Hydrogen Sports PROTON

USMC-615

Hall of Fame
have a Ryobi blower but obviously not something you want to do on your own property, especially indoors

used vacuum cleaner with extension and had to empty it 3 times
Can’t blame ya for not wanting to tackle any ball machine in the house if that’s what ya meant by ‘indoors’. I simply crank up one of my shop compressors and blow the machines out, where the fuzz hits the ground is where it sits…a rain or two and eventually a mower deck over it and you never even knew it was there.
 

ryohazuki222

Professional
Anybody here owned a slinger and proton? Can you compare and contrast the two? Seems like slinger is slightly better value but proton more programmable / functional
Owned both. Sold slinger when I got the proton. Got the proton because I was using the slinger so much that the programmability started making sense.

FWIW, not that hard to re-sell slinger so you can always get that and see if it’s “enough” for you.

I’ve recently considered buying a slinger again. I would never give up my proton, but the slinger can “hand feed” balls and proton can’t, which I miss for certain drills and some stroke practice when really playing around with mechanics.

both are awesome, but apples/oranges. Need to figure out what’s important to you and then the decision should be easy.
 

gino

Legend
Owned both. Sold slinger when I got the proton. Got the proton because I was using the slinger so much that the programmability started making sense.

FWIW, not that hard to re-sell slinger so you can always get that and see if it’s “enough” for you.

I’ve recently considered buying a slinger again. I would never give up my proton, but the slinger can “hand feed” balls and proton can’t, which I miss for certain drills and some stroke practice when really playing around with mechanics.

both are awesome, but apples/oranges. Need to figure out what’s important to you and then the decision should be easy.
Great write up and explanation. Appreciate the detail and consideration of both options. I’m mainly looking for something that prioritizes convenience and affordability
 

JEDI MASTER

Professional
have a Ryobi blower but obviously not something you want to do on your own property, especially indoors

used vacuum cleaner with extension and had to empty it 3 times

why bring it home all full of ball fuzz?
i clean it the court.. before i load it onto my car.
 

Westerwick

Rookie
Blowers are really underrated for such tasks, but can get out of hand. I was visiting friends once when our group engineers was tasked with cleaning out the dryer vents for his wife. After a number of partial failures, I suggested a lawn blower, so we duct taped one to the dryer outlet. The resulting cloud of lint was absolutely glorious and all over the yard. We then went out to play a couple sets to celebrate
 

Nostradamus

Bionic Poster
If anyone selling their Proton... pls let me know.. i've got a few tennis peeps at my court looking for one.. thank!!!

Why is it that Proton is still having supply issues ? i thought with China opening up more with parts, they would really ramp up the production and double the supply lines ?
 

BobbyR

Rookie
Owned both. Sold slinger when I got the proton. Got the proton because I was using the slinger so much that the programmability started making sense.

FWIW, not that hard to re-sell slinger so you can always get that and see if it’s “enough” for you.

I’ve recently considered buying a slinger again. I would never give up my proton, but the slinger can “hand feed” balls and proton can’t, which I miss for certain drills and some stroke practice when really playing around with mechanics.

both are awesome, but apples/oranges. Need to figure out what’s important to you and then the decision should be easy.

Can you explain what you mean by 'hand feed' balls? Do you mean the Slinger ball boy mode? The Proton can't do that as the max vertical angle is only like 27 degrees. I do it with my Spinfire with the low and the vertical angle at 60 degrees.
 

ryohazuki222

Professional
Can you explain what you mean by 'hand feed' balls? Do you mean the Slinger ball boy mode? The Proton can't do that as the max vertical angle is only like 27 degrees. I do it with my Spinfire with the low and the vertical angle at 60 degrees.
Sounds like we’re talking about the same thing. But I’m talking about a something like a very low speed, underhanded toss from a coach from pretty close to the player.

proton can’t go slow or high enough to do this, while slinger can. The closest I can get the proton to me while feeding is on my side of the court but right next to the net while I’m at the baseline. With slinger, I could put the machine on my own service line ish.

compared to a human tossing the ball, slinger adds just a little bit of topspin, which makes the ball more realistic imo than a human thrower.
 
I just ordered a Proton for the Nov batch.

Then saw this Nisplay a day later. Don’t think I will regret my order but this does have some interesting pluses (price being one of them)

 

ryohazuki222

Professional
I just ordered a Proton for the Nov batch.

Then saw this Nisplay a day later. Don’t think I will regret my order but this does have some interesting pluses (price being one of them)

Seems more like a slinger competitor than a proton competitor.
 

