Sports screen 10’ side panels-do they block ambient light

[Fhacker]

I am building a new house. Plan to have setup in my 3 car garage. I have 2 new in the box 10’ sportscreens that I planned to use as sidescreens/shank blockers. For those that have used these, what is your experience. I will have some ambient light in the garage. Are they as good as side curtains or would curtains block more light for a projected image.

[mikemcd22]

I'm not familiar with "Sportscreen" If it's this one: https://www.thesportscreen.com/produ...r-golf-screen/ I would suggest you either use one for your main screen, sell the second one, buy yourself some black out material or netting for the sides and save yourself a ton of money. If you put these screens on the sides, they are going to reflect light that will likely wash out your picture to some degree.

[drscho]

The screens don’t completely completely block light and will rip off hit with a direct hit. I think using a wide curtain on top of it would accomplish your goals and give you a clean install. You can also cut the tube roller and screen down if you didn’t want to go 10’ deep on the sides.

[Fhacker]

I just have the basic manual 10’ versions, made for a hickey backstop, not the golf specific model. They are basically black mesh screens that roll up/down on a metal roller.

[Will]

I have two 10' and one 16' sportsscreen. They are not opaque. But, it's like an umbrella to the sun. A mesh that allows you to see through yet it shades the screen "as well as I would like".

The alignment and direction of the light near the hitting area is of more concern. The 10' screens collect errant balls, and diffuse the room's light and reflective sound. You can definately see through the material, but it still knocks down those errant hosel shots.

[Fhacker]

Will thanks for the info. That’s what I was thinking. Trying to decide if I want to use the sport screen as side barriers or sell them and use curtains.

[Will]

Fhacker
I took a pic during my construction phase. The light behind the right 10' sportsscreen is, I believe, a 1600 lumen led garage ceiling light (prior to installation and hooked up for testing). The mesh did a good job of knocking down its' impact and more is reflected off adjacent walls than passes through.

On the right, the lights above and below the monitors and shelf are Philips hue "play" compatible. They are set to light up the ceiling, wall, and floor with colors of the top center and bottom center of the screen.

[Will]

Fhacker

[Fhacker]

Will thanks for the pic. Great build. As they say a picture is worth a thousand words. The sports screen does look like it does the job. I will be doing garage setup also and they may work great. Your build is almost identical to what I was planning. A new question, how did u do your ceiling protection, looks similar to what I was envisioning. Thanks again.

[Will]

Fhacker
I asked Preston, at Par2Pro, to make a 14'x7' frame and fabric. There are square aluminum tubes connected, and the fabric was applied to both sides. Assembly required, and I had to do a bit of creative mounting, such as drilling holes in the frame to make the ceiling mount.

There needs to be some additional padding near the center front of the metal frame of the ceiling protection. The fabric droops a bit near the front, which is a good thing. The air between the two layers really slows the ball down. Overall it has worked very well, although I have had wedge shots come back at a speed slow enough to catch on a bounce or so. The fabric is a thick, almost canvas material, and the sewn velcro made installation fairly straightforward.

My plan was to have a 16' wide sportsscreen with a 14' centered impact screen. Then have two 10' sportsscreen for side protection. The side screens would be inset about a foot from the left and right edge of the 16' screen so that balls wouldn't directly hit walls if I were to hit it into the corner. Plus, they wouldn't have to be hooked together.

I should have gone with a 13'x7' setup to allow the side panels to be further in from the side edges. One thing that I missed was that side panel roller gets larger when rolled up. That means the side screens are closer to the edge than the planned foot of overlap. Some balls have gone through the gap, but they are really slowed down.

I can pull 2 cars out, drop my screens, and be setup and ready to play in 4 minutes. I leave the shag artificial grass on the garage floor. It's just there to stop balls anyway. You can see that I cut out a spot for tires so that most residue or water will be on the garage floor concrete. I move the hitting mat to the center.

I'll make a post about my build whenever fiberbuilt agrees to build my playing surface.

[Fhacker]

Will thanks for the information. I was planning to do it as u described. EMT frame for screen. Hang sportscreen inside of frame to deflect balls to screen. May have to think about wider screen. I was planning 13’wide, with sportscreens in about 6” on each side, for a useable 12’ wide projection area. May need to go wider based on what u describe. I also wondered why u had exposed concrete in the all landing area, now I understand. I plan to do similar ceiling protection, maybe with a few more loops near the screen

[Will]

Fhacker
I don't know how close you are to the screen (12' ball to screen here), but I made sure that the side panels were wider near the player than the screen. Wedge or skew the side panels out a bit so you or your guest don't bump them during their normal practice swing. 14' wide near the screen, maybe 16' wide near the player, if possible. The gap between the ceiling protection and the side curtain is not noticed and I have never had an issue.

The gap between the ceiling protection and the impact screen roller is a different issue. Balls run straight up the screen and onto the top of the ceiling tarp. (7i, 8i, 9i) I used an old hitting mesh to fill the gap, but it really should be made of the same canvas material.

[Fhacker]

Will yes I had planned to angle the side screens wider near the hitting area to allow for left/right swings. Right now hitting area is planned to be 9-10’ from screen. Thanks for all the tips.