Ball Machine Questions...
- Thread starter myke232
- Start date
JEDI MASTER
Professional
it's not out yet..but this one is promising...
Cool, that looks awesome. Thing is I can't wait for summer of 2020, plus the fact that they will be somewhat untested and it may take a generation or two to work out bugs. And the launch date could easily get delayed. But, if it were out now I would be seriously interested.it's not out yet..but this one is promising...
Thanks, I hadn't heard of those before. Out of my price range though.
I really like the Spinfire Pro 2, but it is expensive. Also, part of me is a bit leary of so much computer and electronic technology of these types of machines (the higher end Lobsters and Silent Partners too). The lower end models of the Silent Partner have 3 knobs, speed, feed and spin and it just seems like there is less to go wrong with it.
I used to have the tennis tutor plus and now have a lobster elite 3. They do the same thing, but the form factor of the lobster is much better imo. Having a solid ball hopper instead of the floppy lids makes a huge difference and the larger wheels make it easier to move around. The tennis tutor requires a portable dolly.
GrandSlam45
Rookie
Ace Attack and Playmate are not realistic if you need to throw it in the car and drive to the public courts. You'll need one of the portable ones.
Be careful about Silent Partner... it's gotten a lot of bad reviews.
Be careful about Silent Partner... it's gotten a lot of bad reviews.
tennis4me
Hall of Fame
Playmate is the brand I most often see in the Clubs around here. It looks like they have a portable one called "HALF VOLLEY" ($1695). Have not seen this around. The non-portable playmate is quite rugged, not sure about their portable models since they don't specialize in making portable models.
bobleenov1963
Hall of Fame
I've seen the prototype of the hydrogen and it is a very good modern and advance product. I also own a lobster Elite grandslam V and the lobster is no match for the Hydrogen. I like to compare the Hydrogen to a Tesla and the lobster is old technology car. If you need to replace the battery on the lobster, you have to open up the machine and take out the battery and make sure you don't accidentally touch the wire and zap the circuit board. You can easily swap the battery and snap it a new recharge one right on the tennis court. It is a great design.
JEDI MASTER
Professional
Seen it in action too!.. so Light! and compact!
can't wait to get mine.. it'll be worth the wait!
Bagel Boy
Rookie
Plenty of people have covered this topic, a simple search will yield you tons of helpful info.
I, like you, eventually become leery of too many bells and whistles and concluded they were not worth the extra cost.
I did finally buy a silent partner about a month ago, their second cheapest offering, after mulling it over and researching for months on end. I am beyond happy with it, it's exceeded my expectations and I wish I didn't hesitate for as long as I have, because it's helped my game tremendously.
If you have any specific questions...fire away. I've probably thought of the same question at some point.
I, like you, eventually become leery of too many bells and whistles and concluded they were not worth the extra cost.
I did finally buy a silent partner about a month ago, their second cheapest offering, after mulling it over and researching for months on end. I am beyond happy with it, it's exceeded my expectations and I wish I didn't hesitate for as long as I have, because it's helped my game tremendously.
If you have any specific questions...fire away. I've probably thought of the same question at some point.
PeteD
Legend
I also have found a mid-range Silent Partner helped a lot. Maybe should have gone top of the line for the computer capabilities. When you think about how much it costs for a pro to feed you balls, you can actually save a lot of money.
graycrait
Legend
I recently picked up a Silent Partner Edge Sport off the auction site from SP for a buy it now price of $680. I had some experience with a similarly equipped Lobster for a month prior to getting the Sport. My Sport works. It has capability well beyond my ability. Would an off/on remote be nice? Yes, but the lack of one doesn't make we want to get another machine anytime soon.
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I've searched around but have only found postive feedback on them, what are the bad reviews?
On a side note, how about that bolt that sticks out of the bottom that the machine rotates on? Seems a bit rudimentary to me; like it would scratch up a hard court, and put a hole in clay?
So you got the Lite, or the Sport? If the Lite, do you mind not having delayed feed? Also, how do you find the random oscillation? I have read where some people say it's unusable as it goes to wide and too much of an angle. But seems to me it would just spray balls randomly which doesn't sound too bad, not as good as the ones that have 2 line drills though...
I know their 2 button remote has feed and speed, but can it actually shut the thing off, or at least pause it?
Bagel Boy
Rookie
I have the Sport, chose it because of the bigger battery. The delay didn't seem important to me. You "waste" a few balls setting the type of ball you want to hit anyway, and you seem to get a small delay, even without the feature - if the machine is already set, and you just fill the hopper and flip it on, the balls still need to fall into a carousel. Depending on feed speed, you may lose two balls with a light jog to the other side after flipping it on. After you've hit 400 plus balls in 30 minutes (pending feed rate), those few won't matter.
Random oscillation - no issues. It takes minor tweaking for the type of ball you'd like, but it may spray a ball that's not of the same bounce consistency as the others.
The manual says it's only for feed and sweep on/off. I'm pretty sure it can't actually shut it entirely off, that switch is more heavy duty than the others, plus you are essentially pausing it by turning the feed off, no?
Random oscillation - no issues. It takes minor tweaking for the type of ball you'd like, but it may spray a ball that's not of the same bounce consistency as the others.
The manual says it's only for feed and sweep on/off. I'm pretty sure it can't actually shut it entirely off, that switch is more heavy duty than the others, plus you are essentially pausing it by turning the feed off, no?
Cool, actually the Sport does have the delayed feed. Oh so you can essentially pause the machine by turning the feed completely off with the remote; thats great and what I was hoping for. Good to know the oscillation works for you too.
bobleenov1963
Hall of Fame
Do not buy any tennis ball machine without remote. You will regret it in the long run.
