Buying or Making Your Own Practice Net....What I've Found.

Nalajr

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Hey guys and gals.

A couple weeks ago I decided that I am going to give myself 1 last chance to be able to play golf. What I need right now is one of those practice nets that I can hit balls into. I don't care about anything other than making solid contact and getting stronger in my hands, arms and shoulders.

I went looking to see if it would be better to buy one off of EBay or wherever vs. make one out of stuff you have or buy. Here's what I found out.

Unless you have all the components of the build lying around in your garage or outbuilding.....you're better off buying. The cost of the materials and the cost of your time make it no go. Now I'm NOT sayting that it's a bad idea and that no one should do it. I'm convinced that you can build one much better than the price point that it's going to cost. But if you're trying to find out which one is cheaper....it's cheaper to BUY one.

The least expensive way I found was PVC pipe. I priced 1", 1 1/4", 1 1/2" and 2 inch pipe, along with the needed elbows and such. Naturally the 1" was the least expensive way to go. My numbers show that a 1 inch PVC net frame would cost roughly about $35-$42. The largest one, the 2 inch, would cost you about $52-$60. These are the prices that I found, it might be a totally different story in your neck of the woods or you might have some good PVC in the garage or storage shed waiting for a project to use it on.

The most important thing is what you are going to hit the ball into. If you buy one of the commercial grade golf nets, forget it, those things are really expensive, starting at around $75 and going UP....WAY UP from there. I planned on either a 6'x8' or an 8'x10' practice net. I was going to let the net hang freely. I also had the idea at first to get a couple of cheap king size sheets from Goodwill or a rummage sale, somewhere, and just attach it to a PVC frame and hit into that OR just string a rope between 2 trees or posts and just drape the sheets over it. If thst's all you want to do, then doing it yourself is the best way to go. I forgot about that idea thinking that the neighbors would rat me out to the home owners association and they'd pay a visit so I figured I'd go with something better and less of an eyesore. The best and LEAST expensive solution that I found was an 8'x10' MESH TARP also called SHADE NETTING. I think this would work great and is the next best thing to using an actual net. I found the most affordable one to be had at Wal-Mart for $14.87. It looks like it would not make much noise at all when a ball was hit into it no matter how hard. There's no solid surface to "catch" the ball to make noise, it's all weaved material and it looks like tiny squares.
Based on the size you want to go....the cost goes up as you go larger, but you all know that.

SO...in conclusion I would say your wallet would be the best off if you just went ahead and found one on EBay to buy. Check Craigslist or Offer Up. You can find nets on these places, especially on Offer Up and you never know what they'll accept if you make them an offer.
All of this info is of course, dependent on you. If you want a super nice hitting cage that you are planning on converting to a Trackman type setup. BUILD IT YOURSELF. BUT..if you are just looking for an inexpensive means to give you something to hit balls into....you can build a setup for cheap. Just think creatively.

I hope this info helps someone that's wanting to do what I am going to do.

Have a good weekend everyone and best of luck to you all.
Larry
 
I have been looking at replacing the Rukkan net I have. The problem I have is the nets you buy all blow over in the slightest amount of wind. If you put them out in the grass and then hammer down the rigging with anchors then it, obviously, doesn't blow over but its a major PITA.

I'm thinking of making a PVC design that is painted so its not too much of an eyesore. It'll look like a soccer goal but will fold straight up when not in use so it'll have to have hinge points on the bottom of the main posts. This is for ease of mowing around it and the wind from damaging the netting which, as stated above, is expensive.
 
Yeah you’re right, a net like you’re planning would be expensive. In addition to the PVC and net costs, you are adding in the cost of hinges. You’d need 6 or so of those I’d guess and depending on how good the hinges are, would add a minimum of $18 to the price if the hinges are $3 each.
Good luck with your project and post pics of your design.
 
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