Jugs

I use the Juggs Toss Machine for regulation ASA softballs (MacGregor X52RE ASA, 12-Inch) mostly. The machine is deceptively simple--a feed, a power switch, and a recharging slot. But it generally does what it's supposed to. Flip the switch and about every 5 seconds it tosses a softball about 3 feet off the ground and 5-10 feet forward.Positives:1. Battery powered, runs for quite a long time on a charge. Probably 9 buckets of balls (20 balls/bucket) and I load them so I skip half of the tosses--I'm getting at least 400 cycles of tosses per charge it seems.2. Easy to carry and set up--probably takes max of 30 sec to get it throwing where you want it to.Works well with pretty much any type of ball. I've used regulation softballs, baseballs, and foam balls. Throws lightweight foam softballs ~10 feet in the air.3. Has a regular, mechanical repeating cycle--you can tell by the sound when it's going to pitch.Comments:1. It really doesn't work well with a chute-load of normal softballs. The seams cause the balls to hang up or roll unevenly into the throwing mechanism. Also, when the balls do advance, sometimes the next ball will cause the pitch to be short. I load each ball individually--so the spring hits the ball in the same place. A bit tedious, but this produces uniform tosses that are easy to whack. Toss, hit, wait one cycle, then load. You end up hitting every 10 or 15 seconds which is just fine with me.Others have noted that the dimpled balls roll into the feed easier--I like the sound and feel of real softballs, but I may spring for some dimpled balls and edit the review.2. It sits on the ground and does not throw the balls that high into the air--if you're expecting a regulation 6+foot softball throw, or need pitches that are chest high, this is not your machine. It does a good job of throwing belt-high tosses. Also, you gotta get used to how it throws--If you look down at the ball in the machine, it's very unnatural. I just stand with a normal stance put it about 5-10 feet from home plate and the ball pops up into my field of vision.3. It isn't cheap, but I'd say it is a good value. I hesitated a long time in buying it because of the price. Now that I have it, I use it all the time. With the current situation (social distancing etc...) it's great to keep your skills going with little or no effort. Very easy to do a 30 minute hitting practice if you can find a place to hit or hit into a net.I rated this 5 stars. It has it's issues, but is probably the most useful device for improving my hitting, contact, and mechanics that I've found. Much much better than hitting off a tee. I like it better than going to a batting cage because I can actually see how far the ball travels with different bats, swing mechanics, and launch angles. Has helped me objectively figure out which of my many bats lets me drive the ball farthest. Also, I do love the safety of this. No pitcher 45 feet away to worry about. :-)Finally, my kids love it too, even though they don't play in a league. Just fun to go hit some dingers with dad.

My 13 year old loves this machine. It's a great tool top help him get his daily reps in a variety of situations. He sets this up and loads about a dozen balls onto it then hits the switch and works on his hand /eye coordination. He uses it 3 or 4 times a week and plugs it in overnight about once per week. He has not run the internal battery dead yet and he takes 50+ balls from it in each of the hitting sessions that he uses it. It is easily portable and tosses the balls perfectly. It will also toss the smaller Jugs college 6 training balls. The machine does misfire once every 3 or 4 dozen pitches but when this happens it simply does not launch a ball and keeps right on going. He has easily used it for 1000+ tosses and it is still in great working order. This is a well constructed professional grade tool. Would definitely purchase it again either for home use or more rigorous use in a dedicated Baseball training program. If someone you know is serious about baseball this is a must have for daily BP reps.

I purchased the soft toss machine to work with my son as well as my little league team. On batting practice days we used the soft toss machine into a net as one of several practice stations. The battery lasts a really long time. I can get through a few days of practice before it shows any signs of slowing down. My son used the machine at practice as well as at home on off days. My younger daughter loves using the machine to hit the balls in the yard. It is expensive but works well and appears to be durable and reliable. My only complaints is that there is no light to indicate if the battery is charging or when the battery is fully charged.

I love the machine for my kids. Just wish it could throw the ball a little further out. Or have a setting to do so for height adjustment. I’ve used it for hour or two straight and works good though. I love the long battery life. Supposed to be able to do 6-8 hours worth of pitching before a recharge. I’ll test it more coming weeks. Only used it about twice now. But kids love it. And if I want to take to my park with bathing cages down the street for myself I can also. Fun machine.

I had one of these when I coached a competitive 10U fastpitch team and absolutely loved it. So nice to have a station that doesn't need an adult to run it. A quick lesson of where to stand and what we wanted them to work on and then we could let them run it themselves. I passed it on to their new coach when the season was over. That was 4 years ago and my husband and I have missed having it! We coach an 8U REC team now and I bought this for us to have and use with that team. It also gets a lot of use from my husband and daughter (7 years old). It is useful with 8U girls though you will want to keep an eye on the station to make sure they are keeping good form. Jugs is such a good brand and I know we will get good use out of it. We also have 2 Jugs pitching machines (LiteFlight & Jr Juggs) but this is much quicker and easier to set up and is great for teaching kids to wait on the ball to come to their strike zone. It's also a way to take out human "error" when it comes to soft toss.