Tennis Ball Machine Facts
With a sport like tennis, it is imperative to have a good hitting partner. Well, for all those who love the sport and haven’t been able to play for the lack of such friends, you can now practice alone with the help of a tennis ball machine. A tennis ball machine isn’t really a substitute for either a practice partner or a tennis instructor. Nonetheless it’s an excellent way to polish your consistency and sharpen your strokes.
Here are all the facts you should know about a tennis ball machine:
- Cost
The cost of a tennis ball machines can vary from $230 – $28,500. What dictates the pricing of a tennis ball machine are its features. The greater the number of whistles and bells in the machine, the greater its price will be. Some of the significant features of a tennis ball machine are the A/C or battery power, ball capacity, weight, spin, ball speed and oscillation.
- Portability
Certain tennis ball machines need an 110V electric outlet to run as they work on direct current. This particular feature kills the portability of the tennis ball machine because not all courts have a direct electric outlet facility. To counter this, a lot of ball machines are now power-driven by batteries and when charged fully they can last for about 8 hours. it takes about 20 hours for the battery to charge fully. When you’re looking out for a portable tennis ball machine, be sure to look out for weight. The weight may vary from 11 pounds- 100 pounds. An excellent feature is wheels as it makes maneuvering and positioning of the tennis ball machine very easy.
- Spinning Options
If you wish to be a successful player, it is imperative to learn and master the art of hitting balls with an extreme spin. The expensive, high-end tennis ball machines include this feature. You can set the feature so that the tennis ball machine will spin a ball. There’s an option of backward spin and then yet another of a topspin, both with varying speeds.
- Oscillation
The high-end tennis ball machines come with a swinging feature. This can be vertical, horizontal, or both. The vacillation can be a in random or regular pattern. The ball is propelled at varying heights which in turn aids players to play drop shots, ground strokes and lobs.
- Miscellaneous Features
A tennis ball machine can hold around 28-300 balls. The greater the capacity of the ball machine, the lesser time you will spend fetching tennis balls. The intervals at which the ball is propelled and the speed of each ball are common features for all tennis ball machines.