We bought this to use in our backyard as it said it was a smaller version to throw the balls a shorter distance.  They weren't kidding.  We have a full-size chuckit and this junior version and this really doesn't throw nearly as far.  I'd say the average adult could throw just as far as this, so we've kind of rotated this out of usage and just use the full-size if going to a park and simply throw the ball by hand if we're in the backyard.  This was a waste of money as you can just use the full-size for shorter distances too and simply not throw the ball as far.