Lobster's First Advanced Mains Powered Machine Has All The Slick Sophistication And Versatility Of The Portable Range

There's a Tennis Ball Machine out there right now with your name on it - a neat, compact, tireless little workhorse, keen to partner you to smooth out those rough edges in your tennis game. An ever eager, never grumpy tennis assistant, tuned and ready to give you the independence to work on just those areas that YOU want to practice as many times and when YOU want!

But just as importantly, your new tennis partner will be FUN, for you, your family and friends. You'll get a great workout, you'll fine-tune your tennis game, but it won't seem like work! Unlike your treadmill or elliptical walker, you'll be itching to get back out on the court to challenge your compact, rock-steady partner to another session and another.

As your tennis game steadily improves to match it's unerring strokes, you'll be able to tweak its settings to a more testing level. You'll haul your tennis game up to new heights in a remarkably short time, benefiting from the repetition of hitting 650 - 750 balls per hour - over 500 more than hitting with a real person.

In the long run, you'll even save money by avoiding those expensive tennis club ball machines and by making many improvements to your game without the constant need for a charge-by-the-hour tennis instructor.

It doesn't matter whether you're a total beginner or a competant tournament player, seven or seventy-seven, playing for fitness or fun, there's a machine programmed to engage your game at just the right level to maximize both your enjoyment and achievement.

With so many makes and models to choose from, it's a good idea to focus on the most important attributes you want your tennis ball machine to possess. You'll have to weigh-up factors like value for money, versatility, durability, ease of use, portability, reliability, power supply, etc, etc... Don't worry, I'll try to point you in the right direction for your ideal machine for any or all of the above, on this page and throughout the website.

As you've probably already guessed, the more costly the machine, the more 'bells and whistles' it has, with some programmable feature-packed machines costing up to $10,000 and beyond. Yet there are some great value machines capable of stretching all but the best tennis players for around $1000.

If you've done a little research already you'll have noticed hat there are a handful of manufacturers vying for your business, each with a range of models designed to cater to the needs of beginners, intermediate players and those with advanced skills. Names such as Lobster, Tennis Tutor, SAM, Playmate and Wilson should be familiar, but each has approached the problem, (ie how to simulate the shots of a real tennis playing opponent), in a different way, with
very distinct machines.

Lobster

Tennis Tutor

SAM

Playmate

Selecting a ball machine that is right for you is all about finding the right balance between maximizing the features on offer that appeal to you, and minimizing the amount extra you'll have to pay to get those features. If money or portability wasn't a consideration, we'd all probably opt for the most expensive models, to get the variety of shot that will challenge us no matter how good at tennis we become. A machine that will spray balls across the court at all angles, speeds, elevations and spins. If you happen to be a 5.0 player or above, have your own court, or teach tennis at a club, this might be your best option anyway.

For most of us, our tennis skills, our need to transport the machine to a court, and a finite budget will mean that more than enough challenge can be found in a much more compact and affordable machine. If you're very young or just starting to learn the game, some machines might even offer too much pace and variety and be disheartening.

As a very rough guide, a basic machine is able to throw balls to a set position at a gentle speed, great for kids and those just starting to learn the rudiments of ball return. The Tennis Twist and the MM Rookie (right) are two such machines.

A basic professional model, (less than $1000), will likely have a ball speed adjustment from say 10 - 70mph, elevation adjustments for lobs, and a simple oscillator for firing to a couple of places, (lines), on the court to allow consecutive forehand and backhand practice or the same shot to two players. Machines in this price range include the Lobster Elite Freedom, Tennis Tutor Prolite, and the i SAM Tennis Ball Machine, (see above).

An Intermediate level machine should have a higher top speed, say 80mph, a more versatile oscillator to direct balls to most parts of the court, and a spin facility, usually just topspin or underspin, (backspin). These machines vary in price from about $1000 - $2500, and can simulate most shots of a real player. They can bring sweat to the brow of even an advanced player if their full scope is used, and battery life in battery powered machines will often exceed the reserves of it's human 'opponent'! There are more Ball Machines to choose from in this price range than any other and include most of the Lobster Elite machines, Tennis Tutor Plus, Player and Tower, Wilson's Portable Ball Machine, Playmate Portables and the SAM P1 and SAM P4.

Ball Machines in the top price range, $2500 right up to the devilish machine pictured below right, which won't give you much change from $30,000, are intended mainly for clubs, colleges, tennis schools or advanced players who need an advanced machine to probe any weaknesses in their game. The extra technology needed to create more speed, spin and programmable variety to their performance necessarily means more weight and less portability.

These machines tend to rely on an AC power supply as they're not really intended for use on a distant remote court - generally the tennis player has to come to them, though they can be rolled short distances on a flat surface.

Remote controls are more sophisticated, and programmability is commonplace allowing push-button access to a range of pre-set shot patterns. This is really useful for instructors teaching a handful of players at different levels of skill, or even within a family, with each family member able to easily select his or her tailored shot sequence and degree of difficulty.

Tennis machines able to offer these advanced features include Tennis Tutor Shotmaker, SAM Coach, most of the Playmate range, and now the new Lobster Phenom & Phenom 2.

Tennis Twist

Lobster Elite Freedom

Tennis Tutor

Prolite

i SAM Tennis Ball Machine

Tower

Wilson's

Portable Ball Machine

Playmate Portables

SAM P1

SAM P4

Phenom

Portability is an important consideration when considering your perfect tennis ball machine, especially if, like many others, you intend unaccompanied use. After all, one of the main reasons for their invention was the scarcity of appropriate human practice partners. Most personal ball machines for tennis need to be loaded and unloaded into a vehicle to and from court, so weight is an issue too.

Many of the more affordable machines weigh less than 50 lbs and are fitted with wheels and carrying handles, which shouldn't prove a problem to a fit young male, but might be a challenging lift in and out of the car to a solitary female senior citizen. Unfortunately, even some machines that are a breeze to roll around on court or other flat surfaces, like the Lobster range, are a handful where raising and lowering is required, due to low-lying gripping positions.

Check-out the Portable Tennis Ball Machine page for a small selection of the easiest-to-handle machines.