The Question that Im trying to answer is which tennis ball machine is the best value. After spending countless hours researching the matter I have narrowed down the selection to four manufactures, which are Sportstutor, Lobster, SAM, and Silent Partner |
Here are the futures that I think are important in a tennis ball machine
Spin: Without spin hitting a ball just does not feel real, spin is a big part of tennis and its an absolute must for a tennis ball machine as well. Without the ability to adjust spin you will get board with your tennis ball machine in no time.
Battery powered: That is an easy one, unless you own your own tennis court being able to plug in your tennis ball machine might be a problem in most public courts.
Portability: You need the ability to move the machine from your house to the tennis court without it being being a pain in the A$$. That means it must be light weight, can fit in your car and then can be moved easily from your car to the tennis court.
Large tennis ball capacity: I think 100 ball hopper is minimal anything less than that will not get you a good workout.
Random Shots: This is a nice feature to have when you don’t have anyone to hit with but you want to simulate real game situations. Having sad that I don’t see this option as a substitute for a hitting partner.
Based on that Criteria I have narrowed down the search to 4 models Lobster Elite 2, Sports Tutor Plus, Silent partner Rival, SAM P1.
The SAM P1 outside of the price was somewhat disappointing, I have seen several people complaining about quality issues, its least portable of the the machines. The Silent partner has some compiling features like large ball capacity included remote and high ball speed. Lobster and Sports tutor scored well in all categories, it was very difficult to choose between the two of them.
But we must have a winner at a price slightly lower then the tennis tutor I declare the Lobster Elite 2 as the winner. It scored well in all categories, its ability to fold makes it compact enough to fit in most cars. The big wheels should make it easy to move to the court, and its manufactured by someone that has a been around for a while and has a good reputation
Fore people that just can’t or won’t spend $1300 on a ball machine and can’t find anything used the Silent Partner LITE can be a good alternative to the more expansive machines. It looks like a very nice basic machine that should accommodate most players needs.
