October 12, 2006
SKLZ, the industry leader in sports skill development products and equipment, today announced a deal to market the QuickSwing batting trainer under the SKLZ brand. Invented by Jake Mauer II, father of 2006 American League batting champion Joe Mauer, the QuickSwing uses a unique delayed gravity-drop design to help batters develop greater bat speed, hand-eye coordination, reflexes, and muscle memory.
The QuickSwing was originally created so all of Mauer's sons-Joe, Jake, and Billy-could practice indoors or outdoors to extend their weather-shortened baseball seasons in their home state of Minnesota. Its effectiveness has been proven by all of them, each having successful baseball careers ranging from high school to the Pros.
“The QuickSwing was designed to help my boys develop short, quick, compact swings,” says Jake Mauer. He wryly notes, “It seems to have worked pretty well.” The most obvious testament to the QuickSwing's effectiveness is Joe Mauer's recent accomplishment, being the first American League catcher ever to win the batting title.
“The QuickSwing has been an instrumental part of winning the batting title. I've been practicing with my dad's original version since I was a kid, and it continues to make me a better hitter even today,” says Joe Mauer. “It's ideal for simulating a live pitch and forcing hitters to react to a moving ball. And that simply means better reflexes and more bat speed.”
In the race for the batting title, Mauer finished with a .347 average, edging out New York Yankee Derek Jeter, who hit .343 for the season. Notably, the QuickSwing is being added to SKLZ's extensive line of baseball trainers, the majority of which fall under the company's Derek Jeter Series of products.
“This is an incredible addition to the strength we already have in the baseball training market,” says Tom Quinn, president of Pro Performance Sports, which owns the SKLZ brand. “It's one thing to offer the best skill development products available, but to also have powerhouse endorsers like Joe and Derek who use our products every day... it really speaks volumes.” In addition to Joe Mauer, Major League All-Star Paul Molitor also endorses the QuickSwing product.
The QuickSwing is ideal for any skill level and can be used alone or with a partner. The trainer is designed for both baseball and softball batting practice, and uses a system of pipes to deliver a moving ball downward to the batter, forcing him to wait to see the ball and react quickly. This portable and durable product also comes with an instructional DVD, with Mauer highlighting the QuickSwing's 3-step hitting process, Molitor providing hitting fundamentals, and former USA Olympic coach Mark “Lunch” McKenzie sharing his hitting philosophy.
About SKLZ
SKLZ is the industry leader in developing and marketing sports skills development trainers and equipment to serious athletes of all ages. The flagship brand of Pro Performance Sports, SKLZ builds on the popularity of the company's popular baseball product, the Hit-A-Way,® to deliver broad lines of training products across a variety of sports. With international headquarters in San Diego, California, SKLZ focuses on transforming innovative concepts into commercially successful consumer sporting goods products that are fun, functional, and affordable. The company manufactures, sources, distributes and markets durable, high-performance trainers that can be found internationally at major sporting goods retailers, specialty shops, and mass merchants, as well as on the SKLZ web site at www.sklz.com.
