Update: After having and using this product for a while, I’ll say it’s still a great product with one caveat... you have to be able to hit the ball pretty solid and be able to hit, reset, and hit again fairly quickly. My daughter is now 8 and has used this fairly successfully, but at times she just gets frustrated and quits because if she’s a bit off and doesn’t the ball level, or has a bit of a mishit, you have to stop, unwind the ball from the pole and start over. So some days it can be the wrong tool for a small/younger player, but for older kids or adults it should be fine. Overall I think a tee/soft toss and net probably is a better tool, but the swingaway is certainly convenient and you can get a lot of reps in a short amount of time if you can hit it consistently with the right timing. ************** This product is heavy duty, and should last for a long time, assuming you get one that’s not defective. Like several other reviewers here, I had to return the first one I ordered due to the top tube being bent into an oval shape either in manufacturing or shipping, thus making it impossible to attach the top tube to the bottom section. For some silly reason they send this in the box off the shelf that was obviously never meant to be sturdy enough as a shipping container for a 40lb item. Both of the boxes I received were beat up and partially open, as the glue just simply is not strong enough to survive being shipped express by a carrier... good thing it’s all one-piece and nothing can really be lost out the hole in the box. The return was fast and easy and I actually had the replacement in two days! Big thumbs up to Amazon for that! As I’ve said before, this is a heavy item (roughly 40 lbs) so it’s not something super easy for a kid to set up/take down without a parent. My daughter is 7 and it weights almost as much as she does, but I don’t mind helping her set it up since I like the fact its a sturdy piece of equipment that I don’t have to worry about falling over. Even though it comes fully assembled you’ll need some tools, as BOTH of mine had all of the bolts left extremely loose. The loose bolts make it very unwieldy at all times and a bit wiggly when set up, not to mention that it rattles quite a bit. 5 minutes, a couple of 17mm wrenches, and a ratchet was all it took tightening them up and now it’s solid and quiet. I have no idea why these aren’t tightened properly from the factory. The nuts are all nylock type with split lock washers, so they’ll stay on firm even if not completely tightened down (you need them to be able to pivot and allow the stand to fold). To those who reviewers who broke the cable, two things: (1) make sure they aren’t twisted prior to hitting as that’ll put unnecessary stress on the cables and wear them prematurely, (2) you can buy replacements if you end up wearing them out for around $25-30... so no need to buy (or trash as one reviewer said) the whole stand. I’m sure the mfr would replace them free if they break on a new unit, or just return it. I’ve had the non-stand version of this for years and used it with my older daughter when she played softball. It held up really well, even with an adult hitting on it regularly (me), so the cables shouldn’t be an issue unless they’re twisted or defective.