BallMachineForTennis.com

The Playmate Half Volley has plenty to offer in it's own right with a good range of adjustment possible to ball speed, feed rate, ball elevation and top and backspin. The 200 ball hopper and the integral battery will allow up to 15 minutes of concentrated tennis drills before reloading, and it's also engineered to give you many years of happy, trouble-free tennis practice.

It can transform into the Playmate Volley with the addition of ball oscillation to two lines on the court, a simple remote control and a powerful battery to give you over four hours of court time - more than enough for most. Each extra feature can be added when required with minimal fuss.

Any one of these ball machines for tennis would make an able assistant for a tennis teacher or a sturdy tennis partner for a home court owner, and like most of Playmate's models each machine's can be easily augmented.

The main reason for such easy interchangeability (hence the name 'Chameleon') is that most of the diversity lies in the complexity and scope of the control panels, not the main body of the machines.

For example, all the ball machines, from the Smash to the Slam have huge 300 ball hoppers, great control over ball feed rate from 1 - 60 seconds, and comprehensive court coverage with 7 line oscillation. But there's a wide range of programmability options and shot selection alternatives across the four machines, each upgrade offering more pre-selected types of shot and shot sequences instantly recoverable at the tough of a button.

ball machines for tennis

If you choose to step up from the Deuce to the Genie, you'll immediately notice you've five more programmable shots to select, to go with you're ball machine's array of seven distict shooting lines. This will allow you to compose realistic sequences of tennis play, for competant players to hone their transitional play and court positioning between shots.

It'll be easy, for example, to set up a series of shots such as a couple of groundstrokes, an approach shot to the net, a couple of volleys, an overhead smash and another groundstroke to complete the seven available shots - and all, of course, subject to your choice of spin, shot delay and line of delivery.

With this degree of variation it's not hard to imagine how you could program your Playmate Genie to keep two or even three tennis players on their toes, simultaneously.

If you're too eager to get practicing to bother with the set up process, just flick the 'Shot' and 'Direction' levers to 'Random'.

The Genie also has a little more 'firepower' in the ball speed department than it's simpler cousins, topping out at a scorching 105mph.

All Playmate's Tennis Machines have the ability to impart top or backspin to their tennis balls, but the Slam goes one better: It's also able to deliver left and right hand side spin, a shot you're likely to face every day in a 'normal' tennis match, but very rare from a tennis ball machine.

Like the Playmate Genie above, the Slam has a choice of seven directions and seven shots, but of course you can now add side spin to your tennis shot composition alternatives.

With the addition of this powerful wireless remote to your Playmate Genie or Playmate Slam, you'll have an incredibly powerful tool to hone your own tennis game or the games of others for years to come.

You'll be able to remotely access your ball machine's vast array of stored tennis drills, whether the built-in patterns based on real play, or your own pre-programmed sequences of up to eight shots. Or why not create a new drill on court with your hand-held wireless computer remote in seconds.

If you're the type that prefers to plan your tennis practice strategy at the office, or in the peace and quiet of your own home on your own computer, this is a piece of cake - simply upload your carefully crafted drills to your remote and your Playmate PC will execute!

The Playmate Serve Lift is an ingenious accessory that hoists up any of the above machines, from the Smash to the Slam, to give the elevation necessary to mimic a human serve.

It's a substantial device, and needs to be, to control and channel the power of these hardy tennis ball machines from a lofty height. But it's a very worthwhile investment if you're serious about practicing all your tennis shots, and there are very few ball machines that can deliver a ball in this way.

The return of serve is the most important shot in tennis, and the trajectory of ball delivery from most other ball machines will not feel like facing a 'real' serve. If you use your Serve Lift with the Slam ball machine, with it's 120mph shot speed and choice of straight or wide delivery, you'll feel like you're facing the worst Andy Roddick or Ivo Karlovic can offer!