Buying a tennis ball machine can be a simple exercise if you are prepared and know what you want. There are many different factors to consider so it’s important to narrow your choices to only the ones that make sense for you.

In my opinion, the most important criteria to consider is whether you need a portable machine or not. This choice is simply dictated by where you will be using your tennis ball machine. If you have a tennis court in your back yard, you can get a large. AC powered (plugs into a wall socket) machine. Size is not not an issue. Obviously this choice applies to clubs as well who have the luxury of a dedicated court where equipment can be stored.

But if you’re like most people who don’t have their private tennis court in the back 40, you’ll benefit from the amazing variety of portable tennis ball machines that are available. Many of these can be fit into a hatchback car or SUV, are powered by batteries, are lightweight and easy to move around on wheels and tend to be on the less expensive end of the price spectrum. The drawback is that they typically lack some of the more powerful features that the big machines offer.

The portable machines do offer many awesome features that are perfectly adequate for the majority of applications. You can spend a few hundred dollars on a machine or invest as much as $30,000 on a monster of a machine that can mimic Pete Sampras as your practice partner!

In the final analysis, you will see that tennis ball machines offer a wide variety of features at a wide variety of prices. Things like ball speed and adjustability, spin rates, spin direction, weight, size, power source, battery life, type of controller, interval programming, oscillation, trajectory, ability to hit lobs, ability to hit serves, ball capacity, control pane functions, remote control etc.

As you can see, this represents a great many variables to choose from which can seem like a bewildering minefield of information to the consumer. the good news is that, in upcoming posts, we will discuss each of these variables and thoroughly evaluate their relative merits. The hope is that this will make your buying experience as easy and as effective as possible.

There is no substitute for practice when trying to develop your tennis game. We believe that the best way to maximize your practice sessions is by using a quality tennis ball machine. The purpose of this site is to help you navigate the myriad different options and choices available. Good luck!