NEW YORK, April 1, 2014 — America’s oldest sport is rooted in tradition and is also slow to adapt to new advancements in technology both on and off the field. The Guardian National Championship is proud to announce that the goalies attending its July 29th event will be the first lacrosse players in the United States to have access to and be evaluated on the groundbreaking BATAK Pro Reaction system.
The BATAK Pro is a revolutionary machine specifically designed to improve and test an athlete’s reaction time, peripheral vision, hand eye co-ordination and stamina. The BATAK machine uses a bright cluster of 12 LED targets mounted to a sturdy 6’ x 6’ frame, similar in size and shape to a field lacrosse goal. The targets are lit in a random order using a dedicated microcomputer to record and total the amount of strikes “touches” by a player in a 60 second period. The idea is to hit the panel to turn the light off as soon as you see it come on. Every ‘hit’ or ‘miss’ is recorded and displayed on a screen in real time.
What are the keys to fast reaction times? A research study titled, “Physical Education and the study of sport,” out of Spain suggests that the following factors affect an athletes response times.
· Fitness
· Alertness
· Personality
· Experience
· Anticipation
· Physiological state
“We are happy to help bring the BATAK to the United States through the Guardian National Goalie Combine. The BATAK Pro is most popular amongst goalies in our English Premiere league, and we are sure that this will prove the same in the US with your lacrosse goalies,” saidDavid Nelson, BATAK inventor.
The BATAK Pro has been used in the training of goalies in the English Premiere League, including Manchester United FC, Formula 1 racecar drivers and also fighter pilots. Royal Air Force fighter pilots have recorded 100 ‘hits’ in 60 seconds and former McLaren Formula 1 racecar driver Heikki Kovalainen averages 121 light stirkes ‘hits’ per 60 second session.
The next obvious question is, how will America’s best high school lacrosse goalies stack up against each other? The Guardian National Championship is poised and ready to answer that question and many more when the best goalies by graduating class (2015 – 2018) are identified this summer.
“State-of-the art equipment and training is very accessible to those athletes at the international and professional levels, but normally not for our younger athletes. Guardian National was created to bring the highest level of evaluation and instruction to lacrosse goaltenders in the US and internationally. The BATAK pro is our first step in this direction,” concluded Ginny Capicchioni, Guardian National, Founder/CEO.