SKLZ Lightning Bolt Baseball Pitching Machine for Training & Practice - Perfect for Baseball Players, Coaches & Backyard Drills (Indoor/Outdoor Use)

We have several of these and we love using them. We have used them now for the second season and they have held up well. I use them for my own training, as well as with my 4 and 5 year old daughter. I am still stumped by the bad reviews, and I am wondering if it is bad luck or people just don't like doing the small by training (in which case you may like the SKLZ Lightning Strike Pitching Machine). Bottom line, it shoots small balls relatively consistently over 20-30 feet at a decent speed when you give it proper power and battery charge.By relatively, it is good in that the balls will shoot in the general area, but with will move around. For me, that is fantastic is I have to adapt and makes it more valuable. For my daughter who was 4 when first using it and is now five, it can be frustrating, but has been a valuable tool for her to learn about variability and focus.I purchased more than one of these as I figured alternating them would get more more balls and longer battery life, and I was one hundred percent right. Now we use one, then the other, then go get the balls. The little bit of rest helps a lot with the battery life, and it also makes taking turns and getting a lot of reps much easier.When I did have an issue - one of them stopped working on battery after I used AC power, SKLZ sent a replacement within a week and had good customer service.Note - I really recommend you get the skinny light (SKLZ Lightning Rod) and heavy bats (Power Stick) as part of training. The Bolt Shagger is also a great product.