A friend of mine recently was commenting on his purchase of a tennis ball machine. He likened it to a good marriage. If you choose the right model, it should last you a lifetime. Perhaps that’s a bit harsh but when you come to think about, it really is true. You want your wife and your tennis ball machine to both last you a lifetime of happiness.
In the case of the tennis ball machines, there are a handful of manufacturers that produce a variety of machines that should suit everybody’s needs. Everybody claims that they have the best tennis ball machines, but can that really be the case?
**Take a look at these Lobster Tennis Machines**
Of course not. There are differences between the various manufacturers, with different features available and different price points for the various models. By no means are any of these inexpensive. One way to look at it is to think about how much money you would have to be paying a coach to spend the same amount of time practicing your tennis with you. Coaching doesn’t come cheap nowadays. Also, these playing partners don’t tire out and are available when you are. If you have your own court, these machines are just about a necessity to have.
If you are not a serious tennis player, then don’t bother. I once had a treadmill which became a hanging tray for the family laundry. In other words, if you’re not going to make regular use out of it, save your money. So who are the major brand names in this market? The most well known ones are Lobster, Playmate,Tennis Tutor,SAM (formerly called Prince) and Silent partner.
What should you be looking for in regards to these robotic playing partners? Look for one with a good warranty. Nothing is more annoying than spending your hard earned money on something that needs constant repairs. If you are going to shuttle back and forth from your neighborhood courts, look for one with ease of portability. Some units allow you to control the amount of topspin or under spin, and some units run on batteries or batteries and/or electrical power.
As a rule of thumb in my house, when we are comparing multiple products or even services, we cross off the most expensive one and the least inexpensive one from the list. That leaves us a good middle range narrowed down to make our decision easier. Don’t knock it as it has worked well for us. From the remaining few in the middle that are left, review the different features, ball capacity, remote controls etc and just pick one. They all do a great job. The only reason to pick something else would be if you had a tennis club and needed a commercial model that would be used 10-15 hours a day. If that were the case,then I would look into the more expensive commercial models, but most likely, a middle of the road tennis ball machine should serve you, excuse the pun, just fine.
