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Reviewed in the United States on September 1, 2024
I'm always on the lookout for interesting baseball items to help my 11yo get to the next level, so when I saw this I had pretty high hopes. On the surface it looks like a pretty cool idea - a device that you can load and that he can use on his own to get some batting practice done. However, there are a ton of design flaws that make this not so usable.First, it's a pretty cumbersome thing to put together. While it's not impossible, it takes a bit of time, and when you do assemble it, it's pretty huge. It's not something that you can easily transport to a park without having to take it completely apart, which makes it rather inconvenient. While I do like that it comes with a carrying bag, I wish it were something a little more convenient and transportable. As it is, you have to disassemble it for transport, and the little trampoline thing doesn't fit in the bag, so you have to carry that separately.Secondly, the device doesn't work as smoothly as intended. The ramp isn't seamless, so sometimes the balls get stuck, or multiple balls come down at the same time or not in a timed fashion. For a person that has to set up a swing, it's impossible to do so in any useful fashion.Third, the pull cord is located closer to the batter. At first glance you would think this is a positive, but for the reason mentioned above, it is difficult for a person, much less a kid, to pull the cord, set up the batting stance, and swing. Either the ball doesn't come down, it comes down when you don't want it to, or more than one comes down. In order to alleviate this, you pretty much need another person there to pull the cord, which defeats the purpose of it. And if you do have someone there, the cord is so close to the batter that you have to reach over or be too close, which is a safety issue. For that purpose, it's better to have the cord on the outermost side of it, but then it renders this something you can't do on your own, and then the other person may as well just be pitching the ball to you at this point.I think the idea of this could be cool, but they would need to find ways to address these issues to make it more user-friendly.
Melrel05
Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2024
If I could give this zero stars I would, and I’m someone that really doesn’t like giving 1 star reviews unless I really feel like it’s horrible. This thing just simply doesn’t work. I thought it would be awesome since my son wants to hit balls day in and day out, and sometimes I’m to busy tog eat out there with him. So I figured it would be great for him to be able to do it by himself, or even if his siblings needed to help.But no, this doesn’t work right no matter what you do. I’ve tried all kinds of baseball options to use with this and every time you end up with multiple balls dropping at once. The whole system as well is very flimsy for the price point and is way too easy to knock over. Honestly I’m probably going to just throw it away at this point because we have tried everything I can think of to fix the release issue and nothing works.
dan
Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2024
Cheap junk didn’t work out of the box assembly was easy but needs lots of modifications to work . it hold 8 balls but releases 7 of The 8 every time. If the hit the bounce net no telling what direction its going to go
Eric C Toczek
Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2024
Got this for my son to be able to practice with his own soft toss by himself in the yard.Assembly was okay, with a few of the pieces needing to be correctly rotated to get to the right alignment. But once that was done was simple enough to slide together the right ends and tighten the right bolts.At the bottom of the device is a net which allows for the rebound so you can hit the ball of the hop, but also allows you to adjust it so it's not always the same ball path.The only problem, and it's a bit of a big one, is that the machine has a tendency to drop too many balls at once. Even with being very careful about moving the lever only enough to allow 1 ball to drop, it often causes multiple balls to be released and then you're swinging at one ball while another one is dropping as well. Tried to see if there was any adjustments to it but doesn't seem an easy way to fix it.
Direwolf
Reviewed in the United States on July 8, 2024
There are a few ways to practice hitting. Most people can't afford a pitching machine, and a Tee is one very popular approach. But for real practice, you want to swing at a moving ball.The Playaput Baseball Soft Toss Drop Machine is an inexpensive way to get that extra practice. It holds up to 8 balls at a time, and either the batter or another person can control the drop. The angle of the drop trough is adjustable so you can change the speed of the ball. The overall height is adjustable to accommodate batters of different heights.The drop machine goes together easily, with pipe segments sliding over each other and locking via spring loaded pin. The connections between the parts are solid. A manual release lever allows the batter to drop a ball, and a handle and cord let a coach or partner control it. A little rebound net is included, so if you fail to hit the ball, it bounces up for a second chance.There are a few minor things that could be improved. The plastic protectors at the bottom of the tripod legs slip off too easily. It's hard to drop a ball without causing some movement with the dropper. I found it better to stabilize it with one hand while dropping balls for the person practicing. A latching mechanism of some kind to prevent more than one ball feeding at a time would be welcome. But it's a bargain as is for the value of the practice it provides.
It's Me Again...
Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2024
Got this for my son to help with his batting skills, and while it does the job, there are just too many problems with the release system. The whole idea was for him to be able to practice alone if nobody was available to help out, but when you go to release a ball it has a tendency to allow 2 or more to come out at once. I plan to modify it so that it works properly, but that's not something that people should have to do...
Candice
Reviewed in the United States on June 24, 2024
Assembly abd set up was fairly simple. Very well made and stayed up while using. Perfect for practicing in the backyard. Kids love it. Great gift idea.
Natalia Rivera
Reviewed in the United States on December 11, 2024
My son loves this and has make his practices more easier and fun
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