How Does
How Tennis Machines Work
Contributor
By eHow Contributing Writer
The Holding Bin
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Tennis machines are used by tennis players for practicing their strokes either when there is not a practice partner available, or when the player wants the consistency of practicing with a machine so that more attention can be paid to the technicalities of a particular stroke. Tennis machines work because they have a holding bin that can hold numerous balls so a tennis player can practice for long periods of time without having to stop to pick up balls. There are many different tennis machines available with holding bins that hold anywhere from 50 balls to 300 balls or more.
The Spinning Wheels
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No matter what the ball capacity of a tennis machine is, the machine works to throw balls to a player with the use of two spinning wheels. From the holding bin, each tennis ball travels through a tube to a position in between the two spinning wheels. The spinning wheels of a tennis machine are able to throw a tennis ball because the wheels spin in opposite directions. The pressure and speed of the spinning wheels on a tennis ball are what cause the tennis ball to be thrown from the tennis machine when the ball reaches the front opening on the machine.
The Throw
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A tennis machine is also able to throw tennis balls with a slice or a top spin. This works because of the way the spinning wheels are situated, one on top of the other. When the top wheel spins at a faster rate than the bottom wheel, the ball will be thrown with top spin, and when the bottom wheel spins faster than the top wheel, the ball will be thrown with a slice. Additionally, some tennis machines are able to throw tennis balls to different locations on a court through the use of an oscillating component.
eHow Article: How Tennis Machines Work
