The Tennis Twist tennis ball machine is by far the cheapest tennis ball machine on the market. This portable tennis ball machine weighs only 11 pounds and comes in a battery powered or a/c plug in model.
The Tennis Twist has a 28 ball capacity and will fire a ball out every five seconds. In this review we’ll get into several of the pros as well as a few cons to this economically priced tennis ball machine and provide you with some uses and drills using the Tennis Twist.
Price – By far the biggest plus to the Tennis Twist is the cost. It typically retails for just over $200 which is by far the cheapest tennis ball machine out there. The next closest is over $600 – nearly three times the price!
Weight – Weighing only 11 pounds this machine is very light and easy to set up. Most other machines are in the neighborhood of 40-50 pounds and have a lot of difficulty moving them around. The Tennis Twist is very light and extremely portable which is great for people who would have a hard time lifting (children, older folks, etc.).
Delivery Speed – The Tennis Twist will deliver a ball every five seconds at roughly 10-20 mph (which is pretty slow). At this pace it’s very easy to warm up, practice technique on a forehand or backhand, or just get some repetitions in when there’s no one available to play.
No Oscillation – Because there’s no oscillation function all of the balls will be delivered to the same spot. While this is great for something like warming up or practicing technique the ball machine by itself won’t provide much of a work out. One way to get around this is to treat it like a tennis drill and have it deliver to a certain location and run back and forth between that location and the baseline to get some mobility into your session.
28 Ball Capacity – Because of its’ unique twist design for feeding the balls into the launcher, the Tennis Twist can only fit 28 balls. Most other tennis ball machines can accommodate over 100 balls. While these other machines do launch them faster, they provide for a more sustained workout. With the Tennis Twist you’ll probably only get about 2 minutes of activity before you’ll need to reload. While this may or may not be a big deal, it only takes about 45 seconds to reload (if you don’t have to chase the balls) so you’ll be back swingin’ in no time. For this reason it may be handy to have two sets of 28 tennis balls.
Delivery Range – The delivery range of the Tennis Twist is only about 10-15 feet depending on the setting (high or low). So just like you won’t be running back and forth chasing balls you won’t be running up and down the court either. You’ll need to place the Tennis Twist on the same side of the court (up by the net) but this actually turns out to be pretty convenient for turning the ball machine on and off.
My mom always told me you get what you pay for. Like I’ve mentioned before, the Tennis Twist is the cheapest tennis ball machine you are going to find anywhere. For this reason, you shouldn’t expect too much. That being said, it does a very good job at the basics.
It offers a low and a high setting so that if you get sick of doing ground shots you can switch it up to overhead slams. It has a slower pace which is nice because it gives you time and more-or-less makes you focus on your technique.
Unless you incorporate some sort of running drill into it you probably won’t get much of a workout but if you’re just looking for a casual tennis practice this can’t be beat.
When I started playing tennis it was just me and my dad. I didn’t have any friends that played so if dad wasn’t available I would hit the tennis ball against the garage (much to my dad’s chagrin) or against a wall somewhere. Not to make this a “when I was your age” rant, but I would have loved to have something like this. The speed is just right for beginners, the ball count is just fine, you don’t need to run around when you’re just getting the hang of playing, and you can play pretty much anywhere at any time. Plus, when I get my kids into tennis, it’ll be nice to be next to them giving them advice they don’t want to hear and focusing on their game instead of across the court shouting directions. So if you want to teach tennis to your kids, the Tennis Twist is definitely recommended.
One problem that’s been reported with the Tennis Twist is that the spring mechanism tends to wear out after about a year of steady use.
While it is disappointing to have the tennis ball machine break on you, you shouldn’t expect too much for the price. If this does happen to you, you can try contacting the manufacturer to see if you can get a replacement part. I know some manufacturers will often send replacement parts out free of charge.
If you’re looking to buy a Tennis Twist Ball Machine, your best bet is to look around online. There are a variety of online retailers that have some pretty low advertised prices.
You probably won’t find much more than a 5% or 10% difference between them so you may want to evaluate them on other factors such as customer service.
One place that I’ve found that has consistently low prices (on just about everything) is Amazon. They always have a unit in stock that ships right away, they’ve got good customer service and free shipping! Pretty hard to beat that.