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Dog Bobbles at the Box |
Bobbles aka Fumbles
Usually, the problem is not the size of the ball. This question is about a fumble at the box (not the other situation - dropping the ball on the return voyage).
Mini-balls
I am assuming your box has an opening that fully accommodates a regular tennis ball (not the kind where the hole is much smaller and most of the ball sticks out). A ball that is smaller than a normal tennis ball will not come out of the box properly 100% of the time. It might be struck off-center, it might be rolling in the opening, it may get pinched by the hammer. If the ball is too soft, it will be slow coming out of the box (ie. the throw is not the same every time). Plus a smaller ball will travel further than a regular ball and the throw might be too quick or too hard.
We had a one-hole "regular" box and when we started to get mini dogs on our team we were forced to load the mini balls in the regular size hole. This led to many fumbles. We purchased a three hole box (2 regular holes, 1 mini hole) and the problem has gone away (touch wood!).
Our problem - we were trying to accommodate all our dogs on a box that was made to accept one size of ball thrown at one speed. We were not getting consistent results from all of our dogs (most of our dogs were fine with the one-hole box). The ball was not be coming out of the box the same way 100% of the time for all the dogs.
Perhaps you should purchase a three-hole box or modify your present box - cut a groove at the bottom of your hole, or make the hole smaller to have the ball stick out (this leads to another problem - lever mechanism).
Regular size ball
The speed (quickness) of the ball leaving the box is causing the problem. The solution is to adjust the spring mechanism. This sounds like an easy solution but it can cause the other three dogs on the team to bobble.
Video the catch to discover which problem you have. Also look at the matting around the hole of the box. If the matting is being destroyed, then the ball is coming out too slowly. Otherwise the ball is coming out too fast.
But - make sure that your adjustment will not interfere with the rest of the team.