Whether you need to practice your ping pong game or want an unassuming weapon to rain down endless amounts of plastic balls on your enemies, the iPong should have you covered. If you can get past the unfortunate-sounding name, this machine will single-handedly give you a way to practice your table tennis skills by sending a barrage of high-speed shots to smash with your paddle.
Measuring 19 inches tall with an 11-inch diameter, the ball-serving machine is designed to sit on the other end of your game table, just like a real player. If you want to get creative, there’s a large space on the side for taping a picture of your upcoming opponent, so you can imagine you’re whacking balls towards his face while practicing. Just don’t do it too much during the actual game – I don’t think ping pong’s valid as a combat sport yet.
The iPong Table Tennis Trainer works like those tennis ball machines you see at the court. Except, instead of firing fluffy felt balls, it shoots the smaller plastic balls used during ping pong matches. It can hold 110 balls at a time and can be configured (via a knob on the side) to fire anywhere from 12 to 70 balls per minutes.
A second control knob on the side allows you to adjust the kind of shots it makes, so you can vary your practice. Pre-defined settings consist of underspin (the bottom of the ball rotates away from the player), topspin (top of the ball rotates away from the player) and heavy topspin (high rpm rotation).
You need to plug the iPong Table Tennis Trainer to the wall during use, so make sure there’s an outlet near your playing area. You can get one here for $149.95.