Jugs Jr for $400 Should I buy it?

[Eugene Stryke]

A retiring coach in the area is selling his Juggs Jr pitching machine. It comes with some ball feeders and dimple balls. They retail for like 1200 new. I am new to coaching and have not tried many pitching machines. Is the Jugs Jr. a good machine? Thanks!

 

[Coach JV]

jump on it

 

[knightsb]

I have a Jugs Jr. that I bought a few years ago for over 1K. I use it for both our Softball and Baseball teams. I will say the older the kids get, the less I use it.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

I haven't used mine for several years. It is heavy and is hard to move. It is in the way in the garage.

But, I love it for infield and OF practice. I would sell the dimple balls. They sell pretty well.

Here is what to look for, if you are going to use it for batting, set it up and see if it will throw strikes to a batter. You can see if there are any bolts that need tightened, if the tire is aired properly - and if it will hold air. Replacement tires are not too expensive. See if you want to lug it around and have enough room in the car, to carry it.

Look at the dial is it digital? Probably not, and that is why it is $400.00. If it is only a dial that you twist to put it on the correct speed, that it certainly OK. But, there is a newer Jugs Jr. that has been out several years, that is digital.

Since you are new, I will tell you that I first had a machine and cage in 1985 at the junior college. We hit all winter in it and then, could not hit a thing all spring, in games. I asked the baseball coach about it and he said "Oh, hitting in the cage doesn't transfer to on the field." "Oh, thanks." I only used the cage sparingly after that and never with my own kids.

But, yes. $400 isn't bad. And Jugs has a good customer service. You could probably ask them questions, before buying.

 

[CPSBDad]

As Amy said the machine can be used for more than just hitting, but are you willing to drag it around? They can be set up to throw popflies or grounders. I use my Liteflite for popflies because I can't hit a consistent popfly if my life depended on it. I have a Jugs Jr with digital readout that I keep in my cage. FWIW, my DD can hit off the machine and rarely strikes out in games, so not transferring to the field I'm not so sure about. $400 is a great price if it's working well and you get some balls too. I paid $650 for the Juggs Jr, Liteflite, 4 dozen balls for the Jr, and 2 dozen for the Litefilte.

 

[sluggers]

$400 is a great deal.

Amy's comments are, as usual, on point. A pitching machine is a tool. If you use it as part of an entire hitting training program, it is great. It is not the be-all, end-all of hitting. However, for $400, you can't go wrong.

 

[Amy in AZ.]

You know where I used mine the most, was when all 3 kids were at home, I set it up in the front yard and shot fly balls to them. Then, they threw the balls back into a net, near me. They had to stand in the street, but it was a cul de sac, and I could see oncoming cars.

 

[SoCalDad]

One other use for mine aside from batting practice, fetch for the dog. Drop in tennis balls, set it for line drive, get about 150 - 175 feet. I usually get tired before she does and I all I do is drop balls into the machine from my lawn chair.

 

[Eugene Stryke]

I gotta say, that I could figure out a way to play catch with the dog for less money, but that might be the highest use for them that I have heard yet. I am a little reluctant to get the Jugs machine after reading the responses. I am not surprised to hear that girls hit them well then perform poorly in games. I think that as a tool to work on the mechanics of a swing they might be valuable. It is tempting to overuse them I am sure. I took my 2nd grade girls to the local batting cages during the season and they had a great time. They also hit unbelievably well the next game. In that one instance I think their confidence grew and they performed at a higher level. They are still hitting coach pitching and haven't even seen a windmill windup. That is all changing soon, so I think I will reluctantly buy the Jugs. The seller said he has it set up to do a windmill right in to is so the batter sees the windup along with the pitch. Don't know how he does it but that sounds cool. I just don't know if I can fit in the trunk of my sedan. I also have to think about a generator for using it outside. All in all 400 bucks for a spinning wheel sounds a little steep. There is no digital readout it is probably pretty old. Is it worth 400 in that case? I could take a step up maybe and get something more modern. Thanks, Jim

 

[PEPPERS]

IMO there is no substitute for live pitching, when I coached I could pitch and I pitched from 43 feet and although I would have not won any awards I was good enough for practice. I did not like for my pitchers to pitch batting practice so I pitched. My friend whose daughter was on the team had the Jugs not the jr but the Jugs it was rated at 70 MPH and the jr at 60 MPH I think. He had a converter on his truck where he could run a cord from his truck and plug it in leave the truck running and it could be used anywhere (converter was around $200).

Things to think about if there is no electricity you cannot use it unless you have a converter. Lugging it around is not a lot of fun. Electric cord rolling and un rolling takes time. Machine has to be constantly adjusted to throw strikes, vibration throws accuracy off.

You can do things to help it be more useful, stand behind a good screen for safety. Use two balls one in each hand one ball near the feeder and the other in the pitching hand make an arm circle to simulate a pitchers motion and feed the ball in to the machine when your arm gets to release point, be as close to pitchers arm speed as possible. Set the machine up at the release point distance maybe 37 feet if you are pitching at 43 feet or 35 if 40. Don’t set on one speed all the time vary the speed to make it challenging. You can do the Bond’s drill as recommended by Howard.

Bond’s drill start in the back of the box every successful hit off the machine take a step closer to the machine no closer than 15 feet for safe, in the beginning you will not get that close, with practice you hitters can get closer and closer until they can get to 15 feet. The Bond’s drill will help with timing.

Front toss from behind a screen works well also.