Franklin Sports Baseball Rebounder Net - Baseball Pitchback Net + Throwing Trainer - All Angle Bounce Back Return - Multi-Position Fielding + Throwing Aid

I love this! Teaches the kids how to catch and they can pitch at it to! You won’t be disappointed!I think this is a great product…I read all the reviews of the $40 options and the $150 options and they all say they break or wear out, so I went with this one that was middle of the road on price and I am very pleased!***I like how it moves up/down depending on if you want “pop fly” or “grounder”, and I like how it will fold flat to put away if needed.Assembly could be difficult for some, but I built it with my 8 and 6 year old and we had some good laughs!Definitely recommend!We have only used it in the house, so far, since we live in Michigan, in February, but cannot wait to get outside with it!

We were looking for something for our son to play soccer with. He wanted to play 24/7 and we were all getting tired of playing all the time so we purchased this so he could kick the ball at the "goal" and it would bounce back. It worked perfectly. It provided hours of fun for him when he had no one to play with and he also had fun using it while his friends were over.It's been outside 24/7 since December 2022 and it's still holding up well. He drags it around the yard and it takes a lot of abuse but there's no wear or tear that we've noticed. It wasn't too hard to put together but putting the black square on was a pain, we had to re-do it a couple times because it wasn't even or centered. Other than that, it was a great purchase. Provided hours of fun for our soccer star and would work great with other balls as well.

Like the previous reviewer, we had trouble with the height adjustment latch. In our case, the friction binding stopped working after a month or two and the tubes would slide together dropping the height.I contacted customer service at Franklin Sports and a very nice lady took care of us. This was a holiday present for my son in 2009 and the product was very new then, so it took a little while before the parts were available, but Judy remembered us and sent them when they became available.However, email to Franklin did not generate a response. I waited one week after emailing and then called, at which point I received excellent service and was able to continue the communications in email.Hopefully, they've improved the material in the adjustment latch since then. At any rate, the new latch has not failed. Out of warranty replacement parts are also available on their website. For example the latch and associated poles (Adjustable Tubes) are $9.99. A replacement net is $15.99.The target ribbon does disintegrate after a time in the sun and rain, but is replaceable by any similar ribbon.This pitchback has a nice large size and returns the ball very well. The adjustable feature allows my son to adjust for anything from grounders to pop flies as a return.I'm a little dubious about the single support pole at the top. The two upper corners tend to get out of square (out of plane) with each other and the bottom corners, but it doesn't seem to affect the ball return, only my sense of aesthetics.The assembly instructions were clear and straight forward, with each part clearly identified. It does take a fair bit of hand strength to stretch the bungie tensioners around the poles and net and attach them. You will need someone with adult hand strength to complete the assembly.I don't know if other pitchbacks are better than this one, but this one does the job intended for it well. It is easy to adjust. Light enough to move around and provides a large area at which to throw. If not for the latch, and the need to call customer service rather than just emailing, I'd give it five stars.Edit addition, Dec. 10, 2012Leaving the pitchback out in the Central Texas sun and rain (I wish, more like lawn sprinkler) all year round, we seem to need to replace the net and bungie tensioners about once every two to two-and-a-half years.The ribbon disintegrated a long time ago, but if you go to Home Depot (or other HW store) you can get a whole role of 1" wide vinyl ribbon in the measuring and marking tools section. They have bright orange, and a nice violet/purple. A role of that will last long enough for your child to grow up and move out.Our replacement Adjustable Tubes are still working fine. I think one secret is to always remember to unlatch the adjustable tubes before adjusting them. If you slide them while they're latched, they probably lose their gripping ability.

Bought this after reading the other reviews on numerous similar products. Instructions are clear if you READ CAREFULLY. Only had head scratcher one time when the back ground level "U" shape bar had one side that went on either way and made the U too big, which threw off the alignment of the main upright frame. Once I got that figured out, it went together perfectly.Of course we haven't had it long so can't vouch for durability in weather or abuse by kids, but net, bungees, and frame seem great. Like another reviewer mentioned, don't force adjustment with plastic friction device engaged in back or you'll likely wear it out, but take a half second to open the latch and the frame adjusts angle very easily.The single back vertical support compared to two on other models doesn't seem to be an issue- baseballs, softballs and soccer balls have bounced back with a problem, and we're not even using ground stakes. The weight and a small rock behind the ground frame are holding everything in place just fine!And this was the first time I ever bought a used Amazon Warehouse Deals item. Saved me a bunch of money on this item, came with guarantee and only had a slightly squished end on one of the metal tubes, nothing I couldn't fix in 2 minutes with a hammer! Give it a chance if you see the option, still gives you Amazon Prime shipping and Amazon return policy is great.+++UPDATE+++Have had it outside for a couple months now. Sits in direct sun more than half the day, lawn sprinklers soak it regularly. This thing has done great! Still working perfectly, but did install the ground stakes to keep it positioned for the soccer ball hits. Glad I bought this one, holding up very well!