Systems for assisting a user with programming of a custom basketball shots made in a row practice arrangement includes a control system which receives data from a user interface indicating a user selection of a number of shots to be made in a row at each of a subset of pass receipt locations in the custom basketball shots made in a row practice arrangement and command a ball ejector to launch basketballs to a particular one of the pass receipt locations in the subset until data is received indicating that the number of shots is made in a row is made, and instead begin launching basketballs to a second particular one of the plurality of pass receipt locations in the subset. The control system also generates data for a report indicating performance feedback for the user during the custom basketball shots made in a row practice arrangement.

A golf ball having a compressible core with an RFID tag embedded therein is described. The compressible core comprises an outer core that surrounds an inner core and the RFID tag. The outer core has a hardness that is greater than the inner core. The RFID tag is composed of a planar carrier, a planar RFID integrated circuit, and an RFID antenna. The RFID integrated circuit includes a memory that stores at least one unique identifier. The RFID antenna is electrically coupled to the planar RFID integrated circuit. The planar carrier includes a first carrier surface that is parallel to a second carrier surface, and the planar carrier receives the RFID antenna and the RFID integrated circuit on the first carrier surface to form the RFID tag. Additionally, the molded shell encapsulates the compressible core.

A water spraying device is disclosed. The water spraying device includes a main housing, an actuator arm, and a sprayer assembly. The main housing is to be mounted to a basketball net. The actuator arm includes a proximal end pivotally mounted to the main housing and a distal end extending outwards from the main housing. The actuator arm is biased to a neutral position and pivotable to a depressed position responsive to downward force applied to the distal end of the actuator arm by a basketball. The sprayer assembly is mounted to the main housing, and includes a valve having a hose adapter on an inlet and a nozzle on an outlet of the valve. The valve is triggered to open responsive to the actuator arm pivoting to the depressed position.

A method of operating an electronic basketball scoreboard apparatus is disclosed. The method includes receiving a game parameter; operating a basketball game based upon the received game parameter; receiving a first indication of a ball passing through a first basketball hoop; receiving a second indication of a ball passing through a second basketball hoop; determining a first score of the basketball game based on the first indication from the first score sensor; determining a second score of the basketball game based on the second indication from the second score sensor; recording video of the basketball game; transmitting the recorded video; and transmitting the first score and the second score.

A golf instruction method, apparatus and analytics platform for determining the state of a putted golf ball relative to a target using information about the golf ball and external variables and remotely displaying the same comprising a base unit, a mobile device or terminal, and an associated computer program including an analytics engine for analyzing a user's performance. The computer program determines whether and how a putted golf ball has missed said target and then stores, aggregates and displays that information for a user. The analytics engine is operable to aggregate data, analyze data and then correlate a user's actual skill proficiency to ball performance.

Detectors and related systems and methods for automatically detecting made and missed basketball shots using ultrasonics are provided. A launcher is connected to a structural subassembly and passes basketballs to locations about a basketball playing area having a basketball goal. A detector having at least one ultrasonic sensor is selectively positioned below and adjacent to a rim of the basketball goal and transmits bursts of ultrasonic signals. A processor monitors for reflections of the transmitted bursts occurring within a specified time period after transmission excluding an initial time period and time after the specified time period, and records a made shot where reflections of the transmitted bursts are detected within the specified time period. An accelerometer may optionally be included for determining if the made shot was a swish.

The disclosure is directed to systems and methods for providing a user with key performance indicators of a basketball player relating to accuracy, precision and improvement. Specifically, the disclosure is directed to a system of sensors coupled to a basketball backboard adapted to provide an accurate tracking of a shot in a given three-dimensional space and extract features manipulated to yield key performance indicators based on establishing whether, how often and where the ball center passes the rim plane at a sub-cm resolution over a period of no more than 200 msec.

A sports and performance media positional detection system, comprising: at least two elements, with at least one element involved in the sporting activity; a power source; and machine-to-machine communication, which are collectively arranged such that if any two or more elements interact, their electromagnetic properties can be detected thus allowing the position of the interacting elements to be communicated to a decision maker. The system can be applied to at least one stationary element, which can be the playing surface, lines defining the boundaries, or a set of goalposts; and at least one moving element, which could be a ball, footwear, or the participants themselves. The system can also be applied to performance media capture.

Systems and methods relating to evaluating the performance of a person playing basketball are described. The systems and methods can be used to provide an evaluation sequence that can determine and evaluate the performance level of a person at one or more basketball skills. The evaluation sequence for the person can include a first sequence of actions that are the same each person being evaluated for a particular skill and a second sequence of actions that is based on the results of the first sequence and may be different for each person. Once the first and second sequences have been completed by the person, the system can determine a performance level for the person for the skills being evaluated.

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage media, for a basketball backboard. The basketball backboard includes a display screen, a plurality of sensors configured to generate sensor data regarding a shot attempt of a user, imaging devices configured to generate image data of the shot attempt, a speaker, and a control unit. The control unit can receive (i) the sensor data from the plurality of sensors and (ii) the image data from the imaging devices. Based on the received sensor data, the control unit can determine whether the shot attempt was successful. Based on the received image data and whether the shot attempt was successful, the control unit can generate analytics that indicate characteristics of the user and the shot attempt and recommendations for improving the shot attempt for subsequent shot attempts. The control unit can provide output data representing the analytics.