CARLSBAD, Calif., Feb. 17, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — SKLZ, the leader in premium fitness gear and sports training equipment, unveils a groundbreaking new training platform for athletes and coaches designed to engage both your brain and body during training. SKLZ Athletic Intelligence™ debuts February 17 in partnership with the fully-integrated SwitchedOn training app, and offers products and programming to encompass everything an athlete needs to train reaction time, hand-eye coordination, rapid decision-making, and agility. The first two SKLZ Athletic Intelligence products to launch are the Reactive Catch and the Reactive Agility Ladder.
Cognitive training, or brain training, has become one of the most important new developmental sciences in athletic training. Traditionally, cognitive training has been independent from physical, athletic training. Athletes train their brain and their body separately. However, in sport, your brain and body rarely work independently of one another.
SKLZ Athletic Intelligence is designed to help athletes engage their brain and body during training to work together to perceive what’s happening around them, process the incoming information, and perform the task at hand to be better prepared for game-time situations.
SwitchedOn is a Perceptual-Cognitive-Motor (PCM) training app that provides randomized visual and/or audio cues to help competitive athletes take their physical training to the next level by keeping their brain SwitchedOn. Within the SwitchedOn app, the SKLZ-specific zone lets athletes choose the SKLZ Athletic Intelligence products they own and their preferred sport. SwitchedOn will then provide the athlete with specific, customizable reactive agility drills featuring their SKLZ products. The app also has the capability for athletes to create their own randomized patterns by picking colors and cues that work with SKLZ Athletic Intelligence products, which offers the consumer endless possibilities.
“The best athletes move through these motions faster and more accurately than their competition, leading them to excel both on and off the field. We have developed a way to help athletes tap into their highest potential by designing products and programs for the athlete to train these abilities,” explained Michael Cummings, Director of Education for Implus Fitness Brands. “The SKLZ Athletic Intelligence products paired with the SwitchedOn app create a training system that helps improve the brain function required in all sports.”
The versatile SKLZ Athletic Intelligence products have applications in any sport or physical activity, and can be used in any sport or skill level as a pregame warmup, or incorporated into everyday training to improve reaction time and rapid decision-making. More details on how the individual products can help athletes train in a unique and better way can be found below.
SKLZ Reactive Catch | $29.99 MSRP
The Reactive Catch helps improve reaction time and rapid decision-making by engaging the brain and body during training. By engaging the brain and body together, athletes are able to develop AI enhancing their ability to react to incoming stimuli, resulting in increased game day performance. Exclusive online content designed by certified trainers is included so athletes can incorporate these drills into their training and challenge themselves in a new way. The Reactive Catch can be used to help athletes of any skill level increase their hand-eye coordination and better read and react in almost any sport. By combining color and audible cues during training, athletes are forced to think and react about the correct color to catch. Simply toss in the air and call out a color to catch to train quick thinking and reacting needed for in-game situations. Use this hand-eye coordination trainer for pregame warmups, game-like scenarios in solo or team training, practice drills, or for fun in the backyard. The three-pointed design of the Reactive Catch features authentic rounded ends and center for easy catching and throwing. To see how to use the product, check out the SKLZ Reactive Catch Youtube video.
SKLZ Reactive Agility Ladder | $49.99 MSRP – Coming Soon!
The Reactive Agility Ladder helps athletes improve acceleration, lateral speed, change of direction and reaction time by engaging the brain and body during training. By simulating game day environments to better mimic sports and make agility training more complex, athletes are able to develop AI which helps improve their ability to react to incoming stimuli, resulting in increased game day performance. Exclusive online content designed by certified trainers is included in the set so athletes can incorporate drills into their training and challenge themselves in a new way. The circular shape of the ladder helps train athletes’ footwork and agility patterns in all directions for almost any sport or skill level. The ladder includes eight cones in four different colors to enhance random response time and memory sequencing patterns. By combining color and audible queues during training, athletes are forced to think and react quickly to the correct color rung and cone. Create speed gates or run through timing drills in endless training sequences with the ladder and cones combined. Use the agility trainer for pregame warmups, game-like scenarios in solo or team training and practice drills. Designed to work on any surface including grass, turf, court, track and concrete, the ladder sets up and folds down instantly with an included carry bag for portability. To see how to use the product, check out the SKLZ Reactive Agility Ladder YouTube video.
SKLZ Reactive Agility Cones and Reactive Agility Markers will be added to the Athletic Intelligence collection this summer. All SKLZ Athletic Intelligence products include exclusive online programming and content designed by certified trainers.
The new training system launches February 17 at Dick’s Sporting Goods and online at sklz.implus.com. For more details on how the training system works, check out the SKLZ Athletic Intelligence YouTube playlist.
About SKLZ
Born in Southern California, SKLZ launched in 2002 with the Hit-A-Way baseball swing trainer. Since then, we have developed training equipment for athletes of all levels to train smarter and harder. Building innovative products that help improve specific skills and techniques for Fitness, Soccer, Baseball, Basketball, Football, and Golf. Every product undergoes testing by professional athletes, coaches and fitness trainers to ensure their ease of use and performance. From an athlete’s first game to elite-level training, SKLZ is dedicated to developing the tools players and coaches need to perform at their best. For additional information, visit sklz.implus.com.
About Implus
Implus is home to more than 20 brands in the footwear accessories, hosiery, specialty running, outdoor, fitness and medical categories. As an industry leader in consumer packaged goods, Implus is committed to enhancing healthy and active lifestyles, providing innovative products to more than 80,000 retail outlets worldwide. Distributing across more than 70 countries, Implus is headquartered in Durham, North Carolina, with five international offices and four domestic satellite offices. Key brands within Implus’ portfolio include Sof Sole®, Balega®, Yaktrax®, SKLZ®, TriggerPoint™, RockTape® and Spenco®. To learn more, please visit www.Implus.com.
About SwitchedOn
SwitchedOn® is a (patent pending) Perceptual-Cognitive-Motor (PCM) training app that is designed to take your physical training to the next level by keeping your brain SwitchedOn. Traditional training methods focus on improving either physical OR cognitive performance separately. SwitchedOn® understands that the mind and body work together and our training must reflect that. This revolutionary method of training is currently being used by professional athletes, U.S. military personnel, and fitness enthusiasts everywhere, and is now available on your mobile device. For more information, visit: www.switchedontrainingapp.com.
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