Advice on buying the best ball machines

What is the best ball machine on the market for pickleball?

The Pickleball Journey boys present the top pickleball ball machines and offer the pros and cons for each one. Check out their video at https://shorturl.at/bipG8

Here are the top contenders:

Slinger Bag

This is lightweight and soft sided. Has a pouch for storing paddles, phone, etc. Also has big wheels, which makes it easier to move. Simple to use. It also offers four settings: Speed, Spin, feed, and height

Major draw down: The controls are in the front of the machine, so this could be a safety hazard.

Retail price: $849

Simon X

This one is bigger and heavy at 65 pounds. Great wheel system for maneuvering. It can launch lobs, and many other shots. Battery holds for 12 hours. This is for the coaches, the clubs, where it can be stored in one area. 5-year warranty.

Retail price: $2,695

Erne Ultimate Ball Machine

This one is portable and weighs 50 pounds. It has big wheels and a phone app can control the machine. It is simple to use.The Erne Ultimate offers lots of variations with the app – spin, depth, speed, spin, location, etc. Justin loves the program mode and random mode.

Retail price: $1,899

Titan One Ball Machine

The Titan One has a charging pack – same as your drill. Among the features: Big wheels for portability and a nifty bar code (connects with blue tooth to the app). The app is easy to read: you can set up your ball feed in many ways. It’s not portable – heavy, large, not able to break down to put in your car. It’s good for coaches who are using this regularly. Not so much for players checking out the machine for personal use.

Retail price: $2,199

Lobster Pickle Machine

This is lightweight and portable with basic controls. It includes feed, speed, spin, and horizontal rotating options. The Lobster Pickle is geared to the beginner, and to those who need to transport their ball machine.

Retail price: $1,139

Ratings

Slinger: Cheapest

Simon X: This is for the professional player. Not mobile, so needs to stay at the venue.

Erne: Portable, best overall rating. Intermediate to advanced player.

Titan One: Charging pack is awesome. 50 lbs. Not as mobile. Advanced app. for a huge variety of drills. Most variety of drill settings.

Lobster Pickle: Most portable, basic. Good for beginners. Lightweight. Ball hopper can hold 1,354 balls. Simple: feed, speed, spin, horizontal, oscillating.

My input

** I have two Lobster machines, and one Erne machine. The Erne is too heavy to transport, so I use it when I teach indoors, so I can store it at the venue. I use my Lobsters almost every day.

** This is a great teaching tool for beginners.

** My Lobsters are easy to transport, so I use them when I travel to my teaching venues.

** The Lobster batteries wear out with high use, so I bought a portable back-up battery in case they run out of juice. This has been a great addition to my ability to teach over 2-3 hours.

** The height adjustment is a bit hard to control. Sometimes, the oscillating feature does not kick in.

The bottom line

** Drilling is vital if you want to improve.

** Not all your buddies want to drill.

** Having a machine solves this problem.

** When you need a consistent feed, a ball machine is the way to go. Not all your partners can feed effectively.

** If you cannot afford a ball machine, then purchase a ball hopper. You can do serving, drop and hits, and get a ton of repetition.

** If you cannot afford a ball hopper, find a wall. There are many wall drills on YouTube.

Drill baby drill! Practice makes perfect. Develop muscle memory through repetition.