If you’re looking for a tennis ball machine for beginners, the Lobster Elite Liberty is a great option. Currently, the machine is one of the best-selling ball launchers in the world and can be purchased for a pretty reasonable price.
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Like all Lobster tennis ball machines, the Lobster Elite Liberty has a durable but ergonomic design. This means that the launcher is lightweight for easy transport but still hard-wearing enough to withstand knocks and scrapes. If you want to hear more about this machine and its features, keep reading!
Technical Details
The Lobster Elite Liberty tennis ball machine weighs just 36 pounds, making it one of the lightest ball machines on the market. The light weight makes it portable and easy to maneuver around the court without hurting your back. It should also be easy enough to lift in and out of your trunk.
With a large ball hopper on top, the Lobster Elite Liberty tennis ball machine has a ball capacity up to 150 balls. This allows you to train for a decent amount of time before needing to refill. Many of the Liberty’s settings can be adjusted, including the ball speed and feed rate.
Depending on your preference, the ball speed can be set between 20 and 80 mph while the feed rate can be programmed between 2 and 10 seconds.
This tennis ball machine is battery powered with a backup time of up to 4 hours; while this is lower than some portable tennis ball machines, it’s still long enough to enjoy a full practice session or two without recharging the battery.
You can also program the elevation, oscillation, topspin, and backspin to suit your training requirements. With the random oscillation setting, the Liberty can provide a challenging practice session for players of all sorts.
The Good
The Lobster Elite Liberty tennis ball machine has some pros and some cons. Here are some of our favorite features:
+ Random Oscillation
The Lobster Elite Liberty boasts random oscillation. Enabled with a push of the button, the machine can be set to feed the balls randomly from side to side. This allows the ball to feed smoothly into both corners of the court to provide a challenging play session.
While you cannot control have far left or right the ball should go, the random oscillation gets you moving around the court just like you would in a real game. If you want to adjust how far left and right the ball lands, you can do this by bringing the launcher closer to the net.
+ Portable and Easy to Store
Weighing just 36 pounds, the Elite Liberty is one of the lightest tennis ball machines on the market. The light weight makes the machine portable and easy to move around the court.
The dimensions of the launcher are 21x14x21, making the machine compact enough to be stored in the trunk of your car or neatly in your home. As the machine is heavier when the hopper is full, we recommend emptying it at the end of your session – just make sure you’ve got somewhere to store your balls!
If you want to make the Liberty even more compact, you can turn the hopper upside down on top of the machine.
+ Adjustable Spin and Speed
Just like the Lobster Sports Elite Grand Five Ball Machine and the Lobster Elite Freedom, the Elite Liberty has adjustable spin and speed. Both of these can be set via the user-friendly control panel. Impressively, both the topspin and backspin can be altered between -4 and +4 and any number in between.
There’s also the option to add flat feeds into your game to make things even more interesting. The speed can be set as high as 80 mph or as low as 20. If you’re a beginner, we recommend starting at the lowest speed and working your way up. This way, you won’t end up training at a speed you’re uncomfortable with. Advanced players may prefer to start somewhere between 40 and 60mph and work their way up to the top speed.
+ Adjustable Feed Rate
The Lobster Elite Liberty has a feed rate between 2 and 12 seconds. Depending on your training requirements, you can set the launcher to feed the ball as fast as 2 seconds or as slow as 12.
If you want to work on your volleys, the 2-second feed rate will be your best bet. The elevation of the Liberty can also be adjusted; the elevation control is located on the side of the machine and can be set between 0 and 50 degrees.
The Bad
Here are some of the Elite Liberty’s drawbacks.
– The Handle is Not Sturdy
Like other launchers in the Elite series, the handle on the Liberty isn’t very sturdy. It feels as though it could break if you tug the machine with too much force, so it’s worth handling it with care on the court and during transportation.
– Backup
The Liberty has a backup time of 4 hours. While you can still enjoy a decent training session, this is much lower than similar models on the market. One way around this is purchasing an additional battery and alternating between the two. That way, you’ll never be caught out in the middle of a session.
Material & Construction
The Lobster Elite Liberty is made from hard-wearing plastic. This makes the machine light in weight but also durable enough to withstand general wear and tear. All manufacturing defects are backed by a 2-year warranty, which is also a bonus.
Overall Performance
Overall, the Lobster Elite Liberty is a great tennis ball machine with a reasonable price tag good speed and ball capacity and is easy to use. In our opinion, it has all the features needed to improve your tennis skills.
Who Is It For?
The machine’s features are tailored towards beginners and intermediate players. However, the adjustable settings also make it suitable for more advanced players looking for a basic launcher.
Verdict
If you want to take your tennis game to the next level, the Lobster Elite Liberty will help you get there. If you’re a beginner or intermediate level player looking to polish your skills, the Elite Liberty will not disappoint.
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