Lobster Sports Elite Grand Five & Five LE are the top battery tennis ball machines offered by Lobster. They have everything you can think of. But are they worth the price? Let us take a closer look at the features, tweaks, pros, and cons of Lobster Elite Grand Five & Five LE ball machines. At the start, we will explain that Five Le means Five Limited Edition. But do not let fool yourself as you will see that Grand Five LE comes with an almost unlimited number of drills and features.
Pros:
+ 12 preloaded drills (6 shots each)
+ 12 custom drills for Grand Five Le, 6 custom drills for Grand Five
+ 18 different ball locations for Grand Five Le, 6 different ball locations for Grand Five
+ Court time 4 to 8 hours, Short recharging period
+ For intermediate and advanced players looking for game-like experience
Cons:
– Remote Control (20-functions or Grand remote or Phone remote) just for an additional fee
– Just three levels of backspin and topspin
CHECK PRICE OF LOBSTER SPORTS ELITE GRAND FIVE LE ON AMAZON HERE or read the full review below.
Content:
Technical Specifications
Features
Available Drills
Remote Control
Battery life & Recharging
Construction
Pricing & Our Verdict
or check our guide to all important features and parameters the best tennis ball machines should have.
Lobster Sports Elite Grand Five & Five LE Technical Specifications:
Lobster Elite Grand Five Le
Ball Feed Speed: 35 to 80 mph (56 to 129 kmph)
Ball Feed Interval: 2 seconds to 9 seconds
Ball Capacity: 150 balls
Programmable Drills: 12 preloaded drills
Custom Drills:
Five – 6 custom drills (6 shots each), 6 shot locations
Five Le – 12 custom drills (6 shots each), 18 shot locations
Phone Compatibility: yes, for an additional fee
Battery life: 4 – 8 hours
Battery charging: 3 to 9 hours for a fully charged battery
Weight: 44 lbs (20 kg)
Dimensions: Height: 29 in (73 cm) Length: 21 in (53 cm) Width: 15.5 in (39 cm) when folded down
Case Construction: Durable plastic body
Features
The chapter about the features included in top-end models as Grand Five and Grand Five LE can be really long. All feature built-in Lobster Elite models are included in the Lobster Elite Grand line. Therefore, we try to pick just the most important ones.
We start with the oscillation. You will get random vertical, random horizontal and fully random oscillation with Lobster Elite Five. Lobster Elite Grand Five LE has also three options of random horizontal (short, mid, deep) and random vertical (left, middle, right) oscillation. On top of that, you get a fully random 2-line oscillation feature.
Coming to spin, you can pick from three different top and backspin levels. The speed can be adjusted in 5 mph increments. The elevation is electrical and can be changed in 1-degree increments to change the depth of the ball.
Available Drills
Drills are the thing that makes the Lobster Elite Grand Five line so extraordinary. Grand Five and Five LE models come with 12 preloaded drills, which is six more than you will get with the cheaper Lobster Grand Four. (All twelve preloaded drills can be found in pdf here). This number of preloaded drills is the highest available on the market (the same number of preloaded drills is provided also by Spinshot Player and Spinshot Plus-2 tennis ball machines). However, Grand Five and Five Le bring something more.
Lobster Elite Five LE Control Panel
Both tennis ball machines have the possibility to program your own custom drill. Set, save and play is an easy feature that makes these two models unique. Grand Five has space for 6 custom drills (per 6 shots and 6 different ball locations), and Grand Five LE provides even more. 12 custom drills (per 6 shots) and 18 different ball locations are the most you can get at the moment from the battery-powered tennis ball machine.
Eighteen ball locations essentially mean there is no place on the court left uncovered. You can program any place on the court to get the ball in. And that is really a great thing in simulating match conditions.
Obviously, you can set up the speed, depth, spin and feed interval of balls. Essentially you can program an indefinite number of different playing sets.
The advantage of twelve different custom drills is not just in simulating different playing styles. Lobster Grand Five LE can be easily used in the tennis club for different practices. Coaches can prepare the training sets for more players in advance and each practice can be tailored to player needs. Moreover, it saves time and makes the court and ball machine usage very efficient.
Remote control
We wrote it many times and still hope for progress. The weaker spot of Lobster machines is the remote control availability. I would expect that with the premium models like all Grand models (Four, Five, Five LE) you will get at least a simple remote control for free. Unfortunately, the remote control is available just for an extra fee. You can choose from the remote control itself or applications for iPhone or Android. Eventually, you can buy a package of remote control and app for a discounted price.
I strongly recommend investing in remote control. It makes the practice much easier.
Battery life & recharging
In terms of battery, Lobster sticks to its standards. Court time ranges between 4 and 8 hours depending on the way of use. The recharging time is 3 to 9 hours with a fast charger or even 1 to 3 hours with a premium charger. The fast charger is included as part of the package when buying Grand Five or Grand Five LE. The premium charger is available for an additional fee.
There is also a possibility to buy an external battery pack or connection to A/C power. In case of A/C power keep in mind you need the socket in the proximity of your tennis court.
Check reviews of other Lobster Sports tennis ball machines
Construction
Lobster Elite Five LE Clear Hopper
Lobster is made out of durable plastic. The handle can be folded, the ball hopper can be removed or inverted to cover the machine. All Lobster Ball Machines can easily be stored and also easily transported on the back seat of your car. The oversized wheels help in riding the ball machine around the court for everybody (kids and ladies included).
Lobster Grand Five and Five LE construction were recently upgraded and now are delivered just with a clear hopper. What seems like a pure design upgrade can be a really useful feature at the end. Thanks to the clear hopper you see how many balls are left in the feeder for distance. That can be really helpful during your practice when you need to distribute the energy for the rest of the training.
Check other reviews of Lobster Sports Elite Grand Five LE tennis ball machine on Amazon here.
Lobster Sports Elite Grand Five and Five LE Pricing & Our Verdict
Lobster Sports Elite Grand Five LE sets a high bar for any other battery tennis ball machine. It offers the highest number of drills (preloaded and custom) and stands as a unique match simulation device for any advanced or intermediate player.
It is also not surprising that tennis ball machines equipped with features such as Elite Grand Five and Grand Five LE will be in the top price category. However, the price is not extra high and still can be considered fair. For me, these two machines are worth every cent. It is obvious that the Lobster Elite Grand Five LE model is a bit more expensive than the Grand model. But again, the difference is not very big. And that is the reason I would pick Grand Five LE over Grand Five. The difference in a number of drills (preloaded and custom) outweighs a few hundred bucks difference in price.
Check the price of Lobster Elite Grand Five LE and Lobster Elite Grand Five on Amazon.
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