I bought this for my grandson's 9th birthday based on reviews on line. It is great! He can practice by himself if no one else is around. My son-in-law likes it too- he can spend more time watching son's swing. It is cold in the Northeast but that doesn't stop him from practicing after school. One of the knobs at the bottom arrived broken but the SKLZ people were great and got a replacement in the mail immediately. It is heavy, we put a tarp over it and leave it out in the yard due to daily use. Play ball!

This is a great machine when you are out of hands at a travel tornament or when you have young ones around the house who are always looking to do some batting practice. Great to be able to differentiate solid hits from the uppercut or downward swing. I just wish there was something to make it stop sooner and reset so kids don't get bad habit of swinging at a bouncing stick.

Great training aid. My 8-year-old has gotten serious about working on his hitting in the off-season, and this is a great tool. He loves it and has a bunch of fun hitting in the basement. The Walmart online order and curbside pickup processes were super easy and convenient. Recommended across the board.

We have only had this for a couple of weeks, but the kids love using it and it works great. There is going to be 7-12 inches of snow today in Kansas City and the kids will be able to practice hitting on this in the basement. Once they begin hitting on it, they don't want to stop, so it definitely make practice time more fun. This will help improve their hand eye coordination and get them tons of reps to build up their strength before the season. Looking forward to seeing how this translates to pratice and games this summer. The machine itself seems to be put together really well. it is very stable even and it stays upright and doesn't slide around even when I swing on it. I am 6' and weigh 190lbs and I am taking full swings at it. This is much better than standing there holding the hitting stick and you can tell when you get a good hit or not because the arm will just bounce up and down if you don't hit it cleanly. Not sure how it would hold up to an entire team using it daily, but for my 2 boys (age 5 and 10), it works great and I don't see them wearing it out anytime soon.

This has improved my son's batting tremendously. We have also been taking our's to practice and letting the entire team take turns on it and it is helping everyone improve their swing and make the ball connect with the bat. Love that it is taken down so easily and fits into a bag for easy transfer!

The SKLZ Hurricane Category 4 Swing Training Machine is a must have for coaches everywhere. Purchased the Hurricane after watching another softball team warm up during a tournament. The girls love it and after using it at 2 practices we are seeing a marked improvement in some of our hitters. The Hurricane allows you as the coach to concentrate on their form and not holding the hitting stick. The Hurricane arrived well ahead of its scheduled date and was in perfect condition....nothing broken or missing. We like it so much that our league is going to order some for the coaches to use.

I would have given this 5 stars if there was some way to stop the arm from swinging all the way around after being hit. I'm sure it swings both ways to accommodate left and right handed batters; but there should be a way to stop the arm to prevent tearing up the bungie cords.

This was easy to set up- took less than 10 min for my teenager and I to put it together. I read lots of negative reviews (missing items, etc) but went ahead and purchased. My 8 year old has been using it for over a week with no issues. I did remove two of the bungees so that the arm would swing all the way around when he hits (less tension). I would definitely recommend this trainer. I can see an improvement in his batting stance, swing and confidence.

This trainer was easy to set up and came with a carrying duffel bag. It is very robust and strong enough for hitters big and small. I wish I'd bought this last season when I was considering it as it is getting hours of use in the first several weeks. Primary use was for my 8 year old son but everyone in the family has had fun with it.

I coach 3 teams, 10u and 14u baseball and 14u softball. They all use it. Gives immediate feedback on the swing and really helps getting the bat speed up. Use it in conjunction with a Zepp sensor, and you get a really solid coaching session. Use in the garage at BP, and outside of the dugout on game days.