Squeezing it in the garage!

[Oneiron22]

I’m new to the forum. It’s always been something I’ve dreamed about to have a simulator at home. So, given the current lockdown, I decided to hire a skip and clear out the garage and take the plunge. Unfortunately, I have a few issues and wonder if anyone could help to help to compensate some of my size/dimension issues.

I have 8’6” width; 15’ length; 8’2” height when measuring from the mat. See the pic.

I went for a decent quality mat because I really don’t like hitting off rubbish mats, but when I bought it, I didn’t realise that it was nearly 3 inches thick so I’ve lost a couple of inches on what was already a tight floor to ceiling space! I know that driver is almost totally unrealistic, but I think I can get a hybrid to work and it’s only for me, so no lefties or anyone taller than me (I’m 5’8”)!
My net goes up tomorrow which will be fixed to two steel upright poles and Crossrail. If it works ok, the plan is to start to make it look a bit nicer install a simulator which would be delightful!

So, here are my questions that I’d really appreciate any help with:

1. What’s the best way to protect the ceiling in the area where my follow through is most likely to strike the ceiling if it gets a bit too steep or any other suggestions?
2. Thoughts on the best sim for my set up (although not a huge budget!), given than I’m a bit limited through the bag, although when I usually practice a prefer hitting irons?
3. Would you suggest that I mount the hitting screen at a slight angle so I’m more central?
4. I’m 7 feet from the screen, is a short throw projector on the floor doable?
5. Can you project in 4k from an ipad pro or do I need to but a PC with better spec?
6. I'd love to play the old course, St Andrews in my garage (even if I'm hitting hybrid) - best option software to play this?
7. Any other ideas?

Cheers for your help and sorry if any of these are silly questions!
Greg

[3on3putt]

1. I hung a net from my ceiling to protect against wedge shots from spinning up the screen and into the ceiling. I suppose it could work the same for stopping your club. You could also maybe attach some padding to the ceiling. However, both options are just going to essentially lower the height of your ceiling even more. Personally, I wouldn't swing anything that even has a remote chance of striking anything. That's just me.

2. Don't know what your budget is but Skytrak and Mevo+ are the popular picks for the "lower end" market. There are cheaper ones like Ernest Sports but I can't speak to the quality of those. Of course there is Optishot if you want to go that route. You will likely be unfulfilled by it but it's a cheap way to get started.

3. I think hitting at an extreme offset would be less weird than hitting at an angle. I'm just a few inches offset but plenty of people are much more than that. Whatever gives you the most room to swing really.

4. Short throw on the floor is perfectly fine from 7 feet.

5. My guess is that an iPad is not powerful enough for 4k. And don't forget that you also need a projector that's powerful enough to project 4k. But this is not my area of expertise so others here with more knowledge of 4k can probably help you more than I can. Personally, if you're on a budget, I would rather spend more of my money on a quality launch monitor and sim software and mat/screen. You can still get really really good graphics that are less than 4k and save yourself a bundle of money in doing so.

6. St. Andrews is on basically every sim software. If you get a Skytrak and pay the $200 annual fee for the play and improve package, you get WGT software which includes St. Andrews (one of around a dozen courses that are included). But you'll be able to play there with just about any software you go with (there may be an exception or two).

7. You might want to consider a simulator software that has a lot of options for par 3 courses and what not since you won't be able to hit longer clubs. Or perhaps a simulator with different tee box options so you can still play regular courses but from a shorter set of tees so that teeing off with irons on every hole won't totally kill you.


Have you tried actually swinging a club in there yet? That's a super tight space.

[Oneiron22]

Thanks for responding and some really helpful pointers. I've swung in there and 4 iron feels fine, but of course practice swings are always different! It makes sense to go slightly offset so that I'm hitting more into the centre of the net!

[3on3putt]

Thanks for responding and some really helpful pointers. I've swung in there and 4 iron feels fine, but of course practice swings are always different! It makes sense to go slightly offset so that I'm hitting more into the centre of the net!

For clarification, offset means hitting to the right of center on the screen (for a righty). So in other words, hang your screen straight but then slide your hitting mat way over to the right side. If your screen is 8 feet wide, you might be hitting into a spot that's only 2 feet left of the right edge (4 feet would be the exact center). Hope that makes sense. Hitting offset is no big deal and the simulator will still read it as "centered."

[Oneiron22]

I see, I was thinking of hanging the screen at an angle in the room and adjusting the mat so it sits square to the screen. That makes sense, but when you see the image on the screen will it not look like you're aiming right of target?

[3on3putt]

I see, I was thinking of hanging the screen at an angle in the room and adjusting the mat so it sits square to the screen. That makes sense, but when you see the image on the screen will it not look like you're aiming right of target?

You will likely find that if you angle your hitting direction in a space that small, you will have a hard time finding a spot that has enough room for a backswing and follow through. The more you angle it, the further away you will have to get from the wall you are facing so you don't hit it on your backswing. And the more you creep away from that wall, the closer you get to the opposite wall for your follow through.

Experiment by taking a club out there and angling yourself to see what I mean. Ultimately the idea is to find the maximum amount of space for which to swing freely, so if you find that angling everything does the trick then go for it.

But hitting offset is really no big deal. You aren't aiming at a spot on the screen anyway. You are just aligning yourself to your launch monitor. For example, with a Skytrak you just have to be hitting parallel to the unit. It doesn't matter how far away from the center of the screen you are hitting. The software will start the ball in the center for you. You can be hitting three feet to the right of center. As long as you are hitting parallel to the unit your ball will still be taking off from the center on the screen. It may "feel" like you are lined up way right of the target, and technically you will be. But you aren't looking out at the target during your swing anyway. You are looking down at the ball.

One advantage of hitting offset is that you can double the life of your screen because once the side you are hitting into gets worn, you simply flip the screen and start hitting into what was the old left side (that was getting no shots previously).

[Oneiron22]

Thanks for that - that's really helpful. I'd prefer to be swinging square rather than at angle to be honest. To start with I'll probably use a monitor or the ipad to view shots and data and if it's working fine and I feel I have enough space I can invest a bit more into a projector and a white hitting screen. Thanks again....