Ball basket

A tennis ball hopper or basket is a practical piece of tennis equipment to store, pickup, and conveniently bring tennis balls to the court.

If a player is committed to improving their game or helping someone else to develop theirs, then a ball basket is an excellent investment. Here a few of the most common reasons players buy them.

1. Faster & Easier Ball Collection. The number one reason for buying a ball hopper or basket is to speed up the ball collection process. Bringing more than a few balls for practice is an efficient way to get the most out of your time on the court, but the more you bring, the more tedious it is to pick them up. For that reason, a tennis ball hopper is one of the most practical and useful pieces of court equipment for players of all ages and levels. If you’re lucky enough to own a tennis ball machine, then a tennis ball hopper or basket borders on a necessity. Ball machines often have high ball capacities to help players maximize their repetitions, so you’ll save yourself time and energy investing in one.
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2. Transporting Tennis Balls. It’s common for players to pick up a ball hopper to transport a large number of tennis balls to and from the court, rather than stashing them in their racquet bag or bringing an entirely separate bag.
3. Feeding Balls to a Friend or Student. Another excellent reason to purchase a ball hopper is for practicing with a friend or student. Feeding several balls to the same location for practicing the same shot is an excellent way to practice and develop a player’s skill.
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4. Practicing Your Serve. The serve is one of the most critical shots to learn, and one of the few that a player can practice independently. A ball hopper is one of the best accessories to get the job done. Although it’s possible to bring a handful of balls to the court for practicing your serve, it’s incredibly more efficient to carry 50, so you can get a sufficient number of repetitions under your belt.

There are more than a few features that you can take into consideration when purchasing a ball hopper or basket. Here are some of the most important to keep in mind.

Size or Capacity

Most ball hoppers will range in capacity from 40-140 tennis balls, and the more they carry, the larger they’ll be. For most players, a ball hopper within the range of 50-75 balls is more than sufficient.
There are two factors to consider here. First, if you want to take full advantage of a larger basket, you’ll have to buy more tennis balls, which can get expensive. Second, the more balls you carry, the more difficult it will be to transport the basket, and the more challenging it will be to use for picking up balls as it fills up.

Size is also important to consider if children will be using the hopper to help since they’ll require a smaller hopper.

Weight

Hand in hand with size, the weight of a ball hopper is worth noting when you make a purchase. Although the weight of an empty basket might not seem like much, once you start adding tennis balls, it can add up.

An average tennis ball weighs around 55-60 grams. With that in mind, here’s roughly how much weight balls will add on the low end:

• 253 lbs / 1.4 kg;
• 506 lbs / 2.8 kg;
• 759 lbs / 4.1 kg;
• 10012 lbs / 5.5 kg;
• 12515 lbs / 6.9 kg;
• 15018 lbs / 8.3 kg.

Again, these aren’t massive numbers, but the convenience factor does begin to drop slightly the larger the basket gets, so it’s worth keeping in mind. Once again, if you’re dealing with kids, you’ll want to have a smaller basket to keep the weight lower.

The materials can also contribute to a hopper’s weight, so if you’re looking for the lightest, one with plastic construction might be ideal.

Height

When you pick up balls, you want the ball hopper’s height to be tall enough so that you’re not bending or crouching when you press it down on top of balls to pick them up.

For the most part, companies making ball hoppers recognize this, but there are a few unreasonably short baskets that make the cleanup process a little less convenient.

Someone who’s six-foot-tall will want a basket that stands roughly 30 inches (give or take one or two inches) tall when picking up balls. Usually, if it’s taller, that’s less of a problem, but you don’t want it to be too short.

It’s also worth noting that a handful of hoppers offer adjustable handles.

Materials

Steel and plastic are the two most common materials you’ll find used for ball hoppers. For the most part, a steel hopper will offer added durability, but it can increase its weight, so there may be a tradeoff.

Beyond the core materials, some baskets offer coatings to help protect the baskets against the elements. If that’s a concern and you’re looking for a basket to last longer, then it’s worth considering.

Construction

Various ball hoppers will offer varying degrees of construction for added durability. For example, some ball hoppers offer thicker steel and more robust welding to improve their durability.

A few companies have introduced a floating wire at the bottom of their baskets, making pressing down on balls to collect them dramatically easier, which is a handy feature if you’ve struggled to pick up balls with a standard hopper in the past.

Legs

Many ball hoppers offer handles that convert into legs by collapsing beneath the basket, which is handy to raise it off the ground when feeding or grabbing balls while serving.

For most players, finding a basket that offers this feature is a no brainer. However, it is worth noting that these baskets tend to be a bit less durable due to the design.

With that in mind, some people and clubs may opt for ball hoppers that don’t have legs and only pick up balls, especially if they use larger carts for feeding balls.

Lid

If you’re using your ball hopper to transport your balls, it’s useful to find one that offers a lid. On a handful of occasions, players accidentally tip over their basket outside the court and in the parking lot, and tracking down the balls is a pain.

A lid is a simple addition to a ball basket that can save you the frustration of having to pick up spilled balls.

Wheels

Finally, depending on the capacity of the ball hopper you purchase and who will be using it, wheels may be a welcome edition.

A handful of baskets offer wheels for easier transportation, which can be particularly useful if kids are part of the equation.