Slinger Bag Machine Review: A Machine for the Masses?

Is the Slinger Ball Machine truly more portable and versatile than competitors, all while being offered at a lower price? Let's take a deeper dive into this revolutionary redesign of the traditional tennis ball machine to find out if it lives up to expectations.

With a fabric enclosure encasing industrial metal and plastic parts, an extending handle, and built-in wheels for easy transport, the Slinger looks more like a large suitcase than a ball machine. It also provides enough space to store up to 144 tennis balls and three rackets. There's even an extra side pocket where you can keep your remote control, car keys, phone or wallet; meaning there is no need for any extra bags when heading out for practice. To top it all off? A USB input was thoughtfully included in the side pocket so that you can easily charge from its battery power too.

Unzipping the various covers of the machine exposes the ball firing tube, power switches, feed and speed knobs, and the height adjustment lever. If you're interested in additional variety when it comes to placement of your feed, an oscillating panel can be purchased that slides beneath the base.

The battery lasts for hours; while I have not actively drained the battery to the dregs, I have taught a full day with the machine without running out of power. The battery is also conveniently removable, so you can leave the Slingerbag in your car while charging it.

All in all, the machine is very thoughtfully designed, simple to use, and relatively robust. I particularly like setting the machine up on the same side of the court as myself and setting the feed speed to its softest, simulating the popular Spanish-style hand feed. I also really enjoy using the machine for serve practice, as I can time the feed rate to deliver me a fresh ball moments after I hit a serve, creating a flowing, rhythmic serve practice session. Regarding longevity, I have had the machine for more than a year, and aside from a small piece of plastic cracking, I have experienced no performance degradation. It is a well-built machine.

In order to keep the machine portable, affordable and the battery long-lasting, a few compromises had to be made, most notably in the size of the motor and the simplicity of the feeding mechanism. To create pace, the Slingerbag relies on topspin. Feeding the ball from across the net will guarantee a shot that is full of topspin and will jump off the court when it hits your racket. This style may take some adjusting to, but one benefit is that you will become accustomed to the aggressive topspin of more advanced players. The only way to get a gentle feed, however, is to have the machine feed close. Likewise, while more expensive machines can offer complex sequences of shots all around the court, with different paces, spins, and speeds, the Slinger bag's programming options are relatively limited; requiring you to manually set one pace and one feed rate, with only a single-speed oscillating function should you purchase the additional platform.

That said, I not only like the simplicity of the design, but I also like the ability of the Slinger to do hand-style feeds, something higher-level ball machines actually cannot do. I find that I can have very satisfying practices where I build recovery footwork into my sessions. Instead of the ball changing its feed, I add recovery cones and practice moving out to the feed.

My sole issue with the Slinger Bag is its remote: If it gets lost then you are unable to use the machine until a new one has been purchased. Additionally, I find that there should be an option to modify or bypass the mandatory 10-second waiting time before launching any balls - this pause was put in place for safety reasons but can also be disruptive.

The Slinger Bag can comfortably inhabit the world of ball machines because it serves a very different and underserved market: the home consumer. Tennis clubs have the money and dedicated space for expensive, programmable, and powerful machines. However, the Slinger Bag is for people who are looking to practice with a personal machine that must be portable, affordable, and battery-powered. For this reason, I am tremendously excited about the Slinger Bag's existence and wholeheartedly recommend it to the home consumer and smaller tennis clubs or programs.

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Features:

•   Holds 144 Balls
•   Remote Control
•   Optional Oscillator Add-on
•   Speed, Height, and Launch Frequency Adjustable
•   Built in USB Charger and Racket Bag

Pros:

•   Attractive Looking
•   Useful Pockets
•   Relatively Light weight compared to comparable ball machines
•   Wheels make it portable
•   Above average ball capacity
•   Above average battery life
•   Remote Control Operation
•   USB Charger is Useful
•   Racket Bag is useful
•   Removable batter so the unit can stay in the car/garage while the battery charges
•   Rotary function is useful
•   Great for Ball Feeds
•   Great for serve practice
•   Great price:feature value

Cons:

•   10 Second Delay before balls fire
•   Unusable without remote (don’t lose it!)
•   Weak motor relies on spin for speed generation, creates very difficult shots
•   rotary function is very basic