Sports training system and method

Abstract

A device to function as a training aid designed to improve the tennis serves, ground strokes and volleys, badminton serves and strokes, volley ball serves and returns, baseball batting, racquet ball serves and returns, and squash serves and returns. It is also useful in any activity where the user seeks to improve striking performance when a sports object is suspended in a particular three-dimensional space location.

What is claimed is new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims: 
     
         1 . A sport training system related to improving the ability of a player to strike a sports object, the sport training system comprising:
 a support frame including
 a substantially vertical support member having an upper end and a lower end, 
 an overhead support member having a distal end, a proximal end, and an elongated middle segment extending between the distal end and the proximal end, the proximal end coupled to the upper end of the substantially vertical support member, the elongated middle segment projecting outwardly thereof, and 
 coupled to the lower end of the substantially vertical support member, a base member configured to support the substantially vertical support member from a ground surface; 
   a cord movably engaged with the overhead support member, the cord having a first end suspended below the distal end of the overhead support member and a second end suspended below the proximal end of the overhead support member;   a releasable attacher configured to attach the sports object to the first end of the cord and to release the sports object from the cord when the sports object is struck by the player; and   a first height adjuster configured to allow a user to adjust the height of the sports object relative to the ground surface, the first height adjuster including a counter weight coupled to the second end of the cord, the height of the sports object adjustable by user positioning of the counter weight relative to the proximal end of the overhead support member, such adjustment altering the length of the cord between the releasable attacher and the distal end of the overhead support member.   
     
     
         2 . The sport training system of  claim 1 , wherein the first height adjuster further comprises a first frictional retainer configured to frictionally retain the position of the counter weight and the releasable attacher relative to the overhead support member. 
     
     
         3 . The sport training system of  claim 2 , wherein the cord passes through an internal cord passage extending between the overhead support member. 
     
     
         4 . The sport training system of  claim 3 , wherein the first frictional retainer comprises frictional interaction between the cord and the internal cord passage of the overhead support member. 
     
     
         5 . The sport training system of  claim 1 , further comprising a counter-weight coupler configured to assist user coupling and decoupling of such counter weights from the cord. 
     
     
         6 . The sport training system of  claim 1 , wherein further comprising
 a cord-wrapping restrainer configured to restrain wrapping movement of the cord about the distal end of the overhead support member after the sports object is struck; and   wherein the cord-wrapping restrainer comprises a motion-dampening weight affixed to the cord at a position between the distal end of the overhead support member and the releasable attacher.   
     
     
         7 . The sport training system of  claim 6 , wherein the motion-dampening weight comprises:
 a central bore configured to pass the cord; and   a conical upper portion arranged generally coaxially with the central bore; and   wherein the conical upper portion is adapted to reduce entanglement of the cord around the motion-dampening weight after the sports object is struck by the player.   
     
     
         8 . The sport training system of  claim 6 , wherein the distance between motion-dampening weight and the overhead support member is greater than the distance between the motion-dampening weight and the releasable attacher when the motion-dampening weight is affixed to the cord. 
     
     
         9 . The sport training system of  claim 1 , wherein the base member comprises
 at least three support legs projecting outwardly from the vertical support member; and   wherein the at least three support legs are configured to be foldable adjacent the vertical support member to provide compact storage.   
     
     
         10 . The sport training system of  claim 1 , wherein the substantially vertical support member comprises a set of telescopic tubular members arranged in at least one nested telescoping arrangement. 
     
     
         11 . The sport training system of  claim 10 , further comprising
 an angle adjuster configured to adjust the angle of the overhead support member relative to the ground surface;   wherein the overhead-support angle adjuster comprises
 a first locking collar engaged on the substantially vertical support member, and 
 a fixed-length diagonal brace member pivotally coupled to the first locking collar and the overhead support member; and 
 a second locking collar movably engaged on the substantially vertical support member; 
   wherein the proximal end of the overhead support member is coupled to the second locking collar;   wherein vertical movement of the second locking collar along the substantially vertical support member produces pivotal rotation of the overhead support member about the proximal end; and   wherein the angle of the overhead support member is adjustable relative to the ground surface by such vertical movement of the second locking collar.   
     
     
         12 . The sport training system of  claim 11 , further comprising
 a second height adjuster configured to allow the user to adjust the height of the sports object relative to the ground surface, the second height adjuster including a third locking collar engaged on the substantially vertical support member;   wherein the third locking collar is configured to lock at least two of the tubular members in a user-selected telescopic arrangement; and   wherein the height of the sports object is adjustable relative to the ground surface by adjusting the tubular members to the user-selected telescopic arrangement.   
     
     
         13 . The sport training system of  claim 12 , wherein the height of the sports object is adjustable relative to the ground surface by adjusting at least one of the first locking collar, the second locking collar, and the third locking collar. 
     
     
         14 . The sport training system of  claim 1 , wherein the releasable attacher comprises at least one hook-and-loop fastener material. 
     
     
         15 . The sport training system of  claim 14 , wherein the releasable attacher further comprises at least one resilient disk adapted to firmly couple the cord and the at least one hook-and-loop fastener material. 
     
     
         16 . The sport training system of  claim 1 , further comprising at least one device mount adapted to removably mount at least one imaging device. 
     
