Garage Practice Station

[GettingBetter]

I'm building a practice station in my garage. I'm hoping to bounce my ideas off people more knowledgeable.

Goals

Because life is a bit less free and flexible these days, I want to move some of my practice indoors. I want to practice two things: ball speed (while monitoring start line and shape) and distance control from 30 to 130 yards. Can I build a garage setup that allows me to effectively practice these skills?

I don't care about playing rounds or putting.

Space

I have a corner of the garage. On the floor, it's 8' wide (but see notes that follow), 14' long, and plenty high. I'm a right-handed player. When setting up to a ball in my space, there's a wall to my right and in front of me. There's a walkway and steps behind me, so it's no problem to swing a club over them. There's a golf cart parked to my left (i.e., behind a net), so I can create more length than 14' by backing the golf cart out of the garage and sliding the net away from me. I'm hoping to avoid that, though.

Budget

While I don't have a strict budget, I'm hoping to spend less than $4,000 on this. I don't care for aesthetics--I simply want to improve my golf game. I want good data and ease of use. I'm trying to get exactly what I need, and nothing more.

Components

Since I only want numbers (i.e., ball speed with driver, distance with wedges), I plan on using my laptop or iPad. A projector and screen seem unnecessary for my goals.

• Skytrak: This seems like a no brainer. I'll be using it indoors only. I'm too constrained with my space for Mevo+. Other units are too pricey.
• Net Return: I'm thinking about either the Home Series V2 or the Mini Pro Series V2. Thoughts on which I should prefer?
  • The Home is slightly taller than the Mini (7' versus 6'), which I like, since I want to practice wedges a lot. But it's almost as wide as my space (7' wide in a space 8' wide). The width is acceptable, but I'm wondering if a narrower net will make the space feel less cramped.
  • The Mini is much narrower (5' versus 7'), and that fits a little better in my space. The two are similarly priced.
  • Both nets are 3' 6" deep. This absorbs a lot of space. It seems like they use effectively less space, but I'm also wondering if there is a shallower option.
  • Because my space is narrow, I'm a little squished against a wall in front of me. My ball will be about 2' to 3' from the wall, so I won't be hitting into the center of Home Net. Is this a problem?
• True Strike: I want a mat that gives me the most realistic data, since I care a lot about distance control. I'm open, but my research suggests a True Strike would work well. What hitting and/or stance mats would you recommend?
  • I've planned to go with a True Strike Portable and build a separate stance mat. This is a bit more space efficient. In my limited time practicing on other mats, I've not cared for the squishiness of the mat under my feet, but I have no experience standing on a True Strike mat.
  • But I'm also considering True Strike Single, which would combine stance and hitting mats, reducing the hassle and perhaps being a bit more stable.

Does this seems like a reasonable setup to practice drivers and wedges?

PS. I've learned a lot about indoor setups by reading the posts here. I'm thankful for everyone that has shared their advice before and anyone has thoughts on my particular situation.

[DS12]

Hello and welcome to the forum. I think $4k is attainable and can get you a good practice station for the garage. While 8ft wide is narrow, the comments about the walkway probably give you 10+ feet of space to swing which should be ok. Driver would be one I'd test swinging before committing to using/practicing with that club.

Skytrak is probably the best/cheapest option for indoor space that will not break your budget.

Question on the setup...will this be permanently set in the corner of your garage? If so, I'd suggest maybe hanging archery netting or building a frame to hold that as it will probably be cheaper than the net return. Also, while the true strike mat is probably very realistic, it's ridiculously expensive. If it is a permanent set up, I'd consider using the GungHoGolf Holy Grail hitting strip with putting turf and foam exercise mats underneath. Could save you a little money in the long run. Then maybe you could buy a projector and screen to get a more immersive experience.

[spaz]

for comparison my space is 10ft wide, walls on both sides so true 10 feet, I think my ball position is about 3ft away from the wall in front of me and I have about 6 feet of clear space to make my backswing. my ball sits about 10 feet away from my impact screen. My ball used to be a little further away from the wall, but I would occasionally hit the wall behind me while swinging driver so I moved it closer to the wall.

I have a cage that runs wall to wall and floor to ceiling with netting and an archery net behind my impact screen. The screen is about 12 inches away from the back wall, I also have padding on that wall. My ceiling is 10ft high and my projector sits about 9.5ft above and just a little behind my head when i take my stance, so its centered on the screen. I also have a TV and computer mounted on the wall that's in front of me.

It sounds like your space may be similar with you having the open area to swing behind you so it should work, I wish I had more space but it works and Im able to swing all my clubs, finally effectively now that I've gotten over inside swing syndrome. oh, im also using skytrak and am using the fiberbuilt 4x5 performance mat. I'm also using the Carls 10ft x 7.7ft impact screen.

Good Luck with your setup....