Frozen Ropes Teaches High-Tech Training

Now that school is back in session, you might think that a facility that specializes in softball and baseball training would slow down. After all, baseball and softball are spring sports and the summer camp season has ended.

But that is not how things roll at Frozen Ropes Garden City, located at 645 Stewart Avenue. "The phones are buzzing now that school is back," said Chris Mastoridis, who has managed the Garden City franchise since it opened four years ago.

The phones are buzzing because the serious players know it is never too early to hone their skills.

"As kids get older they realize there are a lot of things to address," he said. "Now is the time to start building on the skills and get more aggressive with the training."

Frozen Ropes is located behind the McDonald's on Stewart Avenue, near Roosevelt Field, and adjacent to the Professional Athletic Training Center, which shares the 645 address. Despite the relative obscurity of its location, Frozen Ropes has a steady clientele of baseball and softball players who come as individuals or in groups. The facility has a separate room for birthday parties and has a retail shop where it sells apparel and equipment.

Frozen Ropes, which is geared to the 7 to 12 age group, is about teaching the right way to play the game. Integrating the latest research in areas such as biomechanics, motor learning, sports psychology, visual training and strength and conditioning, the Frozen Ropes instructional model seeks to challenge and change the teaching methods now being used in the United States.

When Mastoridis hires instructors, he not only looks for people who can teach the Frozen Ropes curriculum but who can also communicate with the players the way a teacher would. Having played or coached at higher levels is secondary to learning how to teach and present a training curriculum that is well regarded.

"We look for instructors who have college playing experience and preferably teaching experience. In many cases, people with a teaching background make the best instructors," Mastoridis said.

Major Leaguers at Frozen Ropes  

Unbeknownst to most, several New York Mets players – past and present – have come to Frozen Ropes to work out. They are usually in a rehab stage where they spend part of the day next door at the Professional Athletic Training Center. Jose Reyes of the Mets rehabbed his hamstring injury over the winter at Professional Athletic and then took swings at Frozen Ropes. Carlos Beltran of the Mets similarly worked out at Frozen Ropes while seeing doctors next door.

For two months this spring, former met Carlos Delgado worked out at Frozen Ropes in hopes of returning from a chronic hip injury that ended his career in New York. Delgado, who signed a minor league contract with the Boston Red Sox, usually worked out during off hours.

"We try to accommodate their schedules," said Mastoridis, who does not publicize their appearances or training regimen, saying, "I don't want to capitalize on their celebrity."

Delgado addressed a travel baseball team run by Frozen Ropes. But again, it was kept quiet from the media.

As an extension of its training facility, Frozen Ropes manages five travel baseball teams and two travel softball teams that compete in tournaments and league play. Frozen Ropes supplies the uniforms, training facilities and coaches. Unlike many travel teams in the 16- and 15-under age groups, there are no parents coaching their kids.

"We call it 'No Daddy Ball,'" Mastoridis said. "We found that it has been a desirable thing for parents [not to be coaching their kids.]"

Mastoridis has a 16-year-old daughter who is an accomplished softball player, and he said he no longer coaches her. "It's best that someone else coach her at this point," he said.

When Mastoridis first took over Frozen Ropes in Garden City, his goal was to make it a 50-50 split between baseball and softball rather than a predominantly baseball facility. It's not there yet, but the gap is closing. He spends a good deal of his efforts on softball, he said.

Frozen Ropes is located at 645 Stewart Avenue. For more information, call 516-794-7673 or visit frozenropes.com.