Louisville Slugger UPM 45 Blue Flame Baseball Softball Pitching Machine

Cons: a bit confusing to assemble but not many pieces overall...took under 20 min. Tough to fit into a non-SUV trunk although I can just squeeze it into my 4 door sedan. Pros: high quality and durable. Worth every penny. Wide range of pitching distances and speeds. Once you get desired setting/speed/distance it hits it's mark with incredible reliability and consistency. Overall: buy this item if you're like me and are bad at pitching a consistent and reliable batting practice. Provides a very safe and consistent way to build confidence in a players swing at a higher velicoty of pitches a typical youth coach would throw. Throws from a young players eye height vs a tall coach throwing down at hitter. Also allows for a more productive BP session at team practices since all pitches are hittable. I rarely write reviews but this product exceeded my expectations. Not sure of long term durability over multiple seasons but it's build very well and i have no concerns here. Note: for some reason it was like $40 more in the store so order online and do store pick-up!

This is a great machine for baseball or softball either one. Being a coach of two fast-pitch girls teams I would have to say it has helped us tremendously. If you use real softballs or baseballs you may control the pitch inside outside high in the zone or low, it is easy to do once you learn how. It all has to do with placing the ball on the arm in either a two seam or four seam for high or low in the zone, or seam tilted to the inside for an outside pitch or outside for an inside pitch, the guide is a little off on the speed, we found it to be actually a little faster than what it states (it threw a 12 inch thunder heat fast-pitch ball 57 mph from a 40 foot rubber, that was the average with 36 balls) although i might just have a tighter spring (they do tend to vary in tension, but just feel it out), all in all it is great if you take the time to learn how to use it properly.