Louisville Slugger Blue Flame Pitching Machine

Bought this for my son, as his league uses the same model. Very easy to assemble, only weighs about 25 pounds, and is easy to pack up and put in your trunk. Its a stable build design and the functionality is very simple.The machine has an adjustment reference on the ball shield that is easy to locate and make adjustments based on what pitch speed you desire and the distance you are setting it up. You can operate the machine without anchoring it to the ground, but it will need to be adjusted after about 10 cycles.Overall a great investment and solid piece of gear built to last.

Bought this last year for two reasons--training my daughter (11) to hit fastpitch softball and teaching my son (8) to play machine pitch baseball. It works great for both when set up properly.The first key to this machine for training is that it pitches consistently (left/right) where it is pointed. Once aligned across the plate (very easy to do), it doesn't throw inside or outside, so you don't have to worry about hitting your kid standing there at the plate. That in and of itself is worth the purchase price.The second is that the machine throws the same speed every time. This also is good since it is very tough to both get the ball across the plate and throw at the same speed again and again and again.The third key to this machine is that it requires NO POWER. The importance of that is hard to overstate. Most fields don't have power or a power cord set up for pitching. Also, you may not be allowed to play on the diamond, but rather in the outfield or some other part of the park. With this machine, that is no worry whatsoever. It's just a simple catapult with two cleats that anchor it to the ground.I have found that the height of the pitches varies a bit from pitch to pitch-(probably from the knees to the middle of the chest) you have to put the ball in the machine the same way each time, and use the same kind of balls, otherwise it moves around. The way you pull the release (slow or fast) also has an effect. Once you fling 5-10 balls, you should easily get the hang of itAdjusting the height can take a little work (5-10 min). There are three adjustments for the height and one for power. I usually dial in the amount of power I want, then muck with the two main height adjustments. The micro height adjustment seems not to do anything. Also, the two height adjustment screw knobs all have lock nuts. This is good, but it also is easy for these to fall on the ground and get lost. Once set, it is pretty good to go for a while.How does this compare with a $500-1000 machine (two wheels spinning, electric, etc...). Much better in my opinion. In the boys coach pitch league we were in, it seemed the "machine" could never be adjusted properly. Too high, too fast, too low, whatever. Usually, setting up the machine burned the first 15 minutes of each game. I think that we made it through one game without replacing the expensive machine with coaches by the end. We used the UPM 45 for one game and it went surprisingly smoothly. I know that some leagues elsewhere use only these machines.I also like the machine because you can see the mechanism as it throws, rather than having to eye a hole for the ball to poot out of as in a spinning wheel type machine.Also, it throws basically anything. Baseballs, softballs, even soccer balls. If you set the height way up, it can throw decent fly balls-good for those of us without 100s of softball throws in our arms each practice!With regards to speed, if you are considering the faster model I would say don't bother unless you are headed to high school. For baseballs, this thing can throw as hard or harder than 90% of the 10-11 year old boys out there. With regards to softball, I would say the speed on max is faster than 95% of the middle school girls fastpitch pitchers.

I'll just add a few cents worth of opinions as much of it has been covered already.This is a fabulous machine, and I'll note some good points.1. No batteries, no electric cords, pure mechanical energy via the spring.2. Initial assembly is quick and easy with instructions, maybe 10min and I was taking my time to make sure that I did everything right.3. There is ample instruction on how to configure machine to pitch in a given area at a given speed - on machine itself, and at least 3 different printed docs in the box. I did a basic "3" configuration (different bolt positions for higher/lower adjustments) and it pitched fine for my 8yr old. I haven't had to adjust it from initial setup, but the large twistable handles for the bolts would make adjustments pretty quick.4. Pitches with reasonable variability. It is not bulls-eye precise for me, but I don't have it anchored, use a variety of ball brands and age, and don't pay a lot of attention to the stitch patterns when placing in the launcher arm - so basically I'm not doing any of the things that would enhance the precision. This to me is NOT a bad characteristic though - to me it's more realistic. It forces my son to learn to watch the ball. But after 300 or so pitches I can say it has pitched a strike on every single throw with maybe a 5-6" variance up/down/left/right from dead center. Actually much more consistent/accurate than he can expect in kid or coach pitch (BY FAR!)5. It's portable. Not too heavy or bulky. Have considered a wagon or cart, but that's more to do with now that I have this the amount of overall gear (bags, buckets of balls, etc) I have to tote around is ridiculous. ;)6. It uses real balls (or anything else you want to toss - plastic, lightweight, softball, baseball, tennis, even soccer for goalie practice). Don't need to buy anything different than you have already, and your kid will get the feel of hitting something the proper size/weight.7. For what you get (a decent pitching machine) this is really reasonably priced (I paid $172 here on Amazon).The only CON I can think of is that there's no auto-load option obviously since it's spring activated, so it isn't for those that want to load and forget or go hit on their own. However, this is pretty minor and was an anticipated and acceptable tradeoff to avoid the deal-breakers (the auto load machines require electricity, which isn't practical in the field).Basically this saved our practice. I injured my shoulder a few years back and can't reliably hit a strike zone to save my life - no power or precision. Practices were a factor of pitching 3 dozen balls to get 2-3 hittable pitches - total waste of time and frustrating for us both.

This thing Is great !! I originally went cheaper and that was a huge mistake. This is worth the price tag for sure. It can be slightly inconsistent, but honestly what pitching machine isn't. The accuracy is good enough. Plenty of strikes for him to swing at. It works best if you put the ball in the same exact placement each time. Which makes sense. . . Pitchers hold the ball a certain way for each type of pitch. So I get it .... But, it does make it more time consuming to load the next ball.Overall, amazing product. This is just my pickiness for that slight negative of loading the balls properly.