JEDI MASTER

Professional
Happy New Year!

it's been awhile since i've used the machine..
just recently got a notice of a firmware update 1.2 on testflight...

i went to the testflight app and didn't see anything....

anyone else have download issues? or successfully downloaded the update?

just curious..let me know..thanks.
 
I just got my proton recently. I would love to hear other users' routines on how they use theirs.

How often do you play with it?
How often do you play with it versus playing with real people?
Do you go indoor or outdoor? Indoor keeps the balls clean, etc but more pricey.
What is your routine on the app / custom programs?
How have you best utilised it to improve your game?

On paper having a ball machine is exciting, but also feel like you want to plan your routine ahead of time to make the most of it. Would love to learn a bit of that from the folks here.
 
1. When weather is good, we use ours almost daily.
2. when weather is good enerally play with the Proton more than with other people.
3. We use ours outdoor wxclusively, hence the good weather mentioned above. The balls stay pretty clean on our cort.
4. Usually start with medium warmup, then hard warmup, then rally, approach, volley, hen side to side hard. And my kid made some custom settings for grooving forehands, grooving backhands, grooving various volleys, having the machine put balls in various corners, and having it mimic serves (the last one is the most hard to mimic.
5. It has helped most with grooving various shots and the side to side routines help with movement and readiness to hit the next shot.
6. Don't use damp balls (probably a no -brainer but worth repeating).
 

sjwoo

Rookie
Happy New Year!

it's been awhile since i've used the machine..
just recently got a notice of a firmware update 1.2 on testflight...

i went to the testflight app and didn't see anything....

anyone else have download issues? or successfully downloaded the update?

just curious..let me know..thanks.

If you use the App Store and search for "proton control", you'll find it quickly -- it's the second item on the list for me. I don't believe you can get it in Testflight anymore as the app is no longer in beta.
 

sjwoo

Rookie
I just got my proton recently. I would love to hear other users' routines on how they use theirs.

How often do you play with it?
How often do you play with it versus playing with real people?
Do you go indoor or outdoor? Indoor keeps the balls clean, etc but more pricey.
What is your routine on the app / custom programs?
How have you best utilised it to improve your game?

On paper having a ball machine is exciting, but also feel like you want to plan your routine ahead of time to make the most of it. Would love to learn a bit of that from the folks here.

- Not using it at all right now, as it's winter here in NJ! But this spring, summer, and fall, I tried to hit it once a week. I probably failed half the time, so let's say I used it every two weeks. :)
- I'm always happier hitting against a human, even though I love the Proton. I'd say the human / Proton ratio is something like 4:1.
- Outdoor.
- My favorite built in is "Mostly One Side", flipping it back and forth so I get forehands and then backhands. Something about that rhythm I really like. My favorite custom is below. I start with the built in "Groove It" and then do these two.
- Just the repetition. I've transitioned from a one-handed forehand to a two-handed forehand over the summer, and there is no way I could've done that without torturing someone. The Proton is quite patient and forgives easily. :)

uA1jEui.jpg
 

!<-_->!

Hall of Fame
I've been using mine at 1500-2000rpm at 85-95kph. Not sure how realistic that is to what I see on an actual court though.
 

Masseslice

New User
New Lob riser part out.
Lobs!
We finally have the long-awaited lob accessory available. When installed, it raises your Proton 7 degrees, so if you fire balls from behind the baseline it’s now possible to practice proper overheads. It stores over the carousel when not in use. An app update coming next week will automatically adjust your Proton aim when the riser is installed.
 

ryohazuki222

Professional
New Lob riser part out.
Lobs!
We finally have the long-awaited lob accessory available. When installed, it raises your Proton 7 degrees, so if you fire balls from behind the baseline it’s now possible to practice proper overheads. It stores over the carousel when not in use. An app update coming next week will automatically adjust your Proton aim when the riser is installed.

curious to hear from folks using it. I wonder how low of a ball it can still hit and if approach volley overheads become possible.

they should add a randomizer Function. Reacting to random lobs seems like a fun time.
 

philxor

Rookie
Another thing they added was a $149 "tune-up" where someone who bought one early can get it updated with the latest hardware. I plan on sending mine in since I was probably in the 2nd batch of orders in 2020? I saw one issue they addressed was the ability to hit the ball back into the Proton. I've done that twice now, once with no issue, but today it caused the ball to get squeezed beyond the normal bottom barrier after I couldn't get it shut down fast enough. I had to take the plastic cover off and ended up unbolting the bottom motor in order to get it dislodged.
 
Offering this Tune Up option is great. Makes you trust the business and they are taking care of their most loyal / early adopters. Price is reasonable as it includes shipping both ways!
 

