- Junior Hack Attack Baseball Pitching Machine by Sports Attack

Not too many detailed reviews of this product so I will try to be as helpful as possible. First off, the machine is incredibly light for a pitching machine. It is easily moved, setup, and broken down by just one adult. The total weight is maybe 65 pounds. I purchased this item on May 21, 2015 and received the 2015 model of the item that has the "Horizontal Swivel Control" to do micro-adjustments to pitch the ball more inside or outside without having to move the machine legs at all. The directions for setup aren't great and Sports Attack says no assembly is necessary but that is only party true. When you open the box there are three components: The pitching machine itself, the base, and the three legs. The machine needs to be first lifted onto the base and securely seated, it does not bolt or tighten down in any way. You need to lock the machine to the base before installing the legs. You'd think it would come locked but it does not; you have to crank the vertical position crank almost all the way down before locking it. You then insert the back leg first. The machine then needs to be tilted forward a little to put the other two legs in, they all secure with a pin that is built into each leg. Then make sure to lift from the front to stand it and not with the legs. This is the quietest pitching machine I have ever used. When standing at the plate you literally cannot hear it at all, which is good because you don't want the distraction of unnatural noises when you are taking batting practice. This machine makes it seem like it's just you and the pitcher, giving an very realistic simulation of a live game. The machine is also incredibly accurate. Once you have it setup how you want it will continue to throw the same pitch every time. This allows you to focus on the purpose of batting practice which is getting the fundamentals of hitting down right. The variety of pitches it can throw are endless and it a great machine for practicing on curve balls, which can be hard for BP pitchers (usually your coach or dad) to continuously throw accurately. The purpose of me buying this machine was for my 30 and older "senior" league. I did a lot of research on pitching machines and found that a three wheeled machine is incredibly more functional then a 2 or 1 wheel machine. 2 wheel machines can throw a variety of pitches but they require funky positioning to get the pitches right and can be a pain for setup. 1 wheel machines can do some different pitches other than fast balls but it requires practice and skill for the feeder to get right. The 2 wheel machines take all the guesswork out of throwing different pitches; it's just a turn of the knob after looking at the very useful guide that is right on the machine itself next to the controls. I narrowed my selection down to the Junior and the regular Hack Attack. The regular Hack Attack is bigger but it can throw the balls at speeds up to 105 mph. The Junior tops out at about 75 mph. You can move the Junior from 55-60 feet in to about 45 feet and you can simulate the reaction time of about a 90-95 mph pitch. The reason I went with the Junior was because for the league I am in, no one is throwing 100 mph, or even 80 for the most part. When you think about taking BP, even the pros, they don't take BP against 90 mph pitching. BP is not really about hitting fast pitching. But if you wanted to hit fast pitching the Junior can still do that by moving the machine in closer. The Junior is considerably lighter and more portable than the regular Hack Attack. You can fit the Junior into any compact sedan; you can't do that with the regular Hack Attack. I paid $2050 ($1900 for the machine and then $150 for tax and shipping). The regular Hack Attack costs about $3225 (including tax and shipping). I didn't feel being able to hit 105 mph pitches was worth the extra $1200+ dollars. The Junior and the regular Hack Attack have all the same other features. Except for the size of the machine and the velocity of pitch thrown, the Junior and regular Hack Attack are the exact same machine. Another reason I went with this machine is the functionality of being able to do fungo work and work on outfield fly balls but also give accurate and continuous infield ground balls that have a real simulated feel of a ball off the bat. It can be taxing for someone to repeatedly hit fly balls or grounders and this machine allows for more practice without anyone getting sore or possibly injured from overuse. Finally, what made me jump and buy it is because Sports Attack is one of the most reputable sports machines companies out there. They have shown they will stand by their products if you have a problem and they design their equipment to last a very long time. I'm only 30 right now and currently have no kids. The wife and I have discussed family planning and we will start having children shortly. I fully expect that this machine will see use with my future kids whether they be playing baseball or softball (there's a conversion kit available).

Baseball equipment is expensive but the Junior Hack Attack is worth it. I debated on the Junior model and full size but I'm glad I went with the Junior. Does everything I need at my facility. Can simulate any speed you need if you understand ratios plus you save a little money. Really like it for defensive drills especially for catchers.

