By NEIL CORBETT
Abbotsford News

John Van Putten / The Abbotsford News

When it comes to smokin' a softball, few people in Canada can bring the credentials of Dave Paetkau.

The owner/operator of one of Abbotsford's newest businesses played fastball when the sport was in its heyday, and he was one of the best.

Paetkau spent eight years on the Canadian national team from 1991 to 1999, and won two Pan American Games gold medals (Cuba in 1991 and Argentina in 1995) and a World Championship (the Philippines in 1992).

He also has a silver medal from the World Championship, when Canada lost to New Zealand in the final in Midland, Michigan, mentioned almost as an afterthought.

A dangerous hitter, he has had numerous individual moments to remember from that career. One highlight was winning the batting title at the 1992 ISC (International Softball Congress) World Championship, which is the top club championship on the planet. He has also won batting titles at the Canadian championship. But he doesn't dwell on these personal achievements.

"It was always a team game," he said. "When you're standing on the podium and they're playing O Canada; That you don't forget!"

This is a guy who had a swing so sweet that a baseball club in Salt Lake City, Utah recruited Paetkau, and for four years the Larry Miller Toyota team would fly him out of Bellingham on a Friday morning, and fly him back on Sunday night, after six or seven games on the weekend.

Baseball teams in Abbotsford need not go to quite that expense to benefit from his talents.

Paetkau fulfilled one of his personal dreams by setting up the Power Zone Academy in Abbotsford, where he will use his unique knowledge and experiences for "elite baseball and softball instruction."

Teams or individuals can rent batting cages, pitching lanes, a hardball pitching mound or the full facility. They can do it with or without an instructor.

This is not some dumb jock. Paetkau attended the University of Saskatchewan's physical education department, and took a particular interest in biomechanics. There's no room to get into it on these pages, but he's particularly interested in kinetic sequencing, and the transfer of energy from big muscles to small.

On the Web, if you search his name on Google, you'll come across an insightful essay he has written comparing the reaction time needed to hit a fastball vs. a hardball.

To keep the challenge on the ball field, three years ago the 37-yard-old joined the over-30 hardball league in the Lower Mainland, where he has made himself into a pitcher.

He's not the pitcher for the academy, however. That task falls to instructor Todd Shiyuk, a minor league ball player who averaged over a strikeout per inning, and who was drafted by the San Diego Padres. His fastball pitching instructor is Wayne King, the former head coach of the Simon Fraser University women's softball team.

This new resource has already been tapped by Abbotsford's minor fastpitch teams, but Paetkau is hoping that even slo-pitch teams will use his warehouse space at 34100 South Fraser Way (across from The Keg).

"Unlike going to the batting cage, I can set up six different hitting stations," he said. "By the time people have done an hour in here, they'll have taken about 200 swings."

He teaches hitting, using identical methods for both fastball and hardball, and uses methods that emphasize bat speed. The Web site batspeed.com shows some of the technical aspects of his hitting theory. In a nutshell, if you can generate an extra 5 mph of bat speed, you can send the ball 20 feet further.

"More importantly, you'll get the ball through the infield faster, and get more base hits," he said.

Paetkau has booked 24 hours worth of coaching clinics already, and is going to pass on his considerable knowledge to the guys who work with young players in Abbotsford. Paetkau has no doubt this extra emphasis is going to show up in the win column for Abby's minor fastball teams.

"I think within two or three years you'll see a difference," he predicts.