     
         17 . A sport training system related to improving the ability of a player to strike a sports object, the sport training system comprising:
 a support frame including
 a substantially vertical support member having an upper end and a lower end, 
 an overhead support member having a distal end, a proximal end, and an elongated middle segment extending between the distal end and the proximal end, the proximal end coupled to the upper end of the substantially vertical support member, the elongated middle segment projecting outwardly thereof, and 
 coupled to the lower end of the substantially vertical support member, a base member configured to support the substantially vertical support member from a ground surface; 
   a cord movably engaged with the overhead support member, the cord having a first end suspended below the distal end of the overhead support member and a second end suspended below the proximal end of the overhead support member;   a releasable attacher configured to attach the sports object to the first end of the cord and to release the sports object from the cord when the sports object is struck by the player;   a first height adjuster configured to allow a user to adjust the height of the sports object relative to the ground surface, the first height adjuster including a counter weight coupled to the second end of the cord, the height of the sports object adjustable by user positioning of the counter weight relative to the proximal end of the overhead support member, such adjustment altering the length of the cord between the releasable attacher and the distal end of the overhead support member;   a counter-weight coupler configured to assist user coupling and decoupling of such counter weights generally matching a weight of a selected sports object;   an angle adjuster configured to adjust the angle of the overhead support member relative to the ground surface, the overhead-support angle adjuster comprising
 a first locking collar movably engaged on the substantially vertical support member, and 
 a brace member pivotally coupled to the first locking collar and the overhead support member; 
   a second height adjuster configured to allow the user to adjust the height of the sports object relative to the ground surface, the second height adjuster including a second locking collar movably engaged on the substantially vertical support member; and   a cord-wrapping restrainer configured to restrain wrapping movement of the cord about the distal end of the overhead support member after the sports object is struck;   wherein vertical movement of the first locking collar along the substantially vertical support member produces pivotal rotation of the overhead support member about the proximal end;   wherein the angle of the overhead support member is adjusted relative to the ground surface by such vertical movement;   wherein the proximal end of the overhead support member is coupled to the second locking collar;   wherein the height of the sports object is adjustable relative to the ground surface by adjusting the position of the second locking collar;   wherein the first height adjuster further comprises a first frictional retainer configured to frictionally retain the position of the counter weight and the releasable attacher relative to the overhead support member;   wherein the cord passes through an internal cord passage extending between the overhead support member;   wherein the first frictional retainer comprises frictional interaction between the cord and the internal cord passage of the overhead support member;   wherein the cord-wrapping restrainer comprises a motion-dampening weight affixed to the cord at a position between the distal end of the overhead support member and the releasable attacher;   wherein the motion-dampening weight comprises
 a central bore configured to pass the cord, and 
 a conical upper portion arranged generally coaxially with the central bore; 
   wherein the conical upper portion is adapted to reduce entanglement of the cord around the motion-dampening weight after the sports object is struck by the player;   wherein the distance between motion-dampening weight and the overhead support member is greater than the distance between the motion-dampening weight and the releasable attacher when the motion-dampening weight is affixed to the cord;   wherein the base member comprises
 at least three support legs projecting outwardly from the vertical support member, and 
 wherein the at least three support legs are configured to be foldable adjacent the vertical support member to provide compact storage; 
   wherein the height of the sports object is adjustable relative to the ground surface by adjusting the position of either one of the first locking collar and the second locking collar;   wherein the substantially vertical support member comprises a set of tubular members arranged in at least one telescoping arrangement;   wherein the releasable attacher comprises at least one hook-and-loop fastener material;   wherein the releasable attacher further comprises at least one resilient disk adapted to firmly couple the cord and the at least one hook-and-loop fastener material; and   further comprising at least one device mount adapted to removably mount at least one imaging device.   
     
     
         18 . The sport training system of  claim 17 , further comprising set of instructions; and
 wherein the sport training system is arranged as a kit.   
     
     
         19 . The sport training system of  claim 18 , wherein the kit further comprises at least one sports object selected from the group consisting of
 tennis balls,   badminton shuttlecocks,   volley balls,   baseballs,   racquet balls, and   squash balls.   
     
     
         20 . A sport training method related to improving the ability of a player to strike a sports object, the method comprising the steps of:
 providing a support frame including
 a substantially vertical support member having an upper end and a lower end, 
 an overhead support member having a distal end, a proximal end, and an elongated middle segment extending between the distal end and the proximal end, the proximal end coupled to the upper end of the substantially vertical support member, the elongated middle segment projecting outwardly thereof, and 
 coupled to the lower end of the substantially vertical support member, a base member configured to support the substantially vertical support member from a ground surface; 
   providing a cord movably engaged with the overhead support member, the cord having a first end suspended below the distal end of the overhead support member and a second end suspended below the proximal end of the overhead support member;   providing a releasable attacher configured to attach the sports object to the first end of the cord and to release the sports object from the cord when the sports object is struck by the player; and   providing a height adjuster configured to allow a user to adjust the height of the sports object relative to the ground surface, the height adjuster including a counter weight coupled to the second end of the cord, the height of the sports object adjustable by user positioning of the counter weight relative to the proximal end of the overhead support member, such adjustment altering the length of the cord between the releasable attacher and the distal end of the overhead support member;   attaching the sports object to the releasable attacher; and   adjusting the height of the sports object to a user-selected height relative to the ground surface using the height adjuster.