In recent years the LTA have introduced a system called Mini Tennis which enables children from the age of 4 years upwards to play tennis. Mini Tennis incorporates low compression tennis balls which have a slower bounce than standard balls and mini tennis nets which measure 80cm in height smaller than a traditional net (91.4cm). Players can also select a suitable size racquet according to their height.

Dear Robert in answer to your question, with the exception of some of the base models of Tennis Ball Machines e.g Tennis Twist, the majority of ball machines are able to vary the ball width and can fire the ball in different positions across the singles court.  

No not all tennis ball machines can vary the depth of the ball. Only the Lobster 401 and Lobster Elite 2 to Lobster Elite 5 SE have the ability to fire the balls to different depths on the court.

The competition to develop the best all-round tennis ball machine is hotter than ever. In recent years Tennis Tutor have introduced the Tennis Tower Professional Player and Tennis Tutor Plus Player, both these machine offer 3 pre-set modes or drills which enable users to practice specific shots based on their  playing ability. However more recently Lobster have raised their game with the introduction of the Lobster Elite Grandslam 4 and Lobster Elite Grandslam 5, offering 3 and 6 pre-set drill respectively. Rather than based on level of play the Grandslam 4 pre-set drills enable users to practice against a specific style of play, for example the  ‘Grinder mode’ which will produce  a sequence of 6 slow high bouncing balls, to either forehand or backhand. The Grandslam 5 takes this concept further with the option of a ‘Approach’,  ‘Attack/Defend’ and Forehand Plus’ modes. The latest offering from Lobster is the Lobster the Elite Grandslam 5 SE which, as well as offering 6 pre-set drill allows users to customise their own drills and program these into the machine.

The Elite Grandslam 4 offers 3 pre-programmed six shot drills that simulate the most popular styles of play: grinder, all courter, and power baseliner.

The Grinder Drill

This drill gives a sequence of 6 slow high bouncing balls, to either forehand or backhand.

Power Baseliner Drill

The Power Baseliner Drill gives a sequence of 5 fast, low bouncing balls, to either forehand or backhand followed by a short, high ball to finish.

All-Courter Drill

This drill gives a sequence of 6 slow or fast balls of varying height to either forehand or backhand.

The Elite Grandslam 5 offers three additional six shot drills, approach, attack/defend, forehand plus.

APPROACH DRILL

The Approach drill throws balls with various spins and arcs aimed for the player to approach into the court after playing an aggressive ball. This drill will promote correct approach and net position, along with the proper covering of the line.

ATTACK / DEFEND DRILL

The Attack/Defend drill throws balls using greater ball speed and minimal spin making the player move in and out of the corners and across the baseline quickly. This drill will put emphasis on the mental and physical aspects needed to both attack and defend against your opponent’s shots.

FOREHAND PLUS DRILL

The Forehand Plus drill throws balls with moderate topspin and more arc giving the player more time to set-up for a forehand shot. This drill will accentuate the player’s dominant forehand stroke while maintaining proper court position.

With the school holiday now upon us why try mini tennis with the kids. All you need is a couple of mini rackets, some balls and a mini tennis net. Rackets come in various sizes, see our BLOG dated 19the June 09  to help you choose. Depending on the age and where you decide to play, Slazenger Mini Red Sponge balls could be the best option for a bit of fun. The nets are easy to erect and can be used in the garden on the drive or even on the beach.

You could say one tennis net is much the same as the next. However there are a few subtle differences which may sway your decision when purchasing a suitable net. The headline tape that runs across the top of the net can differ, our experience has found that the vinyl version although easy to wipe clean tends to crack after a period of time, whilst the polyester/cloth band is more difficult to clean but harder wearing. The number of rows of stitching that runs along the headline tape enclosing the headline wire is also worth noting. Those nets with 4 rows (quad stitched) are seen to be of a better quality. Running through the headline tape is the headline wire which connects to either post. To ensure the nets remains at the correct height (3’ middle) a centre net band/swivel adjuster can be used to fix to the court. The polyester version is again harder wearing than the vinyl.

There is on occasions a misconception that a Mini Tennis Ball is in fact smaller than a standard Tennis ball. This is actually not the case, with the majority of Mini Tennis balls measuring approximately 64mm, the same as a regular Tennis Ball. The only exceptions to this are the oversized Mini Red Tennis Balls i.e. Price Red 75 and Karakal Solo 70 which measure 75mm and 70mm respectively. All mini tennis balls are of a low compression with a slower bounce than a standard tennis ball.

The most commonly used Mini Tennis Net measures 3m in length by 80cm in height. More recently larger nets have been introduced to the market which generally measure around 6m in length e.g. the  Wilson 6.1m Tennis Net. Freestanding and easy to erect these nets are very popular with schools, coaches and families. 

With terms such as 2-line, horizontal and vertical oscillators its unsurprising that understanding the differences between the various Ball Machines can be daunting. We have therefore carried out a comparison between two of the more popular battery machines and summarized our finding below:

 *2-Line = single alternate forehand and backhand feed of the same shot to either side of court centre to a repetitive (operator set) depth