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If you use a lot of balls when playing tennis, either as a coach of when you’re training on your own, a tennis ball hopper can be a huge convenience. Tennis ball hoppers can help you quickly collect the balls, and then give you easy access to the balls at waist height. There are quite a few hoppers on the market though, each with their own features, advantages, and disadvantages.
In this guide, we will first break down the difference between hoppers, carts, and picker uppers. Then we’ll look at the things you need to consider before purchasing a hopper. Finally, we’ll offer some recommendations for some great tennis balls hoppers to help find the best fit for you.
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Hoppers, Carts, & Picker Uppers: The Different Types
There are essentially three types of product on the market that fulfill a similar role. It can get a little confusing and some products look the same whilst having different functionalites, so let’s clear it up.
- Carts: These are simply mobile baskets that hold the balls for easy access. They don’t pick up the balls for you. The benefit of using a cart is that they are usually more stable and durable than all-in-one hoppers, and they can hold more balls too.
- Picker uppers: These are just used to pick balls up and don’t give you easy access to the balls once they’ve been picked up like a cart does. Picker uppers are often spherical cages that you roll over the balls to pick them up. The benefit of using a picker upper is that it is much quicker to collect the balls compared with an all-in-one hopper. Picker uppers are great for collecting balls for a ball machine.
- Picker upper hoppers (all-in-one): These are an all-in-one solution and probably the most popular type. First, you can collect the balls by placing the hopper over the balls and pushing down to squeeze the balls into the basket. When it’s full, the best hoppers have handles that can be swiveled round and turned into legs so the basket sits at waist height giving you easy access to the balls.
You might be wondering why anyone would choose not to buy an all-in-one hopper. Well, there are a couple of reasons. If you’re using a ball machine, a standalone picker upper will do a faster job at collecting the balls and a basket isn’t neccessary as you can feed the balls straight from the picker upper into the ball machine.
For coaches and more serious plauyers, combining a cart with a picker upper can be a good idea too. Standalone carts are usually more durable, can hold more balls, and heavy better wheels than all-in-one hoppers, and picker uppers are faster at collecting balls. So you get the best of both worlds. The downside of course is that you have to purchase two products which means a higher cost, and you have to consider transportation too (unless they will be kept at the club).
Things to Consider
Hopefully, you now have a good idea of the different types of tennis ball hopper. Now let’s look at some things you need to consider before you make a purchase.
- Capacity: The capacity is simply how many balls the hopper can hold. You obviously want it to hold a good amount, but too many and it can get a little heavy. Around 75 – 85 is usually a good number to aim for.
- Material (weight): Hoppers are made from either plastic or metal. Metal hoppers have the advantage of being sturdier, but plastic hoppers are lighter and easier to move around the court.
- Convertible handle/legs: Some hoppers have handles that swivel around to become legs when you’re finished collecting the balls. This keeps the balls at waist height and is a must have unless you will be putting the balls straight into a ball machine or basket.
- Wheels: If you’re likely to be moving the hopper around the court a lot, or you will be walking home with the hopper, choose one with wheels (like our top pick).
- Price: Hoppers don’t have to be too expensive (our top pick is reasonably inexpensive), but you do want to make sure you buy one that’s built to last. They can get very expensive too (like the last pick on our list), but these models aren’t necessary and just add a little extra convenience if sticking to a budget isn’t a high priority.
Best Tennis Ball Hoppers
Now let’s take a closer look at our top picks for the best tennis ball hoppers. We’ve selected a good range of products so there should be something for everybody.
1. Tourna Ballport Deluxe – Our #1 Pick
- Holds up to 80 balls
- Made from plastic
- Lightweight
- Has wheels
- Picker upper & hopper (all-in-one)
- Not too expensive
One of the biggest issues with most tennis ball hoppers is the weight. Every time you run out of balls you have to carry the hopper around the court picking all the balls back up. With a heavy hopper, this can be a pain, especially when the tennis itself is already wearing you out! The great thing about the Tourna Ballport Deluxe is that it’s made from plastic which means it’s really lightweight. The only downside is that it isn’t quite as durable as some metal hoppers, but the lighter weight more than makes up for this.
