Volleyball serving machine questions.?

Question

I'm thinking about getting a volleyball serving machine. Do any of you know much about them, like what is the best model etc. I would use it for training serve recieve against jump serves.

Anyone have personal experience with these machines?

How many of the top colleges use them? I know some national teams do...

Answer 1

I've used both.

I just purchased a Volleyball Sport Attack (http://www.sportsattack.com/vb-attack.ph... used and ran my high school boys camp with it this week. It is tremendous! You do have to have balls that you plan on wearing down more quickly but other than that, it is exactly what you want. It will mark balls, but not destroy them, over the long haul, yes, you will need to get replacement balls, but if the wheels are clean it's less of a problem.

The girls varsity at the school I coach has an AirCat that I used on occasion before purchasing the VB Attack. The positives are that it doesn't wear down balls as quickly, however, the feeder of this device is very fragile and should not be bumped at all while storing. (Believe it or not, you wouldn't believe how often the feeder gets bumped.)

The negative of the Aircat is that it tosses high arching balls, even at it's highest setting, that are the equivalent of a nice high serves with very little spin, but not exactly a floater. Too easy...

The AirCat can not serve to replicate a men's serve. It cannot spike at a defense over a net. It can only do free balls and serve high easy serves.

The positives of the volleyball sport attack are:

1a. There are separate controls for the bottom and top wheels allowing anything from severe topspin to sever backspin.

1b. It can serve 60-70 mph topsin serves from beyond the endline up to 9'3" that land "in" every single time. (All you do is rotate the wheel section to direct left or right, etc.

2. It can serve perfect floaters consistently that teach players to attack a floater before it gets caught up in it's action.

3. It passes to the setter with backspin or no spin to run drills more effectively without having to worry about inconsistent passing. This gives attackers more touches. You can work with your defensive back row on another court.

4. It sets OH, MH, and RS with ease. I have used it to set 1s and 2s to my middles. However, I would suggest not using a device for this because you need to have setters and middles work together.

5. It can attack from high above the net (at 60 mph if you wanted to.) at your defense (hitting down, not up then down).

6. It can train your blockers and even your coverage defense if you set it at a low setting and use it to attack a block

7. It can serve very fast let serves that drop straight down every single time. (If you want to run a drill for that.)

8. I can't list anymore, because it's endless. The only limit is your imagination. If the contact is legal in volleyball, this machine can replicate it at a very high level. (Except block) :)

My point is there is nothing this machine can not do. If you have a program and can afford new balls every two years or so, then this machine is the best on the market. I have no idea why the AirCat is more expensive. It's useless to me.

Granted the continued cost of the wear on balls is a big reason. But I got my machine very cheap and only 1 year old from a women's collegiate program. Ask around for a used ones, coach's change and new coach's may have no use for certain equipment.

There you have it:

If you have a lot of money now and don't need an aggresive machine. Go AirCat.

If you have less money now, but can get consistent income for your program over the long haul for balls and want a very aggressive machine that covers every single skill... go Sport Attack.

I hope that helps

Answer 2

well i dont know the brand but my high school has one and it actually works really well u can set the hight and all of that so yea but umm i guess this doesnt really help unless i know the brand!!! sorry!

Answer 3

We have an AirCat and its a little under $4,000. We use it all the time for serve receive. you just put a timer on it and start passing. We also use it as a setter it sets outsides pretty well.

good luck!

Answer 4

Really...are you ready to drop $4,000 on a unit?

The AirCat is one of the best machines since it uses air pressure not spinning rubber wheels that wear down volleyballs.