Sports Product Review

The utmost in portability and fun comes from our friends at Rage Cage, (www.ragecage.com). Rage Cage for lacrosse and Rage Cage for hockey mean you can have a high-quality net wherever you have a spot to play. All Rage Cage goals are one-piece collapsible units which setup in seconds, for easy transportation and storage.

My son and his buddies on the street have a roller hockey game at the end of the cul-de-sac every day after school. Prior to owning the Rage Cage a couple kids had cheap nets around a PVC pipe frame, and they hardly ever went out and played. They’ve taken a new passion for the sport in large part because the Rage Cage hockey net gives them true-to-life action. Because the net is made of heavy-duty steel, and thus is somewhat weighty, they’ve even devised a couple ingenious methods of transporting it down the street and back. Sometimes they use a skateboard to push it back and forth, other times one kid will lift the folded net and another will push him on his skates up to the garage. Once inside, its compact design means it only takes up about as much room as a child’s bike.

The Rage Cage is the hockey and lacrosse equivalent of the portable home basketball goal. And soccer is coming soon. No longer do kids need to go up to the school fields or the community center to play. Now, instead of taking your game somewhere because of the available equipment, you get to bring the equipment where you want to play.

Source: Rage Cage

They may be the coolest-looking bats on the market, and sport some of the best names. V-Force. Beast. Ripped. But flash and style can only take you so far. You want a bat that delivers results. And bats from Mattingly Baseball (www.mattinglybaseball.com) do just that by delivering the barrel of the bat to the ball faster, thanks to their V-Grip technology.

For over a year my son has been using his Mattingly wood bat for training, (wiffles, tee, soft-toss) while using his Beast in the games. Now the folks at Mattingly are offering a unique Train and Game Two Bat Package so that you can do the same.
The V-Grip handle on all Mattingly bats promotes proper hand alignment for increased bat speed. Originally designed for the professional level, the V-Train Plus wood bat is made of hickory wood, which is heavy wood - ideal for weight and strength training. Its compact design promotes proper timing and the black post catalyzed finish gives it a professional look and feel.

The Ripped aluminum bat is the first and only bat to combine performance-enhancing alloy technology with the same V-Grip handle into one dynamically engineered game bat. Made of scandium alloy, the Ripped optimizes its ratio of scandium to provide a stronger and more durable material. The stiff handle maximizes energy and returns it to the ball, while the specially designed end plug maximizes trampoline effect. And maybe best of all? Compared to the price of some other high-end bats on the market, with the Train and Game package, you’re almost getting two bats for the price of one.

We’d all love to have Donnie Baseball as a personal hitting coach. Unfortunately, he’s a little busy. But maybe with enough hard work using the right equipment, someday you can call Don Mattingly “Coach,” which means you’ve taken your game to the highest level.

Source: Mattingly Baseball

You’ve heard the expression, “It fits like a glove,”? Maybe it should be changed to, “It fits like a Swenson Glove.” You may not have heard of Swenson Baseball yet, (www.swensonbaseball.com), but if offering quality craftsmanship, tremendous products and great value count for much, you will soon. 

I slid my hand inside their infielder’s glove and didn’t want to take it off. My two older boys, who play high school baseball, were “oohing and ahhing,” about the feel. My Little League son and softball playing daughter both begged me to give them the Swenson model. This, even though all four kids already own expensive mitts that cost and arm and a leg.

And that’s the best part. Not only will you find the Swenson glove to be equal or superior in quality to those high-priced brand names, but because they don’t have to build in a multi-million dollar advertising budget and corporate overhead to the price of each mitt, you get incredible quality at exceptional value. Each mitt can be customized for the individual player and the color, stitching and webbing options are virtually unlimited.

These mitts are worn by college and professional players, so you know they’re good. If your kids are concerned about having the most widely recognized brand name, then you’ll have to stick with the other guys. However, if you want to start your own trend in your community, then get ‘em a Swenson’s. But a word of warning: Once the other kids on the team put it on their hands, you may end up being unpopular among the other dads. Because just like my own, every one of those kids will be asking their dads, “Can I have one too?”

Source: Swenson Baseball

In honor of this month’s Earth Day, (April 22), Yakima Racks (www.yakima.com) aim to provide eco-friendly solutions for traveling with a smaller carbon footprint.

With a weak dollar overseas and higher gas prices, many Americans will look at options that involve shorter trips closer to home in a car. Yakima, manufacturer of vehicle racks, has heard the rallying cry and is offering an eco-friendly solution with its line of 80% recycled cargo boxes. With Yakima’s SkyBox Pro Series, consumers can pack gear on top of the car, to put more bodies inside the car, reducing this summer’s road trip carbon footprint.

Yakima’s SkyBox Pro Series also boast a 50% stiffer lid than previous models, offer Super Latch Security for enhanced protection, and a new aerodynamic shape reducing drag and wind noise. In addition, all boxes have universal attachments that can automatically be loaded onto factory, round or square crossbars.

Sound good? Well, whether or not you’ve been concerned about the carbon footprint you’re leaving, you’ll appreciate a quality roof rack. And the racks they make at Yakima will be admired by you, your friends and Mother Nature as well.

Source: Yakima

We reviewed American Wave International sliding shorts a while back, and, a year later, the information and the product still hold up.

American Wave International (www.americanwave.com), has taken this science to the ball field, having designed a line of compression shirts and shorts made of polypropylene (or lycra) and neoprene, which has recently been researched and proven to be the best fabric in regards to muscle performance. The material is smooth and light, yet holds the muscle in place for optimal protection and performance, while offering the added advantage of keeping them warm in cold weather.

My softball-playing daughter recently tried AWI’s sliding shorts. And while she might not have noticed the durable and comfortable seven needle flat stitch and breathable perforated neoprene sliding pad, after years of wearing her brothers’ hand-me-downs she felt pretty awesome in top-of-the-line sliding shorts that made them jealous. She’s only 10, and most of the girls at this level prefer to tiptoe into bases, rather than get down. But my youngster has no problem going in hard, partly because she can feel confident sliding into bases without worrying about abrasions. Using science to blend comfort, performance and protection is what AWI is all about.

Source: American Wave