The present invention enhances a golf tournament using novel tournament rules that include allowing proficient players to interact with other players, more particularly, professional players to affect the outcome of the tournament. After teams are created the game a best ball is played at the first day, a low and aggregate ball is played on the second day and a worse ball is played on the last day. At the end of the tournament the team with the lowest score wins.

The present invention comprises a unique system and method for providing adaptable ball delivery and tracking, including appropriate sensor hardware, interactive gameplay user interfaces and point of sales systems. The system and method of the present invention are especially relevant to baseball