| Home Entertainment Projectors |
|
|  | | | Customer Reviews: | | | Average Customer Review: ( 1 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 11 found the following review helpful:
Highly Portable + Realistic and Accurate Ball May 20, 2010
By John
The Lobster Elite IV Grandslam is a fantastic training machine, but more importantly an excellent simulated player. The Lobster feeds out a realistic ball with great topspin/underspin and good "heaviness". When using manual mode you can "groove" your groundstrokes , overheads, and volleys and advance your training as you progress by changing any one of the spin, feed interval, and elevation adjustments. Keep in mind slight variations of spin and elevations can lead to "sky balls" over the net, so you'll have to initially find the best settings, and remember them each time you try to feed that shot.
The Lobster is convenient and user-friendly machine in terms of transportation and portability. It weights approximately 40 lbs, but can easily be lifted by the average Joe or Josie. It'll fit in larger trunks standing up, but I've had to place it in the trunk on its side in my car (which works out fine). You could even stick it in the backseat if you wanted. I have no problem wheeling the machine, a full hopper and my tennis back to the court. The machine is easily to setup and you can start playing within a minute of wheeling it onto the court.
The 3-line feature is accurate as it feeds narrow, medium and wide placements. In addition to placement, you can select from short, midcourt, or deep court placement. I use the 3-line feature to practice alternating backhands and forehands, and use the wider feed placements to practice "on the run" shots. A coach would benefit from the 3-line mode because you can feed alternating balls to two to three different players. All three settings will hit accurately in the singles court.
The Random Sweep Options (horizontal and vertical) are also very good too. The machine will oscillate back and forth on horizontal mode, which makes me practice my footwork and running strokes. If you try to follow the machine and guess where the next ball will feed, the machine will win every time. The Lobster will spinning left, but can suddenly oscillate and shoot a ball to the right, leaving you wondering what just happened. Alternatively, the Vertical oscillation feature will shoot a ball in one line, but at different depths. The variations in depth are accurate and noticeable, dropping balls anywhere between the short, mid and deep courts. It will not simulate a drop shot inside the service line, but it will come pretty close, and is more than enough for most people who want to practice forward movement or approaches. I use it for my approaches and volleys.
The Fully Random Oscillation (spin and placement) is an excellent feature as you advance. The balls are highly varied and there is no guessing what type of spin or placement will come out. The ball covers the entire court, with the occasion feeds inside the service line. Some of the feed balls do hit the net, but over 90% of them hit inside the singles court. Keep in mind you are only able to set the feed interval, so if you are a beginner/intermediate the fully random feature is something you will have to build up to. I used the random horizontal and the drills where I can control how fast the balls are shot, to build up to this program myself.
The three preprogrammed drills (Grinder, Baseline and All Court) are usefully drills to practice movement and strategy. The placement is accurate to the descriptions/pictorials of the drills. On the baseline drill, you will even get a good shot landing inside the service line. As mentioned before, these drills helped me advance to the fully random oscillation mode.
Lastly, the build quality of the machine is good. The red casing consists of a hard plastic. Baring any dropping mishaps it will surely last a lifetime of ball pelting and transporting. The Hopper stays on well and feeds almost all the balls (minus the occasional one or two stuck in the back corners). The new foldable handle is probably the weakest part of the machine in that it doesn't feel as sturdy as it could. However, under normal treatment, the handle will not break off or bend as you transport the machine.
PROS
* Highly portable
* Realistic ball (spin and heaviness)
* Simulated player through its different features (good for anyone beginning to advance)
* 3-line feature accurate
* Random Horizontal and Vertical Oscillation outstanding features
* Programmed Drills accurate and useful
* Fully Random Oscillation provides all court placement with spin variations
CONS
* 5-7 second boot-up calibration when turning the machine on each time
* Fully Random Oscillation hits balls into the net 5-10% of the time
* Operational noise not silent (sounds like a drill noise when oscillating)
* Foldable Handle is attached to machine, and not as sturdy as it could be
* Can be difficult to lift due to awkward molded handle positions
* Hopper plastic pivots on the red casing will wear since you have to snap the hopper onto the pivots each time you take the hopper on and off
Overall, I recommend the Lobster Elite IV for its portability, full random oscillation feature and drills. While most people would be fine with the Lobster Elite 3, I've felt the fully random oscillation which includes spin variation (Elite 3 does not) and the extra drills were worth the additional costs and allows me to advance my game. I also believe this Lobster and other Lobster models are far superior in its ease of portability which makes these machines better than other comparable (function wise) out there. For all of these reasons, I recommend the Lobster machines (specifically the model IV) and would purchase it again in a heartbeat.
|
| | |
|
* Estimated shipping rate for US 48 states. Final rate calculated at checkout. |
