Silent Partner Scoop Quest Tennis Ball Machine Review (2020)

silent partner quest scoop tennis ball machine picture

Silent Partner Scoop Quest

The Silent Partner tennis ball machine features topspin and backspin, horizontal and vertical oscillation and a 2-line feature. This tennis ball machine will improve your game.

Features 7/10
Design 9/10
Overall 8.0/10

Editors Overall Rating

8/10

Detailed Review of the Silent Partner Scoop Quest

Silent Partner produces five different tennis ball machines; the Silent Partner Lite tennis ball machine, the Star ball machine, the Rival tennis ball machine, the Quest tennis ball machine, and the Pro ball machine. For a general overview of all of the product features of each of the Silent Partner tennis ball machine models you can read our Silent Partner ball machine page.

In this review, we look at the features offered by the Silent Partner tennis ball machine Quest model and how it compares to other similar tennis ball machines. We then analyze the Quest Silent Partner tennis ball machine based on overall customer satisfaction, ratings, reviews, and positive and negative consumer comments. We also offer our own rating and recommendation on whether to purchase the Quest Silent Partner ball machine.

When looking at the features of the Silent Partner ball machines, the primary difference between the different models lies with oscillation. As we’ve stated in other reviews, we feel that it is essential that a ball machine offer random horizontal and vertical oscillation to best simulate an opponent and allow players to progress in skill level while using the same ball machine. All of the Silent Partner models other than the Quest, although cheap, only offer random horizontal movement. The Quest offers all types of oscillation, throwing the tennis ball all over the court. That is why, if you decide to purchase a Silent Partner tennis ball machine, we recommend the Quest over the other models.

Here are the pros and cons you’ll find in the Quest Scoop Silent Partner tennis ball machine.

Silent Partner Scoop Quest Top Features

silent partner scoop quest with tennis balls

Ball Capacity

The Quest Silent Partner ball machine holds 300 tennis balls. Economy tennis ball machines will hold 50 balls, whereas ball machines in high usage situations, such as clubs or tennis camps can hold up to 300 balls. The 300 ball capacity for the Quest is a huge benefit for a machine at this price level.

Oscillation Control

This is a key feature when analyzing tennis ball machines and one of the major factors affecting the cost. The Quest Silent Partner tennis ball machine offers random, horizontal and vertical oscillation, which means the machine fires balls randomly back and forth, long to the baseline and short near the net. It also offers the two-line wide or narrow feature where the machine throws balls to the corners of the court simulating real match play. This feature is useful for two players or two lines of players to use when working on a drill, or for the single player wanting to practice alternating forehands and backhands. You can also practice doubles play as the machine will fire balls into the doubles court area with its wide angle feature.

Speed Range

The Quest Silent Partner ball machine fires tennis balls between 15-95 mph (24.14-152.89 kph). The ball machines we have reviewed range in speed from 10 mph to 95 mph (152.89 kph), making the Quest Silent Partner ball machine one of the fastest firing ball machines available. Children and beginners can easily practice with balls at a speed of 15 mph, and even pros will certainly feel challenged by balls coming at 95 mph.

Other Features of the Silent Partner Scoop Quest

silent partner dimensions folded down

Here is a list of all of the features you’ll find in the Silent Partner Scoop Quest tennis ball machine.

Power Type

The Quest Silent Partner ball machine is battery powered, with a standard battery life of up to 8 hours. The battery is ultra heavy duty and features energy saver circuitry. For an extra $100 you can get the Quest built with AC power only and for an additional $250 you can get both AC/DC (battery and electric power).

Spin control

The Quest Silent Partner ball machine has a dial on the control panel that lets you control the degree of top spin and backspin.

Weight

The Quest Silent Partner ball machine weighs 48lbs (21.77kg). The ball machines we’ve reviewed on this site range in weight from 11 lbs (5kg) for a very, very basic ball machine to 90lbs (40.82kg) for a heavy duty commercial type model. 48lbs is not terribly difficult to pick up and put in your car however you may want to ask for help. As for moving around on the ground, the Quest Silent Partner tennis ball machine has an extendable towing handle and 8” (.20m) heavy duty oversized transport wheels that help you pull it just like luggage.

Dimensions

The Quest Silent Partner tennis ball machine measures a very compact (Length x Width x Height) 25 x 20 x 24 inches (.64 x .51 x .61m). The ball hopper on the Quest can easily be flipped over to cover the bottom part of the machine so that you can more easily fit it into the trunk of your car.

Feed Rate

This is how fast the balls are fired out of the machine. The Quest Silent Partner tennis ball machine fires at a rate ranging from 1.5-10 balls per second. The fastest firing time we’ve seen in a tennis ball machine is one ball every 1.5 seconds and the slowest is one ball every 12 seconds. The Quest’s feed rate is more than adequate for working on rapid fire volleys coming at you every 1.5 seconds, as well as beginners who may need the slower feed rate of 10 seconds to prepare and set up.

Remote Control

silent partner scoop tennis ball machine remote

The Quest Silent Partner tennis ball machine comes standard with a 20 button remote control.

Warranty

The Quest Silent Partner ball machine comes with a one year warranty on parts and service. Most tennis ball machine brands offer a 2 year warranty although some offer only a one year. We have found that only deluxe models over $3,500 offer a 3 year warranty.

Silent Partner Scoop Quest Customer Ratings

It has been difficult to find reviews and customer information on the Quest Silent Partner tennis ball machine. Silent Partner doesn’t seem to distribute their ball machines for retail sale at a variety of stores as do many other manufacturers. The only place we have been able to find them for sale is on their website. There are not even Silent Partner machines for sale on Amazon.com, which has almost every other tennis ball machine brand available. So, to find reviews we’ve had to search for various postings on tennis related forums, which is not the most reliable method of finding actual customer reviews.

Summary of Positive Comments: Generally the postings talk about how players like the numerous features available with the Silent Partner Quest, and how the machine has helped to improve their tennis games.

Summary of Negative Comments: A few players that had purchased either the Lite or Star Silent Partner models talked about how the ball holder was flimsy and would get knocked off if hit by a hard return, sending balls everywhere (which would be funny to see, but not if you are the one having to pick up the balls). There seemed to be no issues with the Rival and Quest models which have a different ball holder design that, at least from the pictures, appears to be sturdier.

The Verdict: Recommend

We recommend the Quest Silent Partner ball machine, and really the only thing preventing us from boosting it to “strongly recommend” is that there is really not a lot of information available about this machine. We always like to read a lot of reviews, to supplement our own expert analysis, so that we can get a big picture view of how a particular ball machine performs in the market place as a whole. As we talked about before, we really can’t find much on the Silent Partner Quest. However, looking just at the Quest’s features, its price, and how it compares to the other ball machines we’ve reviewed, it seems to be a great buy.

Best Places to Buy the Quest Silent Partner Tennis Ball Machine

As mentioned above, it’s really difficult to buy this machine as they don’t allow distribution channels to sell it. The only place we’ve found that the sells the Quest is Silent Partner itself, on their website at www.sptennis.com. If you have found this ball machine for sale somewhere else, let us know, and we’ll update this review.

Still not convinced? Here's a video of the machine in action:

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