Okay, I have to say that I was just a little doubtful about this product at first, but it has exceeded all of my expectations. The first time I used it, I put a ball over the center field fence. It actually requires very little practice to become proficient and my kid loved chasing down fly ball after fly ball instead of grounder, miss, line drive, etc., off of my bat. I only wish I had bought two. The manager of the team that I help coach saw it in my ball bucket. After a quick demo, he was firing balls to a group of kids in the outfield, while another group of kids waited for a turn to try it out. Highly recommended.