BallMachineForTennis.com
Tennis Glossary For Ball Machines
A/C Converter .......... Available on some battery operated ball machines as an optional extra, allowing you to switch to mains electricity supply when the battery charge is low or even spent. SAM battery machines have this option to choose between alternating current, D/C battery power or a combination of the two, which gives you the location freedom of a portable battery powered machine with the endurance of a 'fixed position' A/C powered machine.
Ball Feed Delay .......... A common nicety on a ball machine where the initial tennis ball delivery is delayed (often by 10 seconds) after switching on the ball feed. This allows the operator to assume position on the opposite side of the net ready to receive the first ball.
Battery Life .......... It's very likely that your battery powered ball machine will long outlast it's battery. Even a well looked after 'trickle charged' battery will have a finite life of between 500 - 1000 re-charges, and beyond this, it won't be able to hold a charge. Warranties on Tennis Ball Machine batteries are usually less than for the rest of the machine, (say 6 months), to reflect their impermanent nature. Naturally, replacements are readily available at a reasnable cost and are easy to fit.
Battery Powered .......... Most portable ball machines are battery powered or have both battery and AC mains alternatives. With advances in battery technology, these machines can throw tennis balls as powerfully as their AC counterparts, for between 1.5 - 2 hours up to 3 - 4 hours with a heavy duty battery. The more advanced battery machines tend to have heavy duty batteries fitted as standard, to cope with the greater demands on their energy reserves from applying spin and greater speeds to the tennis ball.
Chameleon Series Ball Machines .......... A group of 4 Playmate Tennis Ball Machines that allow for easy upgrading as finances permit, from the 'Smash', through the 'Deuce' and 'Genie' to the 'Slam'. The basic ball machine structure remains the same, but each performance/model upgrade involves exchanging the control panel for the next in the series. This gives a significant programmable enhancement over the previous model. It's so easy to change over that some clubs use a basic model like the Smash for rentals and then swap controls to say the Genie for coaching purposes.
Court Time .......... Estimation as to the amount of time on court a portable ball machine will last before the battery is exhausted and recharging is necessary. It's a reflection on the fact that tennis machines are rarely worked at full capacity during practice sessions, so this figure is higher than the simple battery life hours and is a better measure of how long you'll be able to play. An external battery pack usually doubles your court time and dependant on ball machine, could give you 8 hours and beyond!
Cover (Ball Machine) .......... Sometimes an optional extra, sometimes free with the ball machine, a cover will help protect your investment from dirt, dust, moisture etc, but they're not designed to totally protect the machine from all weathers and external environments. Normally priced between $30 and $50.
Drills (Ball Machine) .......... Repetitive sequences of tennis strokes to practice, to encourage familiarity with likely progressions of play in real games when each drill is pieced together. Tennis ball machines by there very nature can be good for this purpose, as many have pre-programmed sequences, or the faciility to allow programming of a series of customized shots into their memories for retrieval when required. They're also very good at repeating these shots over and over with accuracy, so maximum benefit can be obtained.
Elevation Control .......... Nearly all Tennis Ball Machines have manual or electronic control over the vertical angle of ball delivery or height, normally from about 15 - 45 degrees, but up to as much as 80 degrees plus. This feature allows balls to be trained towards the front or back of the court. The higher the elevation setting, the better for practicing your overhead shots.
External Battery Pack .......... Great for owners of portable tennis ball machines who want the freedom to practice their tennis for extended periods between recharging. They usually have their own handy carrying cases and easily connect to your ball machine when required to double court time and more. This could give you at least 8 hours court time and probably a lot longer, dependant on how intensive your tennis practice sessions are.
Fast Charger .......... As the name suggests, reduces the time taken to re-charge a Ball Machine battery by about 50 - 70% to less than 3 hours. Often includes 'smart' charging technology to prevent overcharge.
Feed Rate .......... A control found on almost all Tennis Ball Machines, to adjust the amount of time between each ball delivery, to allow more or less recovery time between shots. This normally falls within a range of a challenging 1.5 seconds, to a comfortable 12 seconds. The latter is helpful to tennis players under instruction as it allows time to think, adjust and correct their tennis stroke before the next delivery.
