If your child is an avid baseball or softball player, you might be throwing him so many practice pitches that your arm is starting to hurt. There is an answer to this problem, and it's not making your child switch to soccer. Enter the pitching machine for kids, which is a handy device that throws out the balls so you don't have to.
How They Work
While the styles of pitching machines vary widely, the basic workings are all the same. Pitching machines for kids usually consist of a ball holder, a motor and a tube that shoots out the pitch. The ball holder and ball shooting device either sits on the ground or on top of a tripod or stand. You place the balls in the ball holder, turn on the motor, and the motor flings the balls out the pitching hole or nozzle.
Features
Different machines hold different ball types and offer a variety of other features. These include pitching speed control, pitching style control, automatic timed pitching and height adjustments. Depending on the size of the ball holder, some machines can hold up to 48 balls.
Tube Style
One of the most basic pitching machines is basically a big tube with encased motor atop a tripod. You insert the balls into one end of the tube where they stay until the motor shoots them out the other end of the tube for the pitch. Rather than a holding tube, some machines have a spiral ball holder or staircase type ball holder attached to the pitching tube. Tube style machines for kids ranged from about $35 to $160 in late 2010, with some of the very advanced models that also work for adults priced at $400 and over.
Bucket Style
Another basic style of pitching machines for kids has a big bucket or tub for the ball holder. It, too, sits atop a tripod, but instead of spitting the ball out of a nozzle, pitches spurt from a hole near the bottom of the bucket. Bucket style prices in late 2010 ranged from about $100 to $270.
Catapult Style
Pitching machines for kids also come in a catapult style, which use the principals of catapult rather than a motor to hurl the pitches. Set the ball up on a spring-loaded rod that is locked with a lever, release the lever and the machine throws the pitch. This type of machine is usually all metal and requires someone to stand behind the machine to release the lever that throws the pitch. Catapult style machines cost about $190 in late 2010.
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