Need help and advice with screen

[Joe M]

I’m in the process of a SIM build. My room is 15 feet wide and 16 feet deep. In order to get my ceiling to 9’-6”I had to replace a wood floor joist with a steel I beam to get another 6 inches of height. That gave me a tray ceiling of 32 inches by the width of the room. Unfortunately because of other obstacles I will be hitting approximately 7 feet to the screen in order to use the tray ceiling. I called Carl’s and was told by the rep that they don’t recommend being any closer than 10 feet. I have read many posts claiming that less than 10 feet was ok. My concern is bounce back. I also called Spectrum golf and he recommended one of the pro series that came with aluminum hardware that eliminated grommets. He told me eventually the grommets would rip and his setup would allow the proper tension to prevent bounce back. The cost of his setup was almost $2000. I have some questions:
1). Can you get away with less than 12 inches behind the screen?
2) any advice on Carl’s product vs Spectrum golf
3). Will it be safe to be using a driver and irons from 7 feet to the screen and not have to worry about being hit by golf balls off the screen?

[Shiggidy112]

I think that you'll find that a lot of people use the tarp clips and ball bungees attached to raw screen, and it works quite well. You don't have to use grommets.

I think that the distance to the screen might be OK, depending on what launch monitor you're using. In regards to bounce back, you can do a few things; ensure that the tension on the screen is not too tight, put something behind the screen to deaden the ball (archery net, memory foam).

[Dax]

From my point of view you will need something to further deaden the ball if you go less than a foot. In a previous set up I went 8 inches wall to screen ( note my screen is about 11 feet wide). I backed up my screen with archery netting from West coast. The combination reduces bounce back and the archery netting essentially stops the ball pretty quick. I would see what others say based on your width, but I believe that it may be possible. Also please note that I use a screen from par2pro that is also noted for having lower bounce back (assuming of course you don't tighten it too much).

[3on3putt]

I hit from only about 8 feet away into a screen that is held up by tarp clips and ball bungees.

The only shots that come back to me are short irons, because they hit the top half of the screen and then ride up the screen with the spin and just sort of float back to me. I literally catch the ball quite often lol. (It's actually quite convenient because I then already have a ball ready to go for the next shot haha). But nothing comes screaming back at me or anything. It's just like if someone gently tossed you a ball underhand.

Wedges ride up the screen but they hit the overhead netting that I have above the screen, which sticks out 2.5 feet from the screen. So they then just fall straight down next to the screen. Drivers and 3-woods and everything else bounce back a couple feet and then just kind of die right there. I have some turf under the screen with real long fibers to simulate rough and underneath that is some foam padding, so nothing really bounces off the floor.

Solving the bounce back issue really just takes a lot of trial and error and experimenting. When I first hung my screen I was getting crazy amounts of bounce back. But I just experimented with hanging some blankets behind the screen, adjusting the tightness of the screen and moving the tarp clips around to different spots until I got it to where it's safe and playable.

Personally I would stay far away from a $2,000 screen. No reason you have to spend that much.

[Dax]

Cory from Par2Pro has some clearance screens on sale at the moment. All his options seem to come in under $300 Cdn. These are slightly imperfect screens that have gotten some good reviews.