enough that there is no slack. The side straps should be attached but lose. The bottom will hang lose and unattached. You will attach the side and top tarp covers as instructed, but in my experience required a little modification but not that important for this discussion.
The back is the important part. First you are going to completely leave off the black tarp. This thing is the majority of the problem, and makes every shot loud to boot! Trust me, even if you think you can do the other parts I am going to tell you and then add the tarp...DON"T. I did that and so you get to learn from my mistakes.
You could technically hit balls into just your screen at this point without too much bounce back, but I recommend doing the following to finish the set up and protect yourself from putting holes in your screen prematurely. Go to Harbor Freight and by two large moving blankets for $9 each. My set up is 12' x 9' so I bought the 72" x 80" ones. You are going to cut small slits in the top of the moving blankets and attach them directly behind the screen at the top only. Sides and bottom will hang lose. I set mine up so the two blankets overlap by one foot in the middle where you'll be hitting most of your shots. I just used some cord I had laying round and tied simple square knots and used the top bar of the cage as the anchor point. Again, trust me...just go get the moving blankets and don't waste your time trying other blankets you have lying around your house, like I did.
Once you attach them you are DONE. Depending on the size of your set up this is going to leave just screen along the bottom 12-18" and about 6" on each side, but I have not had any issues at all. That being said I did add an old sheet behind the blankets with tarp clips that reaches the bottom and covers about 6 feet, but that was just my need to "mess" kicking in. Feel free to try that too if you like.
When you hit the ball should hit the ground immediately and depending on your flooring options, bounce along the ground back to your hitting point. That is the GOOD kind of bounce back!
Hope this helps
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