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Just checking to see if anyone else has injured themselves from sim golfing. Last night I fired a second shot with a 5 wood and it hit something. It came back and hit me in the face. I left a trail of blood through the garage all the way to the bathroom. I was hitting into a comforter/photo backdrop/net. This hasnt happened before but thinking maybe I should reevaluate my set up. Or maybe just get a helmet with a face shield. 🤣
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I had a friend hit a low burner driver into the 2x4 frame that held the screen in place. The ball came back so fast and hit him square just above his belly button. He had a welt for 3 weeks. I since modified the frame and built a protective ramp to dummy proof it for my friends. Nothing has ricochet off of anything than a frame or unpadded wall. You have to remember, it is golf and anything can happen as you learned first hand. -
I have a DIY setup. Avoided any injuries, but definitely made a few changes after seeing a few ricochets! Worth some time to plan for unexpected. You can find many solutions if you search the forum for padding, baffles, etc.Comment
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The first year I had it I was playing 18 holes a day through the week and at least 36 on each saturday and sunday. I got golfers elbow and had to stop playing. It took a year to recover and when I finally got over that I injured my shoulder moving 2 tons of wood stove pellets and was out for another year.Lidar Courses:
Belmont CC Lidar
Virginia National Lidar
Creighton Farms Lidar
Westpark Va Lidar
Fictional Simulator Courses:
Ile aux cinq phares
Conifer Woods v2
Rodgers Woods v2
Greenwood Golf Course Sim
Desert Valley Golf Sim
Nine Lakes
plus others.Comment
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Had a similar experience but with less blood. Rapidly bought these... https://shop.virtual-golf-simulator....10-Ft-1007.htm
Worth every penny -- saved me at least three times thus far.Comment
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Sounds incredibly painful. I've got a pretty ghetto setup myself, but designed to prevent such a situation. It's basically the "pro" version of this net, first link below (which trust me, won't stop all balls), plus the "add on" net, with an old bed sheet in front of it to take most of the impacts (and save the net behind it). Then above, right side, and left side are each guarded by a 10' x 10' net (second link below).
The back net (don't rely on only it, I have multiple holes directly behind mine) comes with its own supports and is very compliant. Even if you hit it with a ball, I can't see any way a ball could come directly back at high speed. But my whole setup is supported by paracord that goes up to hooks on the ceiling. Then each section of net is "sewn" to the next section by weaving paracord through each square of the junctions between both nets.
It's a pretty safe setup overall.Comment
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Thanks for links barwick11 - do you have any pics of your setup, I'd like to see how you've got your nets running? I'm about at that stage myself, but am hoping the big 'wad' of Commando Cloth from Chicago Canvas will be enough draped over tensioned wire to stop any balls going up high. I also have thick blackout curtains (left/right sides) that I'm hoping to stop anything going that way... I'm about to get to a full test within the next week or so...
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There's an old saying in the sim world and that is build your sim for the absolute worst possible scenario. If something will send a ball back it'll happen.
My Courses:
World Par 3's by mthunt
Toronto GC (L) mthunt
Burlington G&CC by mthunt
Weston G&CC by mthunt
London Hunt Club L mthunt
Park CC Lidar mthunt
Sunningdale GC Robinson L
Sunningdale GC Thompson L
Muirfield Village (liDAR) First Ever Lidar course
Country Club of Castle Pines (liDAR)
The Sanctuary GC ProTee L
The National GC L mthunt
Mississaugua GC L mthunt
Shaughnessy G&CC L mthunt
Markland Woods CC mthunt
Hidden Lake Old L mthunt
Magna GC L mthunt
Barrie CC L mthunt
mthunt RangeComment
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Sure thing, see the below pics.
Here's the front-on view. We're all right handed so I haven't bothered to fully close the gap on the left side. It's just there because once in a while the kids will really pull one, and I'd like "not a hole" in my mower's gas tank.
Here you can see how I attached the edges of the nets together to prevent balls from flying through (and they will if you don't do this). I took paracord and looped it through each and every square of the thicker net, tightening it every few squares as I go to make sure it was taut. It was a pretty huge pain in the butt to do this, especially at first looping the entire length of the paracord through.
And here you can see how I supported it all from the ceiling, using the original net I linked as the "foundation" for the back net. Lots of paracord pulling in key areas, strategically positioned to still allow that one garage door opener to work. The other garage door opener I had to remove to have enough room to swing on that side.
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Stop worrying and improve your reflexes. When you can successfully catch the rebounds you are ready for a tryout as an NHL goalie
If you can't do that then get some more covering over the hitting area. It looks like from your pictures a idiot mark making shot with a driver would come right off the ceiling and whack you in the head.
As others have said any lousy shot you can think of will occur sooner or later either by you or one of your guests. Before I had a cage a few scratch or better golfers put dents in my ceiling. When you don't have to chase the foul bails everyone goes bat shit crazy every now and then, swings 120%, and the ball goes everywhere. Some have even hit my GC2. Luckily I have a metal protective cover..Comment
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That's uh... my setup, not his. Mine's fine for us.Originally posted by Ronsc1985 View PostComment
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That's one heck of a lot of netting barwick11 !!! I'm hoping my fabric will catch things, but about to find out, maybe this weekend ; )Comment
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barwick11 - I just read a post where someone was mentioning using 2" thick acoustic foam panels spray glued to their ceiling and left/right sides to stop errant balls.
Deaddawg101 - maybe this is an option for you?
Here are the Acoustic Panels (2" thick x 12 x 12): https://tinyurl.com/acpanels-2x12x12
Here are the Acoustic Foam Egg Crate Panels (2.5" thick x 48 x 24): https://tinyurl.com/aceggcrate-2andhalfx24x48
I cannot say how well either of these two options work, but I am considering them, as a possible replacement for side curtains/baffles... mostly because they can open up more width on your screen, if you only have 2" or 2.5" of protection glued to your side walls or ceilings. The side curtains I was planning on using are hung 5"-8" away from wall, so you could gain an extra 1 foot+ of space on width, and likely 6"-12" of height if you replace baffles/cloth with acoustic foam panels.
Another option is Gym mats, but they are quite heavy and I'm not considering those at the moment.
Good luck... I hope your head heals!
-BrettComment
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Brettster - this is what I used per a friend that puts in sims for a living. They have increased the prices but they look great and work. https://akathletics.com/collections/...tick-wall-pads. I went with 10 of the 4x2 with only 2 on the left side as no lefties in my sim. The are great but once the velcro is on the wall, it is not coming off without taking the sheet rock paper layer with it.Comment
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Scottygolf - those look great, with Velcro already stuck on in 3 places. The issue I would have is the price - is this $76 for 1 pad? If you bought 10 that would be $760 and out of my budget… Did you try anything before these, as a comparison? The reason I ask, they are 2” thick, so it seems they would be real similar to the acoustic 2” thick tiles - but with vinyl covering and Velcro on them.
I bet they are very good, but would likely try the acoustic tiles first at a much lower cost, Just to see, which might be what I end up doing… has anyone else used the acoustic tiles by themselves and how well they do, with maybe a video showing how they take a shank?Comment
Effectively it's equivalent to 4 pieces of 10 x 10 netting. So 40 x 10 of netting...ish™
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