Best Tennis Machine

[dumluk2002]

I am looking to get a decent machine and have several options.


Lobster Elite 2...I would like random shots.

Silent Partner Rival. looks good with the random, etc, but am not familiar with the brand.

Any ideas?

 

[West Coast Ace]

The Search option is your friend... many, many threads. This comes up quite a bit. Everyone has their favorite.

If you do come back let us know what your level is, what you want to get out of the machine, how much you'd like to pay, what specific feature you have a question about.

 

[Waynehicks]

Just posted this elsewhere: I purchased a SP Smart "programmable" ball machine last year. Comes with remote. It is made in Toronto, Canada. Since then, we have hit over 100,000 balls with it. Great for coaching and learning technique. You can program a sequence of up to 20 different shots launched into 10 different court positions, then have it pause and restart the sequence. It can only use one spin setting at a time. It is important to be able to program your shots to practice baseline, approach and volleys in the same sequence. You cannot alter the spin setting during your programmed sequence. The other issue is that the whole unit turns to sweep so you see and you know the direction of the next shot. I have had a ball detector switch burn out, SAL battery die and finally a control panel malfunction. The first two are acceptable considering the number of shots launched but I am disappointed in the electronic control panel malfunctioning. The big plus is that Steve at Silent Partner is really a great guy. He is there to help you and will send you the replacement parts promptly the same day by FedEx. I hope he never leaves the company! I wish there was a little more QA in the manufacturing process but considering the competition, I would highly recommend the top of the line Smart model. I would definitely stay away from any model that requires manual height adjustment and a remote is a must.

 

[eaglesburg]

I am looking to get a decent machine and have several options.


Lobster Elite 2...I would like random shots.

Silent Partner Rival. looks good with the random, etc, but am not familiar with the brand.

Any ideas?

Spinfire Pro 2 is the best.

 

[tennissavvy]

spinfire pro2 has internal oscillation & automatic adjustment using infrared, so you don't waste your time in alignment. It comes with remote to adjust most of the things during the drills (spin & speed you have to adjust from touch panel).

It is solid built & most of the advance functions are cover using triple oscillation..checkout spinfire pro2 website & mamba tennis for more details...

BTW: I consider all top line SP smart & lobster 5 & ltd & bought spinfire pro2 in the end...happy so far

 

[nycjsw]

I also own a SP Smart ball machine. It is awesome and does everything I want it to do except pick up balls. I've cranked it up to 95 mph and it will rocket balls out and they land in the court. It has all the options and appears to be well built. SP has been around for a long time - this was the reason why I went with it over the Spinfire. It also helped that I got a demo at auction so it was almost $500 less than the Spinfire. The internal oscillation is a nice idea but I'm not sure how beneficial it would be. The SP can rocket balls out at rates you can't get to and in a tennis match you look to see where a player is going to hit it. The SP easily fits in my front passenger seat and is pretty easy to move around.

 

[nn]

you can't compare internal vs external...I rejected many based on this one factor alone...once you try the random on spinfire pro2 i.e. volley or rally or flat or any drill you will see the real difference i.e. anticipation...external osc take that away even for young juniors can make out where next ball is coming..

 

[nycjsw]

Doesn't the rate limit that benefit? I mean the SP can spit them out fast enough where you can't get to the ball so it's not like looking at the machine trying to anticipate where a balls going would help that much. I agree that if the rate is slow you could read where the ball is going. When playing tennis you try to read where your opponent will hit it so some of that is part of the game.

It comes across like you are claiming the SP can't throw balls out in a challenging manner - I find that very hard to believe. With the speed turned up and the rate on high, I don't see how you could handle it for long on a horizontal and vertical random setting.

 

[nn]

you have to try on the court to see the difference. Tested both lobster elite 5 ltd & spinfire pro2... at low speed internal is hands down winner...at high speed it is even more challenging

 

[nn]

SP, lobster & TT are good machine..it is personal & on court experience says internal is superior when you turn random hor & vertical oscillation

 

[Waynehicks]

I have thought of making a board with large aperture and placing it in front of my SP Smart. Cover the board and machine with dark cloth and I'd probably not be able to see where the machine is pointing. Bulky solution unless I can find a way to make it all stable and foldable.

 

[nycjsw]

How does this bother you? I found that if I turn the rate up during oscillation I'm busting to get to the balls. As soon as I hit one another is coming out - at times I might be able to give a glance to get a general idea of where it's going but I also do that against opponents. Granted if balls were just shot at the corners with total disguise it would be more challenging - even if not that natural.
I wonder if you could put something on the front that is wider than the machine so that it's harder to judge when it pivots. If you can hide the side of the machine as it pivots it will be hard to see the angle it is moving towards - even it the attachment moves with the machine. Ex - if someone held up a 4 x 4 ft piece of cardboard and tilted it at angle on the opposite baseline it would be hard to read the angles it was pointing at vs a box with a 4 x 4 ft face. As the box turns you can see the sides. So attaching to the front of the machine like a screen wider than the machine with a hole for the balls to come out may help? I like my SP Smart - it's all I hoped it would be.

 

[tennissavvy]

you have to try on the court to see the difference. Tested both lobster elite 5 ltd & spinfire pro2... at low speed internal is hands down winner...at high speed it is even more challenging

dude don't try to explain to people who already bought something..they will go to any extend (lol putting black cloth to hide machine movement)

some people has no idea but argue as pros..so stop giving info on spinfire pro2 in detail (using it without single issue 14 months)

 

[Waynehicks]

dude don't try to explain to people who already bought something..they will go to any extend (lol putting black cloth to hide machine movement)

some people has no idea but argue as pros..so stop giving info on spinfire pro2 in detail (using it without single issue 14 months)

Wow. So impolite. No machine fulfills my preferences of +30 shot programmability where you can switch immediately from heavy topspin to heavy underspin in the same program sequence, internal oscillation, 10 point placement selectability, lithium ion battery. You need to decide what you need now and what you think you will need in the near future. I for one find a 20 shot programmability and 10 point placement selection on my unit to outweigh the external oscillation "issue". Reliability could be better with my unit but if people have had NO issues with their battery powered machines after years of use, one has to question the extent to which they are being used. Afterall, SAL batteries do die especially if you drain them enough during each session. Mine gave up its soul after +100,000 50% power shots x 2 hours of use between charging with an Xtreme maintainer over 9 months. An easily replaceable battery would be another condition for some.

 

[tennissavvy]

Wow. So impolite. No machine fulfills my preferences of +30 shot programmability where you can switch immediately from heavy topspin to heavy underspin in the same program sequence, internal oscillation, 10 point placement selectability, lithium ion battery. You need to decide what you need now and what you think you will need in the near future. I for one find a 20 shot programmability and 10 point placement selection on my unit to outweigh the external oscillation "issue". Reliability could be better with my unit but if people have had NO issues with their battery powered machines after years of use, one has to question the extent to which they are being used. Afterall, SAL batteries do die especially if you drain them enough during each session. Mine gave up its soul after +100,000 50% power shots x 2 hours of use between charging with an Xtreme maintainer over 9 months. An easily replaceable battery would be another condition for some.

Do you even know spinfire pro2 come with fast charger..connect charger before battery is dead & you get continous usage of ball machine. It comes with 6 hours of heavy duty battery. Get the facts beforehand .