Hopper (Tennis Ball Machine) .......... Basin-shaped container uppermost on a ball machine to hold tennis balls prior to ejection. Balls at the base of the hopper drop by the force of gravity into the ball feed mechanism. An average ball hopper holds about 150 balls, but some (especially the SAM range), can hold double this number.
Horizontal Oscillation .......... The side to side sweep of the ball machine firing mechanism to deliver balls to the left and right of the court, either randomly or to a pre-set (programmed) pattern.
Lob Enhancer .......... An accessory for SAM P1 and P4 models to produce perfect lobs up to 80 degrees for those wanting to work on their overhead game. Most ball machines struggle to get beyond 50 degrees in this price range, except Lobster's pneumatic ball machines with their unique compressed air ball delivery method. This $50 ish attachment is easily fitted to the appropriate SAM model without professional knowledge.
Lobster Elite Ball Machines .......... Distinctive, cutting-edge technology, battery-powered, portable tennis ball machines. Six models, visually almost identical, range from the affordable beginner/intermediate level Elite Freedom (35lbs), to the advanced programmable Elite Grandslam V (44lbs), with 'real play' simulation and complex shot sequences. Lobster have been making quality ball machines since 1970.
Master Sports .......... Makers of high quality, durable Tennis Ball Machines since 1995, first under the Prince banner, and then from 2006 as SAM (Sports Action Machines). They've recently trimmed their range back to 6 machines, spanning the entire range of the ball machine spectrum, from the great value iSAM to the great SAM Robot.
Pick Up (Tennis Balls) .......... There are various ingenious machines designed to make life easier to deal with the by-product of using a tennis ball machine - a tennis court covered in tennis balls. These range from the simple 'tennis tubes' to cope with 15 - 21 balls, through to 'hoppers' & 'rollerhoppers' (multi function machines to gather, store and dispense tennis balls), to 'ball mowers', high speed ball gatherers that can clean up a tennis court covered in hundreds of balls in a minute or two.
Playmate Tennis Ball Machines .......... Premium durable ball machines designed primarily for tennis clubs and schools, or home court owners demanding a high quality machine. The high level of programmability and easily accessed stored shot sequences in Playmate's advanced models is ideal to teach a handful of tennis students with varying abilities. The Playmate Slam is one of a select few ball machines able to simulate a serve, with it's elevated ball delivery position.
Pneumatic Ball Machines .......... Some of the first tennis ball machines used compressed air to eject tennis balls as opposed to the spinning wheels now most commonly used . There are some of these 'pneumatic' machines available to buy today, mainly manufactured by Lobster.
They require more power to operate than other ball machines - more than is suitable for battery operation, so they are AC powered. Without batteries, they tend to be lighter, simpler and more reliable, with high ball throwing accuracy and a greater tolerance to ball variation. On the down side, performance is slightly lower regarding ball speeds and spin, and noise levels are a bit higher than their non-pneumatic counterparts.
Pressureless Tennis Balls .......... Ideal for practice balls and for Tennis Ball Machines as they retain firmness and last longer. Pressurized tennis balls used in real play tend to slowly deflate over time, and when used in a Ball Machine, this can lead to irregular deliveries. Pressureless balls contain millions of micro-cavities in their structure that promote consistant and reliable ball throwing, and are resistant to the rigors of passing through a Ball Machine.
Prince Tennis Ball Machines .......... 'Prince' is now a large multi-national company that makes a wide range of tennis gear like racquets, bags, apparel etc, but their origins in 1970 were in producing one of the first tennis ball machines. In recent years their successful ball machines have been made for them by 'Master Sports', with wide ranging models like 'Little Prince', 'Prince Portable', 'Prince Surefire', and 'Prince Hotshot'. Since 2006, Master sports has rebranded all these models as 'Sports Action Machines' or 'SAM'. The models above are now known as 'iSAM', SAM P1 & SAM P4, SAM Sport, and SAM Coach.
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