The Truth About Screen Noise: What Causes It and How to Fix It

by Paul Tagher

There are so many tutorials on how to build your own golf simulator, but one of the most common ways is to go the retractable route, especially in a garage setting. This build is useful if you want to roll the screen up and out of the way when you’re not using it. Don’t know where to start when it comes to starting the project? We’ve broken the steps down below. 

Step 1: Choose Your Impact Screen

Let’s face it. The amount of impact screens on the market can be overwhelming. Having a hard time making a decision? One thing that sets One Stop Sim Shop screens apart from the rest out there is that you can build your own to fit exactly what you’re looking for. Whether you need your screen to be 9’2”x12’5” instead of 9’x12’ or only want grommets on the side or anything in between, just use our Completely Custom Impact Screen Builder to fit your specs. This is great for those building a retractable simulator because you can customize what finishes you want on the top, sides, and bottom.

We suggest the following finishes when building a retractable simulator:

  • Dimensions: 10’ x whatever width you want (depending on your roller length) 
  • Material: Read our guide to impact screen material!  
  • Top: loop velcro on back (this attaches to the adhesive hook velcro included that you’ll add to your roller) 
  • Sides: Knife cut or loop velcro on front (loop velcro is ideal if you intend to attach curtains to the sides of your screen)
  • Bottom: 2" self-fabric bungee pocket or 2" woven border bungee pocket in lieu of a weight bar (Weight bars create ricochets and are the weakest link of a retractable screen. We’ll run a bungee cord through the pocket and you can clip it to something on the ground to hold the screen taut.)

Products mentioned in this step: 

 

Step 2: Install a Retractable Roller 

A necessity for a retractable screen? A retractable roller, of course. We are pleased to be partnered with MeTechs to combine our golf knowledge and high end custom impact screens with the most affordable and best designed remote-controlled screen roller on the market. Choose a roller that’s approximately two inches wider than your screen size and mount it to your ceiling. If you need a length that isn’t offered on our site, just order the next size up and specify your desired length in the notes. 

Once the roller is mounted to the ceiling, peel and stick the adhesive hook velcro included with your One Stop Sim Shop impact screen to the roller. Make sure to cut the hook velcro to the width of your screen and center it on the roller when sticking. 

After that, you’ll attach the loop velcro on the back of your impact screen to the hook velcro on the roller. Finally, program the roller to your specs using the remote control and directions included in the package.  

Products mentioned in this step:  

Step 3: Add Side Curtains

A popular finish when it comes to a retractable screen is side curtains. Once your screen is unrolled, you can pull over your curtains (with hook velcro on the sides) and attach them to the sides of your impact screen. The velcroed sides create an enclosed space that prevents golf balls from hitting your garage door or side walls. 

Step 4: Protect Your Space with Better Bumpers, Better Baffles, & Pro Foam Panels 

It’s important to protect your space once your screen and curtains are installed. For a retractable setup, we recommend adding a Better Bumper to cover your roller (when the screen is unrolled, the retractable roller bar will be exposed and golf balls will potentially ricochet off of it). 

Additionally, it’s smart to add Better Baffles to your ceiling. These are made with the same foam and luxurious fabric covering as our Better Bumpers. Triangular shaped baffles are designed to deflect the ball towards the screen or ground. They can be stacked immediately adjacent to one another, or placed strategically along the ceiling to minimize ricocheted shots. Installation is easy with the adhesive-backed hook velcro (included), specifically designed to attach to most fabrics. Stack Better Baffles atop our Pro Foam Panels for a professional, finished look.

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Step 5: Finish Your Floors 

Adding artificial turf really finishes your space and makes it look like a complete golf simulator area. We offer turf by Grass-Tex and it comes in rolls 15’ wide by whatever length you want. Our go-to turfs are Money Putt and True Turf. They are essentially the same turf with different pile heights (Money Putt with ⅜” pile height while True Turf has 9/16” pile height). They both have a rubberized action back which has some tackiness to it and holds it in place over most underlayment panels. 

Once you choose which turf you want and how big you want it to be, you’ll pick out your underlayment panels. There are typically two routes you can take: rubber interlocking gym tiles or our preference, which are the Ultra Base Systems Underlayment Panels. 

When you’ve decided on a turf and underlayment panels, contact us for a freight quote and we’ll get your order placed! 

The final step to finishing your floors is to choose what you’ll hit off of. There are two avenues for this:

  1. True Turf Hitting Strip/Range Mat (with ⅜” shock pad or 5/8" Shock Pad): When used as a hitting strip along with our True Turf putting turf, this hitting strip becomes almost invisible and is the most seamless on the market. Use 3/4" underlayment and it will line up perfectly. Simply trace the outline of the hitting strip on the bottom side of the True Turf with a sharpie or painters tape, use a straight edge as a guide, cut out the rectangle, flip it over and insert the hitting strip. Do the same to your underlayment and you're all set - takes about 10 minutes and although it might seem nerve-racking is so easy to do. The density of this turf allows for a nearly invisible edge.
  2. Make Your Own Hitting Strip: This is starting to be a popular avenue to go down when finishing your floors. We offer True Turf Hitting Strip Turf as well as Money Putt Hitting Strip turf to get you started.

Products mentioned in this step: 

Step 6: Find the Golf Simulator for You

There are a variety of golf simulators on the market at all different price points. We have some favorites at each price point. 

  • Good: 
  • Better:
  • Best: 

Step 7: Projector & Computer 

Finally, you’re going to need a projector and computer to use and complete your entire setup. Our recommendations are as follows: 

  • Projector #1:
  • Projector #2: 
  • Computer #1:
  • Computer #2:
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