A Love Match Between You and Your Tennis Tutor
For tennis aficionados, there’s Tennis Tutor, a new tennis ball machine that is battery-operated and portable.
Tennis Tutor, manufactured by a Glendale company, runs on a 12-volt rechargeable battery, weighs only 40 pounds (without tennis balls) and folds up into the size of a small suitcase. It also has wheels and a stick handle so you can easily pull it to and from the court.
The machine, which holds up to 150 balls, was developed by aerospace engineer Bill Greene, who took up tennis three years ago, bought a regular plug-in ball machine and took it to a school court where there were no electric outlets.
“More than 70% of tennis courts don’t have accessible electric power,” said Bill Rombeau, senior vice president of the manufacturing company. “That’s why this machine is so handy. You can take it anyplace and use it.”
The tennis balls are fed into a ball reservoir on top of the machine, then tossed out of a chute on the side at whatever speed you select, from 10 to 55 m.p.h. The balls are discharged at the programmed speed by two rotating wheels. The machine feeds the balls in an arc toward one side of the court, then the other. After you set the dials and turn on the machine, Tennis Tutor gives you “a polite 10 seconds to get to your side of the net.”
The Tennis Tutor’s standard battery will give a player two to three hours of practice time before needing recharging, which can be done overnight. Every unit comes with a battery charger. In addition to the standard model ($879), there’s one with a heavy-duty battery ($919) that will run from 4 to 6 hours before needing a recharge. Or there’s another model ($1,249) that features a remote-control device that allows the player to start and stop the ball feed from the other side of the net.
To order Tennis Tutor, contact Tennis Tutor Inc., 1745 Victory Blvd., Suite E, Glendale, Calif. 91201; (800) 448-8867.
More Totable Exercise
Fitness enthusiasts may be interested in another portable sports-oriented product, Athlete-5, a lightweight (only 7 1/2 pounds) exercise kit that’s easy to transport from home to office, to take on a business trip or vacation.
Trend Pacific Inc. of Los Angeles recently introduced the new travel exercise case, which is manufactured in Japan and has all the exercise accessories needed for a workout: 2-pound dumbbells, a tension bar, a chest pull, a jump rope and sweatbands. Each piece fits snugly into an indentation inside a polypropylene carrying kit measuring 16x11x3 1/2 inches.
The suggested retail price for the kit is $79.95. In Southern California, it’s available at Yamaguchi’s in West Los Angeles, Cargo West in Long Beach, Alan Ladd Hardware in Palm Springs and Pili’s in La Jolla. To locate stores in other areas that carry the kit, contact Trend Pacific Inc., 507 Towne Ave., Los Angeles, Calif. 90013; (213) 627-4790.
Can Post-its Improve?
The 3M Co., which revolutionized notepaper by introducing its Post-it notes with the stick-tops nine years ago, has just come out with a special “Pop ‘n Jot” desktop dispenser for them.
The handy holder is weighted so you can pop out a note easily with one hand, and 3M has also designed the notes so they are fan folded. When you pull one out of the dispenser to use, another pops up in its place.
Suggested retail for “Pop ‘n Jot” is $9.95 and it is available nationwide in stationery, office supply, art and school supply stores. If you can’t find a store in your area that’s carrying the new dispenser, write to 3M Commercial Office Supply, Bldg. 223-3S-03, 3M Center, St. Paul, Minn. 55144.
