Pitching Machines

Pitching machine opinions.....

First I own a Bata 1, single wheel machine with a HARD rubber whell and a Juggs Curveball machine with tire wheels.....

I have also worked with several others.... Atec etc.

1)... the hard rubber wheels are set up for one type of ball and usually have to be mechanically adjusted to use another type of ball. (wrench and bolts) That is not the case with the Jugss tires... However you may have to adjust your target. I use real baseballs and Yellow dimple balls interchangably with my Juggs and it works just fine... (Can't do that with the Bata).

2)...You have to have two wheels and multi-plane adjustable machine to throw different pitches... List around $1600 to $1800.

3)... The Juggs Machine you have to check tire pressure every once in a while... (I haven't had to do that since I bought mine 3 to 4 months ago) and sand down the tires.

4)... The Juggs machines are normally shipped direct from the Factory so assume an additional $100 to $150 shipping charge. (buy it from an out of state mail order and save local taxes...it will pay for shipping). I believe this is true for all the machines but not sure.

5) I recommend using real Baseballs to get the real feel of hitting... I haven't seen inaccuracies to warrant concern.(with the Juggs machine) (Hard rubber wheels are less forgiving...) In fact, I like to put the ball in with the seams in different locations to change the movement or location a little.... (hitter doesn't get the EXACT same pitch which he can SIT on)

6) I haven't seen any machines that work in wet conditions! The Hard rubber wheels especially! Juggs "sort of" works... but not worth the risk if injury.... Again slippage. Again just the balls getting wet is enough to disrupt the machine.

7) The hard rubber wheels seem to wear-out the leather baseballs sooner.

Questions: The hitting Streak... doesn't that just throw soft foam like balls??? or am I confusing it with another???

After all my evaluations, I selected the Juggs Curveball machine and have been very happy with it.