The handle can be coverted into legs to keep the balls at waist height which means you don’t need to keep leaning over to reach the balls, saving you from back problems. It’s super easy to switch between legs and handle, and when used as legs, they lock into place.
The wheels on this hopper is a very nice addition. It makes it even more convenient to carry the hopper around the court, and if you’re going to be walking home with yout hopper, you’re really going to want wheels. One thing I’ve noticed from customer reviews is that you want to put the wheels on before putting the hopper together because it’s really difficult to get them on after.
This hopper can hold up to 80 balls which is a nice balance between holding a good amount of balls without getting too heavy.
Overall, the Tourna Ballport Deluxe is a quality, lightweight, hopper made even more practical with the addition of wheels, and it comes at a very reasonably price.
2. Gamma Ballhopper HiRise Gold 75 – Our Runner Up
- Hold up to 75 balls
- Made from metal
- Durable
- Picker upper & hopper (all-in-one)
- Not too expensive
- Quite heavy
Another good hopper to check out is the Gamma Ballhopper HiRise Gold 75. This hopper is made from metal and is quite a bit heavy than the Tourna Ballport which is made from plastic. The upside to the metal construction is that it’s more durable, making it a good option for heavy use.
Like the Tourna Ballport Deluxe, it’s an all-in-one hopper where the handle can be swivelled round to be used as legs for easy access to the balls.
This Gamma Ballhopper doesn’t have wheels either so it’s not as convenient to move around the court as the Ballhopper.
Overall, a good quality, durable tennis ball hopper at a reasonable price. However, not as convenient as the lighter, wheeled, Tourna Ballport Deluxe.
3. Tourna Ballport 85 – Best With Fixed Handle
- Hold up to 85 balls
- Made from metal
- Durable
- Handle doesn’t convert to legs
- Not too expensive
One of the great features of the previous two hoppers on our list is that the handle converts into legs for easy, waist height access to the balls. The Tourna Ballport 85 doesn’t have this feauture and instead has a fixed handle. Whilst this can be a disadvantage, it has it’s benefits too. The fixed handle means there are no moving parts to fall apart (which can happen on hoppers with convertible handles/legs). This means it’s much sturdier and durable.
For most people, convertible handles/legs are a really useful addition if you’re going to be picking the balls out of the hopper so I would avoid this hopper if that’s the case. But the Tourna Ballport 85 can be a great hopper if you place it on something raised or you use it to collect balls and fill a cart or ball machine. It could be a good choice for kids too, who don’t need to bend down as far to pick up the balls.
The Tourna Ballport 85 can – as the name suggests – hold up to 85 tennis balls.
Overall, a high quality, durable tennis ball hopper at a reasonable price. No moving parts make it particularly sturdy and durable, but comes at the expense of having to bend down to pick up the balls.
4. Oncourt Offcourt MultiMower – Our Premium Pick
- Hold up to 300 balls
- Durable
- Easy to use and very convenient
- Picker upper & hopper (all-in-one)
- Expensive
If you’re not working to a tight budget, the Oncourt Offcourt MultiMower is a great choice. It works differently to the other hoppers. As the name suggests, it resembles a mower and you roll it around the court and it picks up balls as you roll over them. Once the collection basket is full, you simply empty it into the top basket so the balls are at waist height.
Because you don’t have to lift it up and you can just roll it around the court, it’s really convenient to use and the fact that it isn’t lightweight doesn’t really matter. So you get a high quality, durable hopper that’s also easy to use. Furthermore, since the weight isn’t an issue, it can hold up to 300 balls which is much more than the others on our list.
Whilst you probably won’t be able to put it straight into your car like the other hoppers on our list, it can be dissassembled reasonably quickly and easily so you can transport it in your car.
The downside of the MultiMower is it’s price which is considerably higher than the other hoppers on our list, but if you’re not
Final Thoughts
If you use a lot of balls when you play tennis, either whilst training on your own or if you’re a coach, a tennis ball hopper is a vital piece of equipment. A good quality hopper can help you to quickly pick up balls and then give you easy access to the balls so you can spend more time on the court actually playing tennis. There are various things to consider when purchasing a hopper, including price, capacity, weight, portability, etc. We’ve included 4 quite different hoppers in our list, each with their own pros and cons, so hopefully you can find one which is suitable for you.