Louisville Slugger Blue Flame Pitching Machine

I've got two children playing (one in softball, one in baseball) that I try to help with their mechanics as best I can. I'm also recovering slowly from a shoulder injury so I have to limit the amount of stress I put on it as well. I don't have any issues with throwing and catching the ball with the kids but, as they get older, it gets more difficult for me to put enough on the ball for them to be challenged batting and deliver consistent pitches (especially trying to pitch underhanded to my daughter) so I figured I needed a pitching machine to help me out. I initially had this idea that I would get an electric machine to simplify things but, between the high costs,the numerous models, the various ball requirements (since some require specific practice balls), and my requirement that I needed it to be able to throw both baseballs and softballs, I was getting nowhere. Then I happened to find this Louisville Slugger machine while searching Amazon. The idea of a mechanical machine did not appeal to me at first but, it had so many excellent reviews, it was affordable, and it will literally throw almost anything (real baseballs/softballs, practice balls, etc.). Assembly was pretty easy and straightforward. The assembly manual is well written and it didn't take me but about 10 minutes to completely put it together and adjust it for throwing some softballs to my daughter. It took only about 4 pitches with minor adjustments to make sure it was throwing at the proper height for her and then, of the 30+ pitches we threw with it right after being assembled, only 1 pitch was not hitable. Speed and height adjustments are very easy and the unit is light enough to easily be transported to and from a field with ease. This machine totally exceeded my expectations as far its function and performance. The only complaint that I have at all regarding the UPM45 is that I did have some trouble with the spring retaining pin making contact with the frame of the machine. It is a little annoying when it happens but I reach down about every 10 pitches or so and make sure it is still fully seated and I haven't had a problem with it much since.

The Louisville Slugger UPM 45 Blue Flame Pitching Machine is a practical training tool that makes batting practice more consistent and efficient. It throws baseballs, softballs, and even training balls with adjustable speed and height, giving players a wide range of practice options. The spring-loaded design doesn’t require electricity or batteries, which makes it easy to set up anywhere. Coaches and parents will appreciate how simple it is to operate, and the pitches are consistent enough to help hitters focus on timing and technique. It’s lightweight for transport yet durable enough to handle regular use on the field. While it doesn’t match the speed of powered pitching machines, it’s safe, dependable, and very effective for youth and amateur players. Pros: It works without electricity, offers consistent and adjustable pitches, and is lightweight enough to carry easily. Cons: It doesn’t reach the higher speeds of motorized machines, the setup takes a little adjusting at first, and the spring may need replacement after heavy use. A well-built and dependable pitching machine that’s perfect for youth players and team practice. It’s affordable, easy to use, and helps hitters build confidence at the plate.

I have been thinking about buying this machine for two years. I finally broke down and spent the money when I started coaching. My only regret is that I didn't buy it sooner. I am using it for a girls' softball team. Although the ball is thrown from the machine in an overhand manner, the girls improved their batting significantly. They needed to learn to keep their eye on the ball all the way to their bat. This machine did just that. It was so nice to be able to practice batting for hours and concentrating on their form rather than my ability to pitch perfectly to them. The season was a huge success! The parents and audience in the stands were so surprised at how well the girls were hitting from the previous year! The machine has so many micro adjustments that makes it simple to pitch faster or slower, slowpitch or fastpitch, and even pop flies (although I have only used it for fastpitch). It will pitch baseballs or softballs. No need to worry about electricity so you may use it in a bullpen, on the field, anywhere! It is easy to set up. Once set up correctly, anyone can operate it. I am hesitant to let anyone else set it up because some reviews mentioned the pin breaking. I have had no issues. I think it is because I always check each setting before pitching. Many moving parts that should not be tightened completely. I actually had no tools the first time I used it because I was so excited when I got the box that I went straight to the ball field. I tightened a few bolts with a key and did the rest by hand. Not the best way, but it worked excellently and continues to do so! I am so pleased that I asked my sports program coordinator to order four more so that they won't borrow mine! :-)

This thing Is great !! I originally went cheaper and that was a huge mistake. This is worth the price tag for sure. It can be slightly inconsistent, but honestly what pitching machine isn't. The accuracy is good enough. Plenty of strikes for him to swing at. It works best if you put the ball in the same exact placement each time. Which makes sense. . . Pitchers hold the ball a certain way for each type of pitch. So I get it .... But, it does make it more time consuming to load the next ball. Overall, amazing product. This is just my pickiness for that slight negative of loading the balls properly.

