Games using tangible projectile – Golf – Practice swingable implement or indicator associated with...
Reexamination Certificate
2001-06-11
2003-03-18
Moulis, Thomas N. (Department: 3713)
Games using tangible projectile
Golf
Practice swingable implement or indicator associated with...
Reexamination Certificate
active
06533675
ABSTRACT:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
(none)
STATEMENT REGARDING FED SPONSORED R & D
(none)
REFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIX
(none)
BACKGROUND AND FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for tracking, analyzing and teaching correct golf club movements that can instantaneously react to video images of golf swings for the purposes of guiding the club, analyzing the swing and predicting the ball flight.
BACKGROUND AND DESCRIPTION OF PRIOR ART
A golf swing requires the synchronized actions of more than 80 different muscles in a way that is not particularly intuitive or consistent with the human framework. Focusing on the totality of these various muscle movements surpasses the ability of the conscious mind. This requirement for complex and unnatural muscle movements is the principle reason why golf is considered to be a difficult game to master. Even if one is successful in correctly emulating the precise body movements of a given professional, it is unclear that the club movements that are actually produced are correct for a particular person given his or her physical differences.
Correct movement of the golf club is the main objective of a golf swing. If the club moves correctly then learning the associated body movements becomes a far easier goal. There are as many swing styles as there are body sizes and shapes, even among professionals, but the objective of each is to move the club in a very similar way.
Training tools exist that focus on body movements during the golf swing, but none describes or teaches correct club movement in terms of geometric position of the golf club, club head rotation and three dimensional shaft direction at every point of the golf swing. And none performs computer image recognition of the golf club and body position to guide the club movements, analyze the swing and predict the ball flight.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,159,016 compares video recordings of the body motions of a student to that of an instructor or professional. But these recordings lack interactivity because it is only after the student has completed the exercise that he or she can view comparisons. The computers involved receive and display images but do not recognize or analyze club or body movements. That task is left to the student and/or his or her instructor.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,126,449 allows a student to swing a club within a body template image of a chosen professional instructor. The computer receives and displays images but does not recognize the student's actual club or body movements, leaving the entire burden of swing analysis to the student and his or her instructor. Because the golf swing analyzer has no awareness of what the student is actually doing once the template is set in motion, there can be no responsive interaction between the student and the device. No effort is made by the above cited patent to systematically describe correct body position as a function of correct golf club movement. This invention can neither analyze a golfer's swing nor predict his or her ball flight.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,126,449 also requires the student to synchronize his or her activities to the timing provided by the pre-recorded template. The student cannot test or exercise his or her club movements swinging freely back and forth using variable timing.
In the above noted patent there is an uncertain task in deciding which professional's templates to use. Then attempting to emulate the complex body movements executed by that professional can be very difficult and perhaps of no particular advantage in achieving the club and body movements that are correct for the student, given the physical differences between the student and the professional such as differences in anatomy, physiology, flexibility, and strength.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,059,668 teaches the effects of club movement by allowing the student to observe a light that shines in both directions along the club shaft generated by a device attached to the golf club shaft. This method does not help the student to know if the geometric location of the club is correct at any point. This method fails to detect very common problems, such as that of the golfer bending his forward arm during the back swing producing a swing whose arc is too narrow yet able to satisfy criteria indicating that the swing is correct.
With nothing other than a light beam to communicate to the student, the above cited patent lacks the effectiveness and accuracy of image analysis and video presentation. It suffers from not being able to review the analysis of a given swing many times at different speeds. This invention becomes the least effective during the forward swing before impact while the club is making its most rapid movement. During this time the student must interpret the light signals and switch his or her view from the light pointing toward the grip end of the club to that pointing toward the head of the club. This invention is unusable outdoors under bright sunlight and physical adjustments are necessary to the platform that reflects the beam of light when using clubs of different lengths.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,772,449 discloses a method for simulating a golfer's swing by a two step process that first collects data about a golfer's club and body movements and then feeds the data to a commercially available mechanical simulation package. In the second step, an android computer model attempts to reproduce the golfer's swing for the primary purpose of determining what kinds of clubs are best suited to that golfer. This method is not interactive with the golfer and does not teach or include a pattern of an ideal golf swing as is explained below.
Prior inventions have used video recordings of the golf swings of various professional golfers for comparison to a student as though they were magic formulas. In fact, many professionals owe their success more to extensive practice than to excellent techniques. Since golf tournaments can be seen on national television every weekend, most of the techniques that amateur golfers would like to learn have become common knowledge and are practiced by most professionals. What is needed is a systematic and effective way to learn and practice these well-known club and body movements. These techniques can be interactively taught by a software program that is capable of running on most personal computers equipped with an inexpensive video camera such as a USB web cam.
Thus a need exists for an easy to use and inexpensive training system that allows a student to focus precisely on club position and club movement with real-time interactive assistance. When the computer has recognized and analyzed the nature of a particular golf swing problem and its solution, then the presentation to the student is more effective using computer generated graphics and audio methods. Since the computer's recognition software can correlate the club position with the position of the student's body parts, a more focused and systematic approach can be taken by the student to learn to swing correctly. Receiving a quantitative rating based upon the quality of the swing movements and viewing the predicted ball flight makes learning and practicing more enjoyable.
A further need exists for analysis while practicing back and forth swings with no predetermined timing. The student should be able to spontaneously perform a sequence of swings without prior planning or setup. For a proficient and experienced golfer, this capability provides effective audio and video feedback during warm-up exercises.
A still further need exists to effectively analyze the correctness of a golf swing at all points of a golf swing because any incorrect variations can have undesirable consequences. Since normal swing motions occur at a high rate of speed, a student or instructor finds it very difficult to analyze a golf swing in real-time. Previous inventions do not have the benefit of the computer instantaneously recognizing, analyzing, understanding and responding to the motion of the student's golf club. When evaluating the geometri
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