Jugs T Pro-Style Batting Tee
Jugs T Batting Tee Review: The Best Alternative for Tanner Tees?
If you’re anything like us, living, breathing, talking, shouting, whispering (and just about any other communication style) anything about baseball, is what we do.
This not only tickles us in places that are more than satisfactory for us to live happy lives – but it also gives us a huge insight into some of the best training ideas, equipment, and philosophies of our beautiful game.
One of these areas that constantly comes up in conversation is batting tees. How, why, when, and what batting tee is the ‘best’ often comes up when we’re deep into our conversations.
And it’s led me to two conclusions – or facts, as I like to call them…
- Fact #1 of life: Batting tees are a great way to add more dimension, depth, and consistency to hitting practice and development.
- Here’s the 2nd fact of life: The vast majority of batting tees on the market are a complete waste of your money.
It’s true – so much so, we’ve actually gone into the 5 best batting tees we believe can help you upgrade and optimize a hitters game. Now, of course, ‘best’ is subjective – and for this reason, we decided to choose our list on a number of variables such as price, portability, functionality, and durability.
But one batting tee made the list, not just because it had solid marks in all those areas, but because it was actually a solid alternative to the Tanner Heavy (Voted our #1 best batting tee).
Jugs T Pro-Style Batting Tee
Enter the Jugs T – an adjustable, heavy-duty batting tee that has few marks up over the Tanner Heavy – it’s nearest competitor.
First up we’ll dig into the 3 most pivotal areas of the Jugs T that you’ll want to know before making a purchase.
And while there aren’t many worthy competitors on the market, there is a couple of worth having a look at and how they stack up against the Jugs T.
So with that said, let’s dig in…
Strength & Stability
Like its competitor, the Jugs T was built specifically to add more strength and stability to batting tee practice. But it comes with a slightly different design.
The Jugs T takes a more ‘traditional’ approach. It comes as a flat-square design that requires the stem to ‘screw’ in for stability. Coming in at around 8lbs for the base alone, the Jugs T is certainly heavyweight – and does a solid job of keeping the tee in place.
While it might not have the same depth in functionality as the Tanner Heavy – let’s not beat around the bush – the Jugs T is an absolute beast – especially considering it comes in at a slightly cheaper cost than the Tanner Tee Heavy.
The base will have the tee holding up like an absolute champion and can thousands of hits over the course of a few seasons with no issue.
Jugs T vs Tanner Heavy: We’ll be honest, we think the claw design of the Heavy model from Tanner is far more beneficial when it comes to adding more depth to hitting training. For example, the Tanner Heavy will position itself well if you’re placing it directly on the plate. The square flat designed nature of the Jugs T doesn’t allow the same functionality. But in terms of stability – they’re both strong contenders.
Portability
One of the main reasons we choose the Jugs T Pro-Style batting tee as our ‘best alternative’ was its portability factor.
Now if you’re a coach, the likelihood of you picking up and transporting your batting tee around multiple locations is pretty high. The same goes for you if you’re a parent. So with that in mind, it’s always wise to pick your sports equipment based on portability – especially in today’s world.
While it’s a very simple addition, the Jugs T includes a ‘cut out’ hole located in the base of the tee to help carry it with minimal effort. The ‘Grip-and-Go’ handle as they call it, not only gives you greater mobility in how your transport your batting tee, but also makes it a lot safer to carry too – especially for younger players.
Finally, the shaft easily unscrews from the base, so you can dismantle the tee easily and put everything into your bag ready to go.
Jugs T vs Tanner Heavy: While you can certainly still travel with a Tanner Heavy, the small added feature of a ‘carry-handle’ cut into the base of the Jugs T gives it an edge over its competitor. It’s certainly a small edge, but one worth noting as picking up and transporting a rather heavy piece of equipment can get a bit tedious after a while. While the Tanner Heavy is a beast of a batting tee – it doesn’t have this additional portability (and safety) factor.
Jugs T vs Original: In terms of the comparison with the Tanner Original – the main difference here between these two models is the weight. The Original is a much lighter batting tee – and not specifically designed for stability. A great batting tee nonetheless but if you’re looking for both ‘physicality’ and portability – the Jugs is your best bet.
Adjustability
Another major feature of the Jugs T is its range of adjustment in comparison to that of its competitors. With the ability to adjust it from as low as 24 inches to as high as 46 inches – you’ll have the entire strike zone covered.
Another thing worth noting is the ease in which the adjustment can. Literally, one hand can do the job and you’ll have it at the height you need it within seconds.
Jugs T vs Tanner Tees [Heavy & Original]: The Jugs T has an additional 2 inches of height at the lower end of the adjustment range. While this isn’t a huge deciding factor, it is nice to know, that no matter the height, age, ability level, or pitch type you’re trying to ‘accommodate’ – the Jugs T has you covered.
Jugs T Review: In Summary
It can be argued that each brand has laid claim over the other. The Tanner brand is generally known for developing the most durable, functional, and practical batting tees on the market.
And just listening to the sheer amount of positive reviews from coaches, players, and parents over the years would confirm this.
But that shouldn’t be at the expense of Jugs. At least not where their pro-style batting is concerned anyway. While the Jugs brand is more synonymous with baseball equipment in general – the Jugs T Pro-Style batting tee hold it’s own against the Tanner giant – as you’ll see from the video on this page here.
While there are some similarities with the Tanner Original, a much more conclusive argument would be the comparison with the Tanner Heavy.
It comes in slightly cheaper than the Heavy, it has a slight advantage over the adjustability range and it’s also been designed with portability in mind too.
As I’ve already mentioned, the Tanner Heavy is a beast of a batting tee. And it’s functionality and practicality are rivaled by no other batting tee on the market. But, the Jugs T is definitely the best alternative for sure.
The Jugs T Pro-Style Batting Tee in short:
- Won’t Tip Over: Heavy-duty batting tee with stability, ‘physicality’ and strength
- Lowest Price: For a pro standard batting tee
- Bolt-Design Lock: An interlocking feature that keeps the stems from slipping
- Flexible Top: To ensure you feel the ball – not the rubber of the batting tee
- 24”-46” Adjustment: Suiting all ages, abilities, and pitch heights
- Grab-and-Go: Handle that makes it much more portable than it’s competitors
So if you’re looking for an alternative, heavy-duty batting tee with additional adjustability and portability then the Jugs T might just be the batting tee you’re looking for.
