Games using tangible projectile – Playing field or court game; game element or accessory... – Practice or training device
Reexamination Certificate
2002-07-19
2004-06-29
Vidovich, Gregory (Department: 3711)
Games using tangible projectile
Playing field or court game; game element or accessory...
Practice or training device
C473S450000, C473S464000, C473S212000, C473S215000, C119S770000, C482S131000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06755755
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a sports training device, and more particularly to a sports skills training strap for training muscles and establishing muscle memory patterns for more compact, efficient and powerful strokes for sports activities requiring a swinging motion of the arms, such as in tennis, golf, baseball and basketball.
2. Description of Related Arts
What weekend tennis player doesn't wish he or she could serve a ball 100 miles per hour. What weekend golfer doesn't wish she or he was able to drive a ball 300 yards and in the middle of the fairway on every tee shot. What baseball or softball doesn't wish he could make that perfect compact powerful swing? What basketball player doesn't wish she could shoot the perfect jump shot? Professional tennis players, golfers, baseball and basketball players do achieve these athletic feats, but what sets these professionals apart from weekend athletes is their ability to swing a tennis racquet or a golf club, hit a baseball faster and farther, or shoot a basketball with better accuracy, speed, power, compactness, and efficiency. All these professional athletes achieve these qualities after hours of practice, and years of training. They practice repetitive strokes to build a pattern for their muscles to “memorize,” i.e. “muscle memory.” These professional athletes often have trainers and coaches, and the time to practice swinging their racquets or clubs to improve their swings, or to take shot after shot. The trainers and coaches watch the motions of the athlete, telling him or her what he or she is doing wrong, or how to better move their bodies and arms. Weekend athletes usually cannot afford trainers, coaches to analyze each movement, or to give them feed back on how a swing or a basketball shot should feel.
Often in sports, the ability to hit a ball farther, or more accurately is a combination of power and speed of the individual's movements. The swing, in the case of golf, tennis or baseball is a combination of an athlete's swinging of her arms, and a twisting or turning of her whole body, working in unison to create the speed and power to transmit to the ball at impact. A person's body weight may be important, but technique is equally important. Tennis players tend to be very thin and not very muscular. Yet, come professional golf, Ian Woosnan and Sergio Garcia, two of the shortest (Woosnan), and slimmest (Garcia) players hit for a greater distance than other professionals who are taller and stronger. Mark McGwire uses a combination of a compact swing, quick bat speed, and strength to hit his home runs.
In basketball, how well one shoots is often dependent upon her technique. In professional basketball, great shooters have shooting percentages around 50%, not a high number. Thus, shooting skill is a premium commodity. How one raises her arm and moves her arms and wrists when shooting the basketball affect the shot. Having proper fundamentals is essential. One lesson taught over and over is to shoot the ball with greater arc. Being able to shoot a ball from a great distance, with sufficient arc, is a great advantage. However, to be able to do that, one requires both technique and power.
In tennis and golf, or any other sports requiring the athlete to swing some sort of “hitting instrument,” the goal is the same: to produce an efficient, smooth, accurate and powerful swing. In general, a swing works in the following manner: an individual, from a set position, holds a tennis racquet or a golf club, i.e., the “hitting instrument,” in a set position. She then swings the hitting instrument back in an arc, twisting her body, and guiding the hitting instrument by her hands and arms, to a predetermined point. This is her “backswing.” She then proceeds to swing the club back down along the same plane generating speed and power as the hitting instrument moves to make contact with the ball, which may or may not be moving (in golf, the ball is stationary, and in tennis, the ball is moving) in a “contact area.” The individual then continues swinging the hitting instrument through the contact area through a “follow through,” ending the swing at some point in the follow through. The combination of backswing, swinging through the contact area, and the follow through create the power and speed, and accuracy necessary for each swing. The amount of backswing, speed and power through the contact area, and the amount of follow through required for each swing affects the distance the ball goes and the speed of the ball.
In tennis, an individual moves her body to the right or left standing at a right angle to the direction of the ball, as she makes her backswing. She then swings her arm forward and rotates her body as she hits the approaching ball and then continues through her follow through. The swing may be a vertical motion, over her head, or around either side of her body. The length of the backswing and follow through determine the speed and distance of the shot. The majority of the swings are full swings. But there is also “volleying,” which involves very little backswing, and a short follow through after contact.
In golf, similar requirements as in tennis exist for the golfer's swing. Although the individual's feet do not move during the swing as in tennis, but a golfer also rotates her body and arms in the same direction as the golfer makes her backswing, begins moving her arms forward through the contact area and completes her follow through. On a typical swing, an overextended backswing often results in a mishit or a loss of distance because the proper coordination of body and arms is not achieved so that the forward swing is not on the same plane as the backswing. Furthermore, a golfer with a habitual abbreviated follow through, or no follow through, finds it difficult to hit the ball straight consistently, and also may decelerate his swing, resulting in either a weakly hit ball, or a mishit. Also, proper positioning of the body relative to the arms and hands throughout the swing is needed to generate power, and keep the golf club moving along the same plane. This is especially true for shots in which the golfer may not make a full swing, but still needs the body and arms to be coordinated in their movements, such as two swinging motions, “pitching” and “chipping.”
In baseball, the player starts with his arm, and the club already in a set position behind him. He may twist his hips back slightly to help generate the power required in the back swing before twisting them forward as he swings his arms and hands through the hitting area, shifting his weight forward slightly and turning his wrists and straightening his arms.
But in all the sports, the basic rotation of the hips, turning the body to follow the rotation of the arms during the swing is the same. The individual may use one hand or two hands to swing the hitting instrument, depending upon the sport. In all of the sports, however, the power and speed generated in the swing are a combination of the swinging of the hands and arms, and the twisting and untwisting of the body, and the hips, specifically, and the strength in the legs. Every individual, in learning how to swing the hitting instrument, strives to swing the hitting instrument using a proper combination of swinging his arms, turning his wrists, and rotating and twisting his trunk to promote a fast, powerful swing.
In all these sports, emphasis is placed on creating a compact swing that stores energy on the backswing, generating power, transferring the energy from the swinging instrument to the ball as contact is made through a hitting area between the swinging instrument (such as a racquet or a club) and the ball. Furthermore, in those sports the position of the arms and the body during the back swing, at the time of contact, and the follow through are all important to achieving a powerful, accurate and efficient swing.
In basketball, players must learn how to shoot the ball properly. In professional bas
Aryanpour Mitra
Chan Raymond Y.
David and Raymond Patent Group
Vidovich Gregory
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