We purchased this machine about two months ago for our son's 5th birthday. It was very easy to set up and very easy to learn how to make adjustments for pitch location (left/right/up/down). One of the great things about this product is that it is spring-loaded; so it does not require electricity. We have been bringing it to the park every weekend so my son can practice for hitting real baseballs. The machine is small enough to fit into the trunk of a car without removing any parts and is no heavier than a bucket of baseballs (but doesn't feel cheap at all). Another great thing is that the pitching arm is low down. So for my son, it is like another kid throwing the ball. When I throw the ball to him, the ball comes to him from a much higher angle due to my arm rotation, even when I'm on my knee. The UPM 45 pitching machine solves that problem. I love that the speed can range from 18mph to 45mph. Just for fun, my brother (42), my dad (70), and I (33) took it to the park to see how well it works at faster speeds. We all had a great time taking batting practice together. That's something I don't think we have ever done and it was great. Everyone in the family can have fun hitting baseballs and you don't have to find a batting cage to do it. I have heard some people say that they have had a hard time keeping the machine still. The machine comes with two spikes that screw into the front legs, so if those are pushed into the ground (which is easy to do), the front of the machine won't move. The back of the machine is held down by your foot when you put tension on the spring. Just keep your foot down when you release the arm, it's that simple. It takes very little practice to make the machine work without moving. However, the faster you set the pitch speed, the harder it is to push down with your foot, so smaller adults may find it difficult to hold still, but only at higher speeds. I have also heard people say the machine is inconsistent. The machine is designed to throw just about any kind of round ball (baseball, softball, tennis ball, even wiffle ball). The speed of a pitch and the location (high or low) will depend on the type of ball. It will even be slightly different using different brands of baseballs (but not much). So the more uniforms the balls you use, the more uniform the pitch will be, simple as that. Overall great product and I would recommend it to anyone looking for an affordable pitching machine for their son or daughter.

I'll just add a few cents worth of opinions as much of it has been covered already. This is a fabulous machine, and I'll note some good points. 1. No batteries, no electric cords, pure mechanical energy via the spring. 2. Initial assembly is quick and easy with instructions, maybe 10min and I was taking my time to make sure that I did everything right. 3. There is ample instruction on how to configure machine to pitch in a given area at a given speed - on machine itself, and at least 3 different printed docs in the box. I did a basic "3" configuration (different bolt positions for higher/lower adjustments) and it pitched fine for my 8yr old. I haven't had to adjust it from initial setup, but the large twistable handles for the bolts would make adjustments pretty quick. 4. Pitches with reasonable variability. It is not bulls-eye precise for me, but I don't have it anchored, use a variety of ball brands and age, and don't pay a lot of attention to the stitch patterns when placing in the launcher arm - so basically I'm not doing any of the things that would enhance the precision. This to me is NOT a bad characteristic though - to me it's more realistic. It forces my son to learn to watch the ball. But after 300 or so pitches I can say it has pitched a strike on every single throw with maybe a 5-6" variance up/down/left/right from dead center. Actually much more consistent/accurate than he can expect in kid or coach pitch (BY FAR!) 5. It's portable. Not too heavy or bulky. Have considered a wagon or cart, but that's more to do with now that I have this the amount of overall gear (bags, buckets of balls, etc) I have to tote around is ridiculous. ;) 6. It uses real balls (or anything else you want to toss - plastic, lightweight, softball, baseball, tennis, even soccer for goalie practice). Don't need to buy anything different than you have already, and your kid will get the feel of hitting something the proper size/weight. 7. For what you get (a decent pitching machine) this is really reasonably priced (I paid $172 here on Amazon). The only CON I can think of is that there's no auto-load option obviously since it's spring activated, so it isn't for those that want to load and forget or go hit on their own. However, this is pretty minor and was an anticipated and acceptable tradeoff to avoid the deal-breakers (the auto load machines require electricity, which isn't practical in the field). Basically this saved our practice. I injured my shoulder a few years back and can't reliably hit a strike zone to save my life - no power or precision. Practices were a factor of pitching 3 dozen balls to get 2-3 hittable pitches - total waste of time and frustrating for us both.

