If you’re passionate about playing tennis, having a ball machine is definitely a game changer, as these devices are designed to help you practice your tennis swing. In fact, tennis ball machines are one of the fastest and most effective ways to improve your tennis game, no matter if playing tennis at a beginner, intermediate, or advanced level, or even if you’re currently competing in tennis at a professional level. That said, if you’re looking to up your tennis game, then you should really consider getting your own ball machine, as that would ultimately allow you to practice when you want and where you want by engaging on different practice drills, all without requiring having a coach or a hitting partner around. Still, with so many different models of ball machines flooding the market, it can be somewhat hard to pick a specific model, as different ball machines obviously pack different functionalities. For those looking to get the best of all ball machines, then the Hydrogen Sports Proton is your answer.
The Hydrogen Sports Proton is a portable lightweight smart ball machine that can hold up to 100 balls at a time, featuring high-performance 3000 rpm motors that shoot balls at 70 mph, and a battery that can shoot 1000 balls on a single charge.
It’s worth mentioning that this innovative and truly unique portable smart ball machine was actually developed by a former Apple engineer called Jonah Harley, who in fact spent nearly a decade working at Apple’s leading engineering teams. Moreover, not only has Mr. Harley been playing tennis for over 30 years, but he has also been solving engineering problems for almost as long.
Unlike many of the now-outdated ball machines on the market today that still use outdated technology like complicated knobs and switches that you’d commonly find on models from the 1980s, which also tend to be bulky and heavy, and hard to transport to the court, the Hydrogen Sports Proton is nothing like that.
Integrating a Digital Control Panel that offers users an easy-to-use interface while also packing a ton of convenient quality-of-life features, the Hydrogen Sports Proton is simply the most advanced portable tennis ball machine that you can currently find available on the market. On top of all of that, the Proton also works together with an App that features multiple functionalities for practicing your tennis swing in many different ways.
Let’s have a more detailed look at this portable high-performance smart ball machine and check out exactly how the Proton was designed, as well as see everything that it has to offer you.
DESIGN & SPECS
Starting with the machine’s dimensions, as said before, this high-performance smart ball machine comes at a fairly compact size, measuring just 15 inches long by 9 inches wide by 17 inches tall (takes up just 2300 in3 / cubic inches of space). Additionally, the unit is also fairly lightweight, weighing just 20 lbs.
Since this portable tennis ball machine weighs so little, the unit also comes with an included Removable Strap that’s designed to work as a simple carrying strap, which can be wrapped around the unit to carry it around with ease. To be a little more specific, know that you can use this Removable Strap either as a carrying handle, or alternatively, as a shoulder strap.
Moving on to the different components that make this portable high-performance smart ball machine so awesome.
Starting right at the top-side of the unit, we have a Compact Hopper Basket designed in a Origami-like shape that can be conveniently collapsed for easy storage, which, when unfolded, can still hold up to 100 balls in total.
Then, integrated just below the machine’s Compact Hopper Basket, we also have a Pre-Shot Chamber that’s designed to be used by Tennis Instructors, as this simple component allows them to work next to their students and progressively feed balls to their players one shot at a time.
In other words, the way the machine’s Pre-Shot Chamber is designed basically allows the machine to automatically load one tennis ball at a time into this chamber, which is done by detecting each ball via a built-in High-Precision Optical Sensor, and that ultimately ensures that the next ball will only be ready at the same time the player facing the machine is.
On a side note, it’s also worth to mention that this High-Precision Optical Sensor also allow the machine to detect when its Hopper Basket is empty, which then triggers the machine to shut down automatically in order to save some power from its Detachable Quick-Change Battery (discussed further ahead).
Now, for shooting out its tennis balls, the Hydrogen Sports Proton comes equipped with a set of High-Performance Motors that are used to power-up and drive the unit’s Ball-Launch Wheels, for which each tennis ball is shot at a maximum speed of 70 mph.
Note that these high-performance drone motors are designed to spin faster than any other ball machine that you can find currently available on the market, thus giving each ball that’s shot out from the Proton a class-leading speed and spin. While that specific feature already puts this ball machine over many of its competing models, there are still some more awesome features to talk about.
