Bonus Daily: Surge's Backyard Net

Fri, 03/02/2012 - 21:15 -- Don Trahan

I have had many people ask about the net that I have in The Back Yard Driving Range. And if, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words then a 90-second video has to be worth even more! If you do an Internet search using terms like "Golf Driving Net" you will be able to find bargains on a wide variety of shapes and sizes.

Keep it vertical (and in the net)!

The Surge

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Comments

Keith Kent3's picture

Submitted by Keith Kent3 (not verified) on

My net is very similar to this and I had it for Christmas, the stitching has already come undone in a few place , obviously creating holes! Mine though doesn't have the target, so wonder if this is mainly to reduce impact and stress on the net. 

Robert F's picture

Submitted by Robert F (not verified) on

It only took me a couple months to put the first ball through my net and into the fence behind it. Of course, the Vegas sun can be brutal.

Robert F's picture

Submitted by Robert F (not verified) on

Yes, the target is there to take the impact. Netting always breaks down with use and the elements. You can create something similar with a good bath towel, though, or a section of canvas.

Cnsjuhl's picture

Submitted by Cnsjuhl (not verified) on

Surge Nation,

Got my net at Target for $35.  Looks almost the same.

My question is not the net, but the mat?  What kind of mat is Surge using to hit off of and level out the back yard??

Remember to find fellow vertical golfers in your area and play some "Surge" rounds.

CJ

Steve Smith's picture

Submitted by Steve Smith on

Almost all of those cheap golf nets are made with netting too light to even be recommended for direct close range impact.

Some come with an impact target of some form and others are made with the very back of the net made from a higher gauge of netting that is for direct impact.

I've even had a couple that had neither the impact target or sufficient gauge material and they don't last very long, especially if left outdoors.

Pretty stupid if you ask me that they would use a gauge of netting that isn't designed for direct impact, and looks to me like a lawsuit waiting to happen, but I'm sure they are making good profits.
I extended the life of my last net by tying the four corners of a beach towel as an impact area, like Robert mentioned.

When I bought my current net I actually miraculously became smart enough to not buy an inferior net.

A quality net should have 5/8 mesh and be #21 thickness in any area that has impact.

Steve Smith's picture

Submitted by Steve Smith on

I think somebody said it was a regular driving range mat but had wood under it to make a level spot to sit on.

Amos 's picture

Submitted by Amos (not verified) on

Robert:

  For me that is a "no brainer" -- in this apartmnet complex there is no back yard.   But I am seriously considering the Optishot later on.

 Amos

Robert Meade's picture

Submitted by Robert Meade (not verified) on

Not 100% sure but it looks like this may be the net that Surge got.
The net is a different cloro but among the comments someone said the net they got was white (same as Surges. Maybe? bout the same price. Btw it is from GOlfsmith, tyhe same outlet that I'm a fraction away from otdering the loft and lie machine. i you do use their discounts.
http://www.golfsmith.com/produ...
https://www.google.com/search?...

Keith Kent's picture

Submitted by Keith Kent (not verified) on

I think I will get some fishing line and re do the seams and make a target to take the impact. The net has only Been in use for about 6
Weeks and was a christmas present!
Its the actual stitching that has come undone.

T Medley's picture

Submitted by T Medley (not verified) on

Keith,

I have used a military grade tarp with an old quilt in front of and against it for years now. It forms a nice soft/quilt but firm/tarp combination and was less expensive than any quality grade net. It would also work well hung inside the back wall of any failing net system. Even an old quilt hung against the back of the net would greatly help to reduce the impact damage to the netting. A target mat can be made from anything and placed in the center of the quilt. Just get some peel and stick Velcro at Wal Mart.
http://www.tarpsplus.com/suhed...

Welshy's picture

Submitted by Welshy on

I watch all your daily videos and my game is improving, thankyou.
In your swing at the beginning of each video, I notice that your hands are forward of the ball with the clubhead behind the hands, resulting in a forward leaning of the club, similar to a forward press. This seems to me to be hitting down on the ball at point of impact rather than swinging up.from point of impact. If the hands should be at 6 o'clock palms perpendicular, should the club shaft be perpendicular as well ?

Robert Meade's picture

Submitted by Robert Meade (not verified) on

Thanks for showing us your net Surge. Getting a net like this or getting the optishot?
Not sure yet:)

T Medley's picture

Submitted by T Medley (not verified) on

Looks like another good option over the cheaper store models.

I have the benefit of a detached 1-car garage which allows me to hang my system up about 7ft inside the open doorway in a matter of 5mins or less and my mat sets nice and level on a concrete drive. Works out well for my situation but probably not adaptable for most.

Steve Smith's picture

Submitted by Steve Smith on

 Clubs are designed for the hands to be progressively forward of the club head as the clubs get shorter.

I am thinking of swinging up from the very start of the forward swing. Even my arms dropping into the slot is all part of swinging up.

Never am I thinking anything about hitting down.

Of course anybody can clearly see that the club is going down until at or after impact but the intent is to swing up.

The ball is hit just before it reaches the bottom of it's arc or at worst at the very bottom except for when we are hitting a driver off of a tee where we want the club to be on an upward path at impact.

If the club head was actually on an upward path at impact the divot would come before the ball and be a terrible shot.

If hit right at the bottom it will be a clean pick and if impact is just before the bottom there will be a very shallow divot that just tears off the grass at ground level.

Either one is an acceptable shot and neither has the club head already going up at impact.

We might get away with a slight POA from off of a tee or in taller grass but not from short grass.

Steve Smith's picture

Submitted by Steve Smith on

My old net was attached to the flexible poles by the poles being inside of a cloth seam around the edges.
The cloth deteriorated in about two years and I had to tie the net back to the frame by weaving a nylon string around the net and the poles.

The netting itself deteriorated fairly soon afterward and couldn't be trusted to stop a ball.
Not too bad that I got 2 years out of it with it being left outdoors most of the time.

My cousin bought one and in less than 2 months he hit a ball through the net and hit a car in the Dollar General Store parking lot 175 yards away.

Sounds like people are going to continue to buy those unreliable nets so I hope they at least use or make an impact target...And hope they don't miss the target.

P.S. Obviously the climate where we live will make a big difference on how fast any net will naturally deteriorate outdoors but the good netting is guaranteed for 10 years.

Robert F's picture

Submitted by Robert F (not verified) on

A forward press would actually be an active movement of the hands toward the target to begin the backswing. What you see with Surge is the natural position of the hands relative to a flatly soled club. Every club has a degree of forward shaft lean, and your hands should always be hanging in about the same position relative to the rest of your body (just forward of center), which will put your body in the correct position relative to the ball to strike it as close as possible to the bottom of the swing arc. Remember that in any elliptical path, the point of greatest acceleration is just prior to the inflection point. That's where we want to contact the ball, with the club head still accelerating at the moment of impact.
The idea of swinging up is not about the path into the ball so much as forgetting about the ball completely and thinking of the finish of the swing.

Steve Smith's picture

Submitted by Steve Smith on

I started out leaning an old mattress up against the front of the barn. ;-)

When I hit balls at night occasionally I would miss the mattress and hit the wood.
Very scary moments and I would try to duck away and listen for where the ball would land across the road behind me.

Whew! Luckily none of them ever came straight back and hit me in the face. (Crazy!)