Members of Sports Attack's (http://www.sportsattack.com) product design group grew up in the sporting goods industry, from playing sports to coaching them, all the way to designing and manufacturing some of the first pitching machines.

Through years of personal experience, as well as significant relationships developed through the years with softball and baseball coaches at all levels, these folks are not only keenly aware of the needs of the coach and player, but also understand both the strengths and weaknesses of each pitching machine that has been manufactured over the years.

More than 40 years ago, the first arm machine was introduced. Due to the enormous recoil generated by the arm, the machines had to be bolted to concrete pads, making them stationary and not available for field or fungo work. The strength of this design was some level of vision and timing, but it was limited to fastballs, completely immobile and carried a concern for safety.

With the innovation of the wheel machine came the ability to throw curve balls. But these softball pitching machines (http://www.sportsattack. … ftball.php) required awkward and time consuming adjustments in order to change the type of pitch, and they lacked the all important vision and timing feature.

Having concluded that the ultimate pitching machine should be accurate, have adequate velocity, throw breaking pitches, have fungo capabilities, be portable and above all, provide the all important vision and timing, the design team at Sports Attack went to work.

They began by identifying wheels as the most efficient ball throwing mechanism. Wheels can throw breaking pitches, provide accuracy, and deliver the much needed speed. But what made the Hack Attack unique was the use of a third wheel. The location of the three wheels visually opened the ball chute, allowing the hitter to see the ball through acceleration and release, providing complete vision and timing.

The third wheel eliminated the need to pivot the throwing head when changing pitches, allowing any breaking pitch to be instantly dialed in by simply changing wheel speed. Accuracy and ball control was also increased due to the increased amount of ball surface being captured. Additional benefits of the third wheel were a reduction of throwing wheel and ball wear.

The innovative design of the Hack Attack incorporated safety features that kept the operator protected from moving parts. Ease of vertical and horizontal controls became key for pitch location and fungo work. In addition, portability was improved, providing much needed mobility on and off the field and for storage.

Extending the attributes of the baseball machine to address the needs of softball was a natural for the team at Sports Attack. They began by analyzing the existing softball pitching machines in 2003, and found that the basic design had not changed for many years. There had always been little attention to safety, portability or ease of operation and the majority of the machines were very awkward and difficult to operate, especially for women.

To thoroughly meet the needs of the softball coach and player, the only changes necessary to the baseball Hack Attack design was an adjustment to accommodate the larger softball and the lower release point needed to simulate a live softball pitcher. This three-wheel machine delivers every softball breaking pitch, from riser to right- and left-handed drops. With the key features of portability, safety, vision and timing that are inherent in the design, the Softball Hack Attack has quickly become part of leading college and high school programs across the nation.

About Sports Attack

Founded in 1995, Sports Attack's mission is to "be the leader in innovative, quality sports training equipment that will enable athletes at all levels to reach their full potential and coaches to develop championship teams." To say that they are manufacturers of quality sports training equipment just seems to not capture the essence of the company. They do not just design products; they explore, scrutinize, analyze and engineer them. They build each product from the ground up, by hand, the old fashioned way. And all of it, every part, every wheel, every motor, every element of every machine is made in the United States. For more information, please visit: http://www.sportsattack.com.

The founders of Sports Attack believe that their corporate integrity is a critical asset, and are committed to upholding it worldwide, setting high standards and abiding by them as they practice business fairly and behave ethically.

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