Take Me Out To the Batting Cage - Baseball in Full Swing at Frozen Ropes

If you think baseball season is over just because the World Series has finished and winter weather will soon lay its icy grip on Wisconsin, guess again. At , it’s always baseball season.

Frozen Ropes is a national chain of indoor baseball and softball training centers, including its facilities at N89W14400 Patrita Drive in Menomonee Falls. Boasting “the most recognized name in baseball and softball instruction,” Frozen Ropes caters to the baseball needs of all age groups, from children as young as 3 years old to college level players and adults who still enjoy taking their cuts playing softball.

“We do individual private instruction, we do team classes, and frozen ropes classes,” said general manager Pat McDonough. “We have five different hitting classes and six different pitching/throwing classes as well as fielding, strength and conditioning classes and classes specifically for softball girls hitters and pitchers.  We have a full range of instruction for all levels of players.”

For those very young players, there is the “Born to Play” class which offers supervised exercise to introduce 3- to 4-year-olds to athletic movement and beginner baseball and softball skills.

“We’re not teaching them the finer points of the game,” McDonough said.  “We’re teaching them about obeying the rules and giving them a rudimentary understanding of the game as far as the swing, the proper way to hold the ball, when to and not to throw the ball, things like that.”

Before a child gets enrolled in a Frozen Ropes class, one of the 11 instructors will ask their parents a few questions about their youngster. Is your child the best player on the team? Or is he the kid on the bench that’s trying to get out onto the field?

“If he’s the best player on the team, one of the things we want to work with that player is that he’s not competing against the other players,” McDonough explained. “He’s competing against himself and we need to make sure that he’s going to continue to see those jumps because at some point other kids will begin to catch up.  If you’re not working on those skills you’re not going to see the increased benefits.”

Then, there’s the opposite end of the spectrum. The kid who’s on the bench and wants to get onto the playing field. Sometimes, a parent will make the mistake of thinking that simply buying better equipment is the answer.

“You can go over to a sporting goods store and purchase a $250 – $350 dollar bat,” McDonough said. “For less than that cost we can teach your child how to actually use it.  Parents oftentimes will resort to getting the kid the best bat but the kid doesn’t know how to swing.  We can teach them how to swing. We can’t take a kid and promise we’ll make him a professional player.  All we can do is say we can make you a better player.”

College level players, like several currently in training from Cardinal Stritch, are also benefiting from customized instruction as they set their sites on playing in the major leagues.

“We’ve got two of them that are hoping to be recruited into pro ball next year so they’re working with one of my pro instructors,” McDonough said. “They’re learning about the things they need to do, what the scouts will be looking for as far as hitting, running, arm strength and things like that.”

Menomonee Falls has the only Frozen Ropes franchise in Wisconsin with others in Chicago and Omaha. McDonough says he is very pleased with the business climate in the Falls, too.

“Menomonee Falls has been outstanding for us,” McDonough said. “Our location, because we’re just one minute off the highway, a block north of Ernie Von Schledorn, we can bring customers in from Franklin just as easily as we can from Oconomowoc, Whitefish Bay or Cedarburg.  We can hit all the outlying areas because we’re such an easy place to get to.”

The fact that the Milwaukee Brewers had a great season in 2011 also paid dividends for Frozen Ropes.

“We did see quite a big jump in business,” McDonough said. “Anytime the Brewers are continuing to play we’ll see a jump in business. The fact that the World Series was a pretty good World Series we actually saw a lot more people coming in, especially before the game. Dad wants to come in and get some cuts off one of our pitching machines with his son before they sit down and watch the game.”

In some circles, there are those who believe that interest in baseball among youngsters is on the decline and that soccer is taking over. But McDonough doesn’t see it that way.

“I don’t see it because when we talk about baseball we’re talking about both baseball and softball,” McDonough said.  “The seasons are at two different times so we’re not necessarily competing with soccer players. Perhaps we’re competing with club soccer players but as far as little league, here in Menomonee Falls, they’ve got the nation’s largest little league. That doesn’t change. Soccer hasn’t eaten into that yet. I think kids are playing both sports. You’re just not seeing the exclusive baseball player like you may have 25 years ago.”

About this column: Every week, reporter Tom Andrews will be profiling interesting businesses in the Menomonee Falls/Sussex area. If you have a suggestion for a future business profile, e-mail Tom at andrewst@charter.net.