All links to view and purchase items mentioned in this review are at the bottom of the post!

Overview

I receieved an A11N pickleball launcher to review directly from the company upon me asking them directly.

This launcher is in the $200 range and puts it well below expensive $1000+ models, however there are several in the $150-$200 range.

I chose this as it seemed to have the best features and speed of any of the launchers in this range.

I was definitely not disappointed and love using this ball launcher for drilling by myself now.

The launcher holds 19 balls which is decent but it does go by faster than you think. I highly recommend grabbing the ball track extra pieces which should allow you told a total of about 33-35 balls.

The only downside is the track isn’t sold in Canada so you’ll have to order from the U.S. and when you factor in import fees it cost me around $55. Quite expensive for 4 pieces of plastic but in the grand scheme of things, it’s well worth having as you’ll have more time in between loading and using the launcher.

Speaking of balls, if you’re looking for decent outdoor balls that don’t break the bank, GO Sport 40 balls are recommended – they are fairly similar to the popular Franklin X-40s and significantly cheaper, so ideal for a ball machine.

If you want to spend less time picking up balls, a ball retriever helps a lot – again, expensive for what it is but saves you time and a lot of bending over.

Functions

The launcher itself has a ton of handy functions such as:

• Swivel base (launcher rotates back and forth while launching balls)
• 2 Dual speed motors for fast or slow launches – setting 1 high and 1 low causes the ball to curve
• Adjustable launcher wheels allows you to add slice to the left or the right so the ball spins away from you

All this coupled with the fact that the launcher can launch balls 40-45 km/h makes it s super good sub $1000 ball launcher. Similarly priced launchers only launch balls 15-25 km/h!

Power Options

The launcher can be powered by cord, D batteries or a USB power bank as long as it’s rated for 3A of power outage. I got a 20,000 mAH power bank for about $25 on Amazon and used that exclusively – after 6 or 7 sessions the battery was still around 65% – lots of power left.

Issues

I only had 2 minor issues with this launcher:

1. On my first use sometimes the launcher would spit out 2 balls. One full speed and the other dribbled out. Not a huge issue but makes the 19 balls go by quicker
2. Again, on my first use sometimes the last ball would not launch.

I don’t remember having either of these issues after my use. My theory is that the wheels that launch the ball got some plastic grit built up on them and cause the wheels to have a better “grip”. Whether this is by design or a happy accident, whatever works!

Uses

The uses for this are mostly limited to your imagination, but here’s some drills I did:

• Third shot practice: We could all use this and this drill let’s you hit hundreds of third shots in a short time.
• Volleys/Blocks: You can attach the launcher to a camera tripod so for this drill I set the ball launcher at the kitchen line on the opposite side of the court (or even close) and put it full power. I practice hitting my blocks down at my “opponents” feet.
• ATP practice: This one is harder to set up but with a bit of patience you can get the launcher to get the ball in a pretty consistent spot for ATPs. I always drill it as hitting ATPs where I can and just dinking back those I can’t. This helps you recognize balls you can and can’t hit around the post!
• ERNE practice: Similar set up to the Blocks practice though you can also set it lower and slower and practice hitting ERNEs – this skill is mostly mental – knowing when to try it, so this drill will help your brain be ready for those opportunities.
• Dink practice: Mostly the same as the ATP practice but a little less precise setup for general dinking practice.
• Bob Loblaw’s Ball Lob Practice: (that’s an Arrested Development joke for this in the know). Set yourself up at the kitchen and get the launcher to lob over your head near the baseline. Practice running back and doing a good reset!

All of these drills can be modified with the slice settings or curve balls, swivel base and more and of course you can run any drill you can think of!

Final Thoughts

For what this machine can do and how much you can improve your game, it’s well worth the ~ $200 price4 tag and if you ask me, investing in the extra ball track, USB power bank and a tripod are also super helpful.

I saw my third shots and my blocks improve noticeably after just a few sessions with this machine. I keep it in my car and often stop at a local outdoor court to run some drills.

Links

All links go to Amazon – full disclosure these are affiliate links meaning I get a very small commission – it costs you nothing and supports my budding business, so any purchase through these links is appreciated!

A11N Ball Launcher

Extra track for ball launcher – if the usual seller doesn’t have this in stock it may be priced way too high. It should be $45-55 CAD if in stock with the usual supplier.

Go Sports 40 Pickleballs

20,000 mAH USB Power bank with 3A output

Pickleball Retriever

Tripod for mounting launcher

There’s a meme that goes around showing a huge lineup of people buying a new Pickleball paddle, while there’s a line for skills and coaching that is empty.

Our brains are funny. You might notice when people miss or mishit a shot they look at their paddle as if it’s the paddles fault! Or if it isn’t the paddles fault, maybe the ball is cracked? No? Must have hit a weird spot on the floor, as it couldn’t possibly be us!

I’m guilty of it myself. A new paddle can feel amazing. Like your whole game will change! While a good paddle that suits your style can make a difference, practicing is really the best way to improve your game. I guarantee someone who has a $100 paddle will beat their peers with a $300 paddle if the first person has done drills and practice.

Many people just want to get out and play, and I get that! We want to have fun! There are many drills that can still be a “game” though which will feed your competitive nature.

One is the dink game. Game goes to 7, works exactly like a real game except shots outside the kitchen are “out”. This is a dink only game (you can take the ball out of the air still if you’re not in the kitchen).

Another good one is “7-11” where one player stands at the kitchen line and drives to the other player, who is standing behind the baseline. The goal of the receiving player is to work their way to the kitchen and score a point. The goal of the “serving” player is to prevent this. It’s player with just one half of the court and the server must get 11 points to win, while the receiver only needs 7. This teaches the server to keep players back and the receiver to work their way through the transition zone up to the kitchen.

I always tell people – in a rated game, play the game you know. Even if it’s “wrong” it’s what you’ll perform best at. Unrated/Rec games are a great place to practice. Just remember to tell yourself – it’s about practice, not winning! Otherwise you may forget and fall into old habits.

In order to really drill things into your head, drills (aptly named) are necessary.

For example, my partner and I wanted to practice doing 2 handed backhands, something we could never seem to remember to try while playing.

We drilled for 2 hours, hitting every backhand as a 2 handed backhand. Now, you don’t need to and probably shouldn’t hit every backhand with both hands, but after that, it became automatic to hit 2 handed back hands and strangely enough, my brain seemed to know when to do 2 hands and when to do 1 hand.

There are so many important drills you can do, and I won’t list any more here, but I encourage you to look online yourself and have fun drilling! Spring is just around the corner and going to a free court to drill is a great way to spend your time in the warmer months!

Happy pickling everyone!