By Beau Denton

As a youth baseball coach trying to improve his kids’ balance, Matt Zoltak could only find arm-based training products that didn’t strengthen balance in the lower half of the body.

So he developed the ExcelCord, a heel-based resistance training device that “allows for maximum range of motion without losing balance,” he says. After building and showing a few prototypes, Zoltak realized he was on to something.

The launch was long and, in many ways, a solo job. “I went to China to work with our manufacturer, I edited the DVD, I designed the workout guide,” says Zoltak. Now, two years later, his small operation (two full-time employees and partners and consultants across the country) has had a breakthrough with the endorsement of Dr. William Meyers, former chief of surgery at Duke University. Meyers was impressed that the ExcelCord can be used for both injury rehabilitation and performance improvement, and he agreed to distribute it to clients.

The ExcelCord, $99.99 for the basic package sold at excelcord.com, is being used by the Tampa Bay Rays, New Orleans Saints and New York Mets, among others. Zoltak is also marketing it for student athletic programs. “It’s cool to have it in MLB and NFL locker rooms,” he says, “but for me, every Little League and soccer team having it will mean I’ve made it.”