JEDI MASTER

Professional
I was part of the original pre-release.. so i'll be sending my in for the tune-up...

before I do.. i'll have to ask Jonah..if the tune-up includes the new Lob Risers and Stir Peg.
 

eagle

Hall of Fame
I was part of the original pre-release.. so i'll be sending my in for the tune-up...

before I do.. i'll have to ask Jonah..if the tune-up includes the new Lob Risers and Stir Peg.

Please let us know. —— Wait, it looks like the lob riser is not included. The webpage has the option to add that to the tune-up order.

Thanks
 
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JEDI MASTER

Professional
Please let us know. —— Wait, it looks like the lob riser is not included. The webpage has the option to add that to the tune-up order.

Thanks

Jonah just sent me an email..

YES..the lob riser is not included.. only the new stir peg. they updated the website to save on shipping charges if added to the tune-up order..
 

fieryoOo

Rookie
Anyone able to find a newer version of the app on android? Briefly tried to use the lob riser without a new app and it wasnt very easy to setup.
 
I received the lob riser… haven’t installed yet… also haven’t seen an updated app in the app store yet…
As far as installing the new foot… there were no directions in the box… do you just pry the old foot off the riser peg?
 

JEDI MASTER

Professional
What does tuneup actually involve ? would he put in new motors or something ?

aside from the new stir Peg to be included..

per the website:

Keep your Proton in tip-top shape, and get up-to-date with the latest design improvements. We will update any wear items and renew or replace components that are not performing optimally. If there have been design improvements since your Proton was built, we will upgrade them where possible. Some typical improvements:

  1. Replace elevator motor with a 50% stronger version (machines built in 2020 and 2021). Also improved elevator nut design.
  2. Reduce left-right drift during shooting.
  3. Improve “ball ingress” protection if you shoot a ball back in the firing port.
  4. Improve fit of battery socket.
  5. Replace torn hopper hinges.
  6. New safety sticker with better adhesive
 

Nostradamus

Bionic Poster
aside from the new stir Peg to be included..

per the website:

Keep your Proton in tip-top shape, and get up-to-date with the latest design improvements. We will update any wear items and renew or replace components that are not performing optimally. If there have been design improvements since your Proton was built, we will upgrade them where possible. Some typical improvements:

  1. Replace elevator motor with a 50% stronger version (machines built in 2020 and 2021). Also improved elevator nut design.
  2. Reduce left-right drift during shooting.
  3. Improve “ball ingress” protection if you shoot a ball back in the firing port.
  4. Improve fit of battery socket.
  5. Replace torn hopper hinges.
  6. New safety sticker with better adhesive
does elevator motor break alot ? why does it need stronger version ? they are not replacing the main motor though right ? and stir peg, is it any different or better than the one i have now ?
 

ryohazuki222

Professional
Nice new feature in the app update, beyond the lob option, is the ability to reorder your custom programs, so you can group them as you like. Handy, since I have a lot of them.
Nice! I’ve been surprised since launch how most folks seem more fixated on the hardware and not the software.

software is a million times better than the competition but still a lot of opportunity to improve it.
Then again, I got it only for custom programs. The default stuff is completely useless to me. Maybe his analytics are showing him something different.
 

Papa Mango

Professional
in the shop now... to me its worth it.. since mine was in the very first batch when released....
i still get asked from other players on my court if they could buy my machine...
Did you ship it in? I don't have the box anymore, might have to take mine in personally :confused:
 

Slice999

New User
I shot some balls with the lob attachment. Kind of a weird experience. Tried using the Lobs from Deep Center in the Built-in Programs, and it shot balls fairly high over the net but definitely not lobs. Made a custom lob with the same settings and it did the same thing. Riser did not go high enough. Had the machine 5-6 feet behind the baseline.

Then I tried with the Lob riser option turned OFF and the riser went up further and it shot lobs. They weren't real high, but they were lobs, and the bounces were high enough to hit with an overhead motion (I'm 5'10'). So, serviceable lobs. As you might expect, a few balls dropped out of the hopper at max elevation.

Would say my Spinfire definitely shoots higher lobs, but I'll have to experiment further with the Proton.

Update: Better showing today, it was hitting good lobs. Placed machine further back, about 5-6 machine lengths from baseline, at 43 mph/1000 rpm. Riser option setting still opposite of what it should be. Software glitch I guess.
 
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OldManStan

Rookie
Ordered the riser and the new stir peg. Will let you guys know how it is once I get it.
I’ve been using sorbothane pads and a stone block sample as my lob workaround and it creates pretty realistic lobs.
 
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