Okay so here’s how my whole tennis ball machine hunt went down today. Woke up itching to practice some serious groundstrokes, but my regular hitting partner bailed last minute. Typical. Figured renting one of those ball-shooting machines might be fun, maybe cheaper than booking another court session with a coach. Had zero clue where to even start looking.
Step 1: Googling Like Crazy
Grabbed my coffee and jumped on my phone. Typed in “rent tennis ball machine near me” and… wow. Stuff popped up from years ago! Dead links, old phone numbers – total mess. Felt like digging through a junkyard. Almost gave up.
Step 2: Pricing Shock & Discovery
Then I stumbled on a newer looking ad: 499 bucks a month to rent a machine?! Wait, rent, not buy? That got my attention fast. Buying one? LOL nope. Prices are scary – saw some brand names like “TED” easily hitting 2500, 2800 bucks on shopping sites. Forget that! 499 a month suddenly sounded way more doable.
Step 3: Figuring Out How This Rental Thing Works
This place offered shipping anywhere, which was cool ’cause there’s definitely no rental spot right down my street. Flow was pretty straightforward:
- Pick how many months you want it. 499 per month is the base price.
- Fill out an online form and sign some digital paperwork. Took like 5 minutes.
- Pay two things: the rent AND a deposit. Deposit depends on how beat-up the machine they send you is. Mine was mid-range.
Step 4: The Waiting & Arrival (Sweaty Palms Time)
Paid online and waited. Said it ships same or next day. True enough, it came fast. Big box, pretty heavy. Got it inside, ripped it open. Looked… complex. Manual was thick, felt like building IKEA furniture. Took me a good 20 minutes fumbling with knobs, batteries (?), and clamps to get it attached properly to the net post at my local court. Sweating bullets – partly from effort, partly worrying I’d break it before even starting!
Step 5: Firing It Up & Pure Joy
Finally got the sucker aimed right. Turned it on. BAM! First ball shoots out. Weirdly satisfying sound. Set it for some basic baseline shots first. Adjusted speed dial… slower… FASTER. Yes! Started drilling forehands, then switched to backhands. Had it shoot to my left, then my right. Felt awesome to just groove my swings without thinking about a partner. Legs felt like jelly after an hour, but the good kind of jelly. Totally worth the setup stress.
Where I Landed
Rented it for a month to start (499 + deposit). Simple enough. Plan is to hammer my weaknesses – high backhands still suck. When the month’s up, I can just renew online or send it back. Packing it up seems easier than setting it up was. Honestly? Might keep renting it another month if my shoulder holds up. Buying one now? Still feels like a huge bite outta my wallet. This rental gig? Absolutely perfect for getting solid solo practice without wrecking the bank account. Shoulda done this ages ago. Just need more balls next time – went through a whole case!