Best Tennis Ball Hoppers

As a recreational player, you may only ever usually have access to a ball hopper when receiving a group or individual tennis lesson. However, purchasing your own hopper means you can work on whatever drills you like with your regular hitting partner, or you can even hone in your serve on your own!

But, are all ball hoppers just the same or are there actually major differences between them? Should you use one and which are the best ball hoppers on the market today? We answer all of these and more below!

Why Use a Tennis Ball Hopper?

Tennis ball hoppers can be used by players, coaches and parents to improve the quality of a tennis session. It goes without saying if you can take more balls on to the tenn court you can practice with more variety and repetition.

For a coach it is obvious that a tennis ball hopper is pretty essential to running an effective and time efficient session. A ball hopper allows a coach to feed balls easily in quick succession and also acts as a focal point for players to gather round and listen to coaching advice and instructions.

A recreational player may want to use a ball hopper to work on specific elements of their game with a regular hitting partner or on their own. Using a ball hopper means they can set up their own drills and work on aspects of their game for as long as they like, rather than being constrained by the length of a tennis lesson or what a hitting partner or opponent wants to do.

This gives a great sense of freedom and can really help improve a recreational player’s game thanks to the sheer number of additional balls they will be able to hit.

From a parent’s perspective, investing in a good quality ball hopper can be a great way to get extra practice in with their child outside of scheduled tennis lessons. A parent doesn’t necessarily need to have any tennis ability themselves to help their son or daughter improve their game.

They can simply hand feed balls to their child over and over again, focussing on consistency and deep practice. Using a ball hopper makes this a lot more effective thanks to the far greater number of balls that can be fed in quick succession compared to holding the balls in your hand.

What to Look for in a Tennis Ball Hopper

To the untrained eye, ball baskets and hoppers may broadly look the same. Afterall, the whole idea is that it holds tennis balls for you to use and that it, right?

Well, there is actually a lot more that goes into producing a tennis ball hopper than you might think. There is actually a lot of variation in terms of ball capacity, shape and size and cost. So, let’s take a closer look at these elements and see what you need to consider.

Ball Capacity

Of course, one of the main factors you will need to consider when weighing up which ball hopper to go for is the ball capacity. How many tennis balls do you actually need to hold at any one time? This will of course depend on whether you are using the hopper for personal, recreational or professional use, so be sure to consider this before you buy.

Some very compact ball hoppers may only be able to hold 20 balls or so, whereas much larger trolley shaped hoppers will be able to hold hundreds of tennis balls.

You should also think about how much storage space you have when thinking about which ball hopper to buy. No one wants their hopper left out on the court, so you’ll definitely want to store it away in a cupboard, garage or shed so it is out of the way.

Materials

Again, another thing to consider is the materials that the ball hopper is made from. Do you want a more sturdy but heavy metal ball hopper, or would you prefer a lighter weight but potentially more flimsy plastic hopper.

Of course, the cost, shape and size of the hopper will play into which materials have been used to make it, but it is another factor that needs to be considered before you go ahead and purchase one.

Shape and Size

This is where a lot of the variation in tennis ball hoppers comes from. The shape and size of a hopper can vary greatly depending on its intended purpose, features and price point.

On the most basic end of the scale, you have small and simple metallic ball hoppers that are simply designed and robust by nature. These are usually very cost effective and can last a long time if well taken care of.

Look out for whether they have a plastic coating or protective paint however, as this can massively impact the weatherproofing of a ball hopper. Without either of these, your ball hopper may rust quickly if it is often used in rainy conditions.

Most of these basic ball hoppers tend to be cube shaped, so they can hold more balls. However, there are some more ‘V’ shaped ball hoppers that are sturdier and more versatile than their rectangular counterparts.

These tend to be made from more robust materials and therefore stand the test of time better, whilst also having collapsible legs that fix into place. These are built into the design and when retracted form the carry handle for the ball hopper, making it convenient to store and transport between courts.

However, when these legs are clicked into place they create a useful ball hopper design that stands up on its own and means a vast number of tennis balls can be accessed very easily.

Some hoppers also have undercarriages that allow you to pick balls up by pressing down on them so they fit through the bottom of the hopper. This makes it incredibly easy to pick up tennis balls, simply by pressing the hopper down onto the balls rather than having to bend all the way down, collect balls on your racket and then go and place them in the hopper itself.

You also need to think about whether your ball hopper needs to have wheels or not. Ball hoppers with wheels tend to be more substantial in weight and larger in size compared to ball machines without wheels, since their construction needs to be more permanent in nature.

However, these are great for use across multiple courts as they can be wheeled across large distances very easily and can make your tennis sessions a lot more versatile. However, it is worth noting that wheeled ball hoppers tend to be more expensive and less portable to carry and store outside of the tennis court than their wheeless alternatives.

The Best Tennis Ball Hoppers

Takeaways

Overall, there are a number of reasons why a ball hopper can be used to improve your time out on the tennis court. They are the ideal companion for tennis players, coaches and parents alike and come in all different shapes and sizes to suit your every need.

There is a lot of variation when it comes to tennis ball hoppers, from small and compact plastic hoppers to much larger, heavy duty ball carts. There has been some impressive innovation in this space, with the Kollectaball design revolutionising the way ball hoppers are made.

So, whatever your needs are when it comes to ball hoppers, we are sure you can use our guide as a starting point for your search!