Making my Own driving Net.. HELP

[MellowYellow]

Hi guys, new member. I decided to make my own Driving Net yesterday.

I bought some 10' tall PVC pipes (only $1.58 each at home depot)

And I got it setup relatievely quickly, i want something a bit bigger so i have a better chance of judging if the shot was good or not based on the ball path
before hitting the net.

BUT the question i have is.. what should i USE for the net? I was thinking something with padding would be best like a sleeping bag or something, that way when the ball smacks it, it wont move too much and I can see where it struck etc. But if anyone has any suggestions for a net or something I would GREATLY appreciate it, It doesnt have to be some official golf equipment either, I would be willing to use anything that is affective (and hopefully cost affective)

Here is a pic of what i got so far:



Im using a Burlap material right now, but it moves too far which causes tension where the rope ties to the burlap and is slowly ripping away.

Any thoughts or comments?

[MasterOfTheBogey]

I think your idea for a sleeping bag is a good idea, maybe a an old Down Blanket. Anything that will take the impact of the ball without having it ricochet back at you would be good.

I like the set-up. Before I saw the Picture my first thought was a burlap material. I dont know if it comes thicker than what you have though. Holding it up to the sky looks fairly thin to me.

Also, I like the rug you hit off of. Doormat?

[dave39]

Don't know if it's possible for you but I use to just use old fishing nets. Not the little ones in your boat but the big ones that fisherman use. I use to find them all the time along the coast while fishing.

[MellowYellow]

Thanks for the input guys, Yeah dave I dont know about that small of fishing net, but I did settle on the thick blanket/sleeping bag idea. I went to a 2nd hand store and found some large blankets for $4

I had my gf and brother hold the blanket loosely on the pvc to simulate it being hung up and I threw a few balls as hard as i possibly could and even with them LOOSELY holding on it barely moved the blanket at all.

That should be great for 2 reasons.. 1. It shouldnt cause the rope tied into the blanket to be in much stress since it isnt tugging on it hard.
2. Because of the thickness the ball almost HOLDS its position of impact for a split second and you can tell where you hit at... Now i just gotta get a LOT more rope.. hope this works :D

[cpht]

Hey! Post more pics when you get it set up!

[crawf061]

Ditto on the request for completed pics

[ganjagolfer]

i've done the blankets and sleeping bags already and very quickly they start to get pockmarked which soon turn into holes

someone said they used an old rug which worked great so i'll be looking for one at the dump

[marpr]

you can pick up really great quality half-tent like ones from ebay for real cheap 20-50 bucks.

[TourSpoon]

Is that the new Vijay Singh mat that flexes?

Seriously, I am glad to see that there are alternatives. The only thing about the blanket is that I don't know if you would want to leave it in the rain. After a couple of showers it would get really funky. Maybe you could fasten it with eyelets and hooks for easy removal versus tieing it up there.

[DLoveIIIfan]

I am fotunate enough to have a basement. So what I did was bought a cheap Tommy Armour hitting net and used the u-shaped nails and nailed it to my floor joist, tied the bottoms to some paint cans, full or half full, and that works great.

Good luck to you.

[MellowYellow]

I have seen those half tents but they don't seem as fun as a large one like the one I made. Ill get the pics up as soon as I get home. I cut the 2 tall pipes in half, and put a T conector and run an xtra horizontal pipe across to hang a 2nd layer of thick old comforters I got from good will for 4 dollars. So far it works great but I didn't cover the pipes and I hit one I just put in using a pw after only about 30 swings and it shattered luckily they're only $1.50 at homedepot. As far as the blankets go I take the horizontal bar with them on it off and leave the rest out not because of thwe funk but cause I don't want them to get soaked and put xtra weight on the pipes

[obsessedgolfer]

i have made sevral of thore and i suggest you try a couple layers of deer feense or old bed sheets good luck

[MellowYellow]

Oh dang I was supposed to post pictures for you guys a LONG time ago sorry.

This is what I ended up with.




It worked great, I got some like Hose insulator or something at Homedepot and covered the PVC so they wouldnt shatter and then the sleeeping bags, it worked great, except I left it up one night when there wasnt supposed to be rain... I didnt think about Wind and it blew down cracking a pipe, an easy $1.50 fix, but I lost motivation after that and I Think I need a better spot to put it up, maybe I'll get motivated again, but overall I still consider the expirement a sucess...