I purchased this for a basement batting cage for my 10 year old son. The machine is accurate, but not so precise that the batter doesn't have to make adjustments. I have the machine 37 feet from home plate, and without making any adjustments the ball comes in at 37-45mph (tracked with Rapsodo), and uses the entire strike zone (low, high, inside, away). Perfect for my 10 year old son to have to keep making adjustments and watch the ball. We also take the machine outside and use for fielding and fly balls. I purchased a EcoFlow Delta Mini portable power station to run the pitching machine. It's more than enough power. With the pitching machine throwing 50mph fastballs, it only draws about 60watts, allowing it to operate off the power station for over 8 hours. If the pitching machine was cranked up to the max then the battery would drain faster, but I think it would still operate for hours. The pitching machine is light and small enough that I can pick it up, walk up basement stairs, pack it in the trunk of my car without any problems. The rolling wheels on pitching machine are very convenient and allows it to be rolled from the car to the baseball diamond. The pitching machine is a commercial quality product. My son has hit several baseballs at 60+ directly into the machine and nothing happened. I highly recommend this product.

I looked at several different machines and landed on the junior. Haven’t used it much but no regrets so far. Will be using it with 10u and up over the next few years. I had a hard time deciding between the full size and the junior and for my purposes I think junior was the way to go. It’s very mobile, but at the same time it’s just big enough that much more weight and bulk with one person would be a pain back and forth to cages and fields from home. If portability isn’t a priority (or you always have an assistant) then consider full size. The groupings stay fairly tight and to be fair I’m not at full speed and am using a mixture of leather covered balls (instructions specifically say same type of ball). Overall though, lots of strikes. One thing to add, the instructions don’t mention a lever to adjust left/right, but under the swivel lock they’ve added a threaded turn lever to fine tune left/right so you don’t have to move the rear leg unless you need a larger adjustment. The instructions I downloaded didn’t mention it or label it on the diagram, but it’s there and it works. Edit after a year of use: great purchase. Rock solid machine. Every time I lift it into my SUV I’m glad it’s not the full size. That being said, if you’re buying this for 12U or above player, seriously consider getting the full size one and they can help you lift it. if you’re starting at 8-10U with this you can’t beat it. Especially if you’re transporting it lots of places.

I purchased the 2015 model this year for our small town little league program. Several other dads had the Jugs machines but after using this thing, they are hooked. It is absolutely a perfect machine for on the mound and batting cage work. Coaches, after throwing to 11-13 kids in the cage your arm is mush. The last 2-3 kids are getting lobs and erratic throws. This machine hits the strike zone every single time. Adjustments can be made by the inch with easy cranking on 2 adjustable cranks. For your advanced hitters, it will throw genuine knuckleballs and curves. It will challenge every kid. I have been using it for fungo work and it has been great. A huge time saver with very reliable fly balls and grounders. It is well built and while I usually use an L screen to protect it, it has been drilled a few times and it takes a beating. It costs a bit more but is worth every penny. I will be donating mine to our farm league 7/8 kids after my boys are through, it will make a great substitute for a coach pitch league.

I still use this machine in the cage, the last 3 years heavily

I did a lot of research before choosing this machine, and I'm glad I did. I've used it for a full season of coaching 10U travel baseball. It's very solid in the way it's built, accurate, and plenty of speed. We've used it for fielding drills even more than pitching, but it's been great for pitching also. We love doing big and rapid fly balls to the outfield, and we use it for fungo. We use it place balls in the dirt for first basemen work, and same for our catchers in blocking. It's certainly not cheap in it's price, but value has been very good. I've gotten much more than $2200 of use out of it in only one year.

I got a 50 ft cage, and leg extensions (from their website) so the pitch comes down at an angle, and the 15 ball feeder. It’s all I could ask for! You can put baseballs in with the seams in different locations to mix 2 seam and 4 seam fastballs for variety- including making it pitch balls and strikes randomly. The three wheels really give a lot of options for spins. I haven’t quite figured out a good side spin slider, the curve and even change up are quite good. I play in a semi-pro men’s league with guys throwing between 65-85. Even though this machine doesn’t go that high, I get the same amount of reaction time because of the shorter distance. So if you’re wondering if saving some dough by just getting the Hack jr, I say go for it. Great purchase! Ps- if you get the leg extensions and the ball feeder you will either need to buy a leg extension for the feeder or do what I did and prop it up on something stable. It’s about a 25” increase.

Pitches true over a variety of ball quality. Would like to be able to access a matrix guide to help properly set the wheel speeds to allow for various levels of talent to be trained at the same time with varying speeds. It is an exercise in guess work that often ends up in a pitch other than a straight fast ball, being pitched.