How to use our new Ball Slinger
Booking and Payment process
- Book a Court in the normal way for a 1 hour slot
- Book the Ball Slinger – it’s “Court 8” on the booking system. You may need to scroll across if you only see 7 Courts on your screen.
- Make your payment (£10 for a 60 minute booking)
- In the event of bad weather/wet conditions please do not take the Slinger out on Court
- Although the system will not allow you to reschedule your booking you will be able to cancel and receive an automatic refund.
- You will then be able to make a new booking in the normal way.
- You can cancel your booking up to 1 hour before the hire period is due to start
Collecting & Returning the Slinger
- Give yourself time to collect and return the Slinger to its storage area within the hire period (Clubhouse or Coaches Store)
- Check that the battery charge lights are “green”, that the remote-control fob is in the side pocket and that the hopper is full of tennis balls before wheeling the Slinger on to your booked Court.
- If you are using the Slinger for the first time we suggest you use it as a “static” bag before moving on to use with the oscillator base at a future session (Please see the Instruction Manual for how to attach and use)
- IMPORTANT – if 1 or more of the Green lights is out please plug in for the battery to recharge at the end of your session.
Your Safety
- Whilst the Slinger is very easy and intuitive to use a copy of the User Manual is also at the back of this folder
- Do not reach into the feeder pocket when power is “on”
- Do not reach into the launching chute or stand directly in front of the launching chute when the power is “on” – remember the Slinger can launch balls at up to 45mph !! That’s enough to give you quite a bruise at the very least !!
- Please do not use the Slinger in wet conditions.
- The Slinger will provide you with a pretty good aerobic drills session so remember to switch “off”, take a short breather and take on board some fluids especially in warm conditions!
- The Slinger weighs approximately 15kg (without balls) and approximately 20kg (with 72 balls) so it’s a bit like wheeling a large suitcase. Take care around the steps and slopes on to our courts.
A quick visual tour of the Slinger bag
Using the Ball Slinger
- The hopper/feeder will be loaded with 72 balls. You may reload some or all of the balls during your hire period
- Once on Court position the Slinger around the middle of the service line opposite to where you want to receive the balls.
- Set the Ball Feed rate (lower front right)
- Set the Ball Speed (lower front right)
- Set the Ball Elevation Bar (lower side right)
- Start with the mid-point for each and then adjust according to your own needs
- Set the power switch to “On”
- Take the Remote Control fob from the side pocket (top right)
- Take up your normal baseline/return position and then whilst aiming the remote at the launcher press the top “on” button which has the ball launching icon. It will take a few seconds for the ball feeder to load and before the first ball is released.
- Settings can be adjusted at any time to suit your “drill” but please remember to press the “off” button on the remote before approaching the Slinger and switch “off” (bottom right on the bag) before changing the settings.
- Please also ensure the remote and the main Slinger are “off” before reloading the hopper bag with tennis balls.
- You can “aim” the Slinger to the forehand or backhand side of the court or you can attach the oscillator base which will automatically feed balls to alternate sides for you.
The Speed and Feed Settings and Battery Charge Lights (Red, Amber, Green, Green)