Bought this last year for two reasons--training my daughter (11) to hit fastpitch softball and teaching my son (8) to play machine pitch baseball. It works great for both when set up properly. The first key to this machine for training is that it pitches consistently (left/right) where it is pointed. Once aligned across the plate (very easy to do), it doesn't throw inside or outside, so you don't have to worry about hitting your kid standing there at the plate. That in and of itself is worth the purchase price. The second is that the machine throws the same speed every time. This also is good since it is very tough to both get the ball across the plate and throw at the same speed again and again and again. The third key to this machine is that it requires NO POWER. The importance of that is hard to overstate. Most fields don't have power or a power cord set up for pitching. Also, you may not be allowed to play on the diamond, but rather in the outfield or some other part of the park. With this machine, that is no worry whatsoever. It's just a simple catapult with two cleats that anchor it to the ground. I have found that the height of the pitches varies a bit from pitch to pitch-(probably from the knees to the middle of the chest) you have to put the ball in the machine the same way each time, and use the same kind of balls, otherwise it moves around. The way you pull the release (slow or fast) also has an effect. Once you fling 5-10 balls, you should easily get the hang of it Adjusting the height can take a little work (5-10 min). There are three adjustments for the height and one for power. I usually dial in the amount of power I want, then muck with the two main height adjustments. The micro height adjustment seems not to do anything. Also, the two height adjustment screw knobs all have lock nuts. This is good, but it also is easy for these to fall on the ground and get lost. Once set, it is pretty good to go for a while. How does this compare with a $500-1000 machine (two wheels spinning, electric, etc...). Much better in my opinion. In the boys coach pitch league we were in, it seemed the "machine" could never be adjusted properly. Too high, too fast, too low, whatever. Usually, setting up the machine burned the first 15 minutes of each game. I think that we made it through one game without replacing the expensive machine with coaches by the end. We used the UPM 45 for one game and it went surprisingly smoothly. I know that some leagues elsewhere use only these machines. I also like the machine because you can see the mechanism as it throws, rather than having to eye a hole for the ball to poot out of as in a spinning wheel type machine. Also, it throws basically anything. Baseballs, softballs, even soccer balls. If you set the height way up, it can throw decent fly balls-good for those of us without 100s of softball throws in our arms each practice! With regards to speed, if you are considering the faster model I would say don't bother unless you are headed to high school. For baseballs, this thing can throw as hard or harder than 90% of the 10-11 year old boys out there. With regards to softball, I would say the speed on max is faster than 95% of the middle school girls fastpitch pitchers.

I have had a Blue Flame for about 1 year. My son's play in Machine pitch Little League organization, using a JUGGS wheeled machine at 36 mph. It came in just before spring break in my sons' first machine pitch spring season. My 6 yr old son practiced on this almost every day of spring break for 15-30 minutes with wiffle balls at a speed setting of 1. In the first game after spring break he went 4 for 4 and got his first game ball of the seaon, showing tremendous improvement, as his hitting is developing and he didn't start with many gifted baseball talents, so he really needs to work at it. This machine gives very hittable pitches better than I can throw. I have spent many hours with Blue Flame throwing wiffle balls, baseballs, RIF balls, and tennis balls at approx 25 - 35 feet in my basement and outside fields. One of my first tests consisted of playing a mock game of balls and strikes with a strike in the square of a Ultimate baseball trainer at 30' feet, this "pitcher" rarely walked a batter. There is a little bit of a learning curve to get comfortable with the adjustments, but for any coach or parent serious about getting some quality batting practice in, this machine is a must. With that said for operating a wheeled machine and throwing strike pitches requires drop techniques and the right balls (such as RIF-5 balls) are needed to throw strike zone accuracy, in my case, the pricey and hard to find RIF-5 balls will get "eaten" over the course of a 100 pitches by a wheeled machine. I think a good hitter should be able to hit any kind of pitched ball (various Coach, various machine,& Kid Pitch). A kid that can hit this machine is well prepared to bat against other kinds of pitching. Any league based on a wheeled pitching machine should seriously consider this when looking to upgrade or replace a powered wheeled machines or a Coach pitch league should consider adding this with the coach pitching and level the fairness out. The strongest feature that newer wheeled machines have over the blue flame is a dial in speed, meaning different speed pitches can be set very quickly on a JUGGs and unbeknown to the batter, pitch quality will mostly suffer though. Fall 2018 Update....My third son, 6 yr old, is now using this for BP. I now own two Upm 45s, and think its still the best pitching machine.

Great item!

You get a more consistent batting practice with more balls in the strike zone. It does move around a bit and you have to get your foot push and hand pull coordinated but with a bit of practice it does a grat job.

Facil de armar, ajustes de velocidad y altura perfectos, y muy sencilla de usar. Cada pichada que lanza, varia un poco la altura o la dirección a la anterior, pero eso la vuelve aún más divertida para usar. En verdad estoy muy satisfecho con el producto.

Great product, use it for pitches, fly-balls, grounders - all kinds of practice, would get it again. Compact so easily fits into the trunk or back seat. Easily adjustable speed and height, can be used for kids or adults, has spikes on the front to prevent too much drifting during pitches to keep them consistently targeted.

Excellent. It throws strikes. Easy to change speed and pitch height. It stays put even after 3 hours of use.