As a pickleball instructor and competitive pickleball player, I purchased the Franklin Sports ProShot Automatic Pickleball Launcher Machine from Pickleball Central to use for clinics and private lessons as well as for working on my own shots. I have used the machine a number of times with students and clinics, and by myself to drill. Here is my assessment of the Franklin ProShot.
I want to start out by confessing that I only paid $99 for the ProShot because I was one of the first to buy it at Pickleball Central. The cost now is $159.99. When I purchased the ProShot, I wasn’t expecting much. After all, a good pickleball machine costs around $1,000. So my expectations were pretty low. When I received the package from Pickleball Central and opened it, I said to myself “You get what you pay for.” Not surprisingly, all the parts are plastic except for the tiny adapter. Putting it together was quick and easy, although I needed a magnifying glass to read the instructions.
As I mentioned, I’m both an instructor and a player. Let me put my player hat on first and tell you that the ProShot is worthless if you want to use it to practice your shots. To begin with, it has a “high” and “low” setting that presumably regulates the height of the ball as it comes out of the chute, but you can hardly distinguish the difference. As advertised, the balls shoot out of the machine every 8-9 seconds, which is too painfully slow to be challenging for any player other than an absolute beginner. So, as I said if you’re thinking of buying the ProShot to improve your game, save your money.
Now let me put on my instructor hat. I don’t see how you could use the ProShot in a clinic since it holds only 15 balls, and it doesn’t work for private lessons with advanced players because of the slow speed of the ball and the interminable 8-9 second wait for the ball to come out of the chute. But (alas!) for a private lesson with beginners, it can be very helpful.
I used the machine during several private lessons with beginners. The slow speed of the ball was actually advantageous, and the wait between balls coming out of the chute gave me time to talk about the shot and give instructions. Also, I was able to scoot over to the other side of the net and help position the players for the next shot. During two drills – the “return and run” and the “serve and stay” – I used the machine to serve so I could move around the court and explain where to stand and where to move during a game. I particularly liked using the ProShot for this drill.
In conclusion, is the ProShot worth the money? Unless you are an instructor, teaching private lessons to beginners, I think you will be disappointed with it due to the shortcomings I have described in this review. Perhaps what is most irksome is Franklin’s description of the machine. On its website, it says that the ProShot is “the perfect piece of pickleball training equipment to help all players develop their skills and play their best…” This is questionable at the very least. It also claims that the machine is “sturdy,” which is far from accurate and that it is “built to last and easy to take on the go…” In truth, it is anything but sturdy, and it is difficult to transport because it is flimsy and falls apart easily.
Sorry to say, Franklin, the manufacturer, doesn’t paint an accurate picture of the ProShot. That’s not to say that the machine is totally useless. On the contrary, as I have pointed out, if you are an instructor teaching private lessons to beginners, it could be helpful. But for lessons with advanced players, and for practicing by yourself, I do not recommend it.
This blog post is for pickleball players and instructors. I am providing a review of the Franklin Proshot based on my experiences with it. Others might have a different opinion, and that’s fine. I’m going to continue using the machine for lessons with beginning players, so I have found a good use for it. I hope you enjoy reading my two books on pickleball, the revised edition of my first book, Pickleball for Beginners Part I, and my second book, Pickleball for Beginners Part II. Both are available on Amazon as a paperback and a Kindle.