Moreover, the Proton’s High-Performance Motors also feature an Active Braking function which basically allows this ball machine to rapidly change the spin and speed of its launched balls, thus providing players with highly realistic practice routines.
Last but not least, moving just slight further down, coming integrated right at the center of the unit we also have a High-Brightness LED Light Shot Indicator that lets users know when the next ball is coming, thus ensuring that users are always ready to hit it.
The machine’s LED Light Shot Indicator is really, really bright, which makes it easily visible across the court, and that even goes for when practicing your tennis swing under bright sunlight. In addition to its main function of informing players about an upcoming tennis ball, this LED Light Shot Indicator also changes pattern / color to tell you when the machine is out of balls.
INTERFACE / CONTROL PANEL
For controlling the unit’s different functionalities just like you would with any conventional ball machine, the Hydrogen Sports Proton also comes equipped with a built-in Digital Control Panel that features a simple and very easy-to-read interface, which makes the machine both easy and intuitive to use and configure.
Via the machine’s Digital Control Panel, users can set the ball speed and the spin, as well as the launching altitude, and even the width for a 2-line drill and delay, for which all of this information is conveniently displayed via highly visible LEDs, which are all computer controlled to display the exact values that you want to select.
As an alternative to using the unit’s Digital Control Panel to control the machine, users can instead use the machine’s proprietary Smartphone Companion App, called the Proton App (discussed in greater detail further ahead).
BATTERY & BATTERY LIFE
Now, since this ball machine is designed to be used in a completely portable fashion, the Proton also comes together with a Detachable Quick-Change Lithium-Ion Battery Pack that’s fairly lightweight, and this battery pack can offer the machine exactly 1000 ball-shots on a single charge.
As such, users can choose to bring more than one of these Lithium-Ion Battery Packs with them to be able to quickly swap their currently “dead” one (out of power) with a fresh and fully-charge battery pack whenever that’s necessary, thus allowing them to practice for longer periods of time without having to stop due to a single dead battery.
THE SMARTPHONE COMPANION APP – The Proton App
As said before, this ball machine can be used together with its proprietary Smartphone Companion App (called the Proton App) to get the most out of it. Note that since the Proton App is currently still in a beta release, for the iOS version of the app, users will first have to download TestFlight from the App Store, and then use this specific link to be able to run the Test-Version of the Proton App.
Now, the Proton App itself features a very simple and easy-to-understand Main Menu. Right at the top, we have a Quick Start Option that allows users to start practicing right away. Since this Quick Start Mode works together with the machine’s precision motion control technology, calibration is rarely needed, which means that the very first ball that’s shot out of the Proton comes perfectly ready to play.
Within the Quick Start Option, users can also choose between beginner, intermediate and advanced levels.
Then, there are also some more advanced Training Programs like Rally and Volley, which allows users to get a rally-ready sequence with just a touch.
In this Rally and Volley Training Program, users can easily choose and adjust specific speeds and spins for their launched balls, and they can also tap the screen to device exactly where they want the ball to go, and that’s all thanks to the Proton’s Internal Sensors and Precision Actuators, which ensure that every shot is delivered right on target. Then, the machine’s proprietary advanced algorithms figure out the rest.
In total, for the machine’s several different Training Programs, users are offered 10 Pre-Made Practice Routines, which vary from basic rallying, cardio workouts, or even specific drills such as Approach and Volley.
Last but not least, users can also add their own customized Training Program for a virtually unlimited training capability.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The Hydrogen Sports Proton is a portable lightweight smart ball machine that can hold up to 100 balls at a time, featuring high-performance 3000 rpm motors that shoot balls at 70 mph, and a battery that can shoot 1000 balls on a single charge.
Unlike many of the now-outdated ball machines on the market today that still use outdated technology like complicated knobs and switches commonly found on models from the 1980s, which also tend to be bulky and heavy, and hard to transport to the court, the Hydrogen Sports Proton is nothing like that.
The Proton integrates a Digital Control Panel with a simple interface that’s easy to use, and also works together with an App that features multiple functionalities for practicing your tennis swing in many different ways.
If you’re interested in buying it, units are already available for pre-ordering, with each unit currently priced at $1595. You can pre-order yours online right now, directly from Hydrogen Sports’ official shopping page, which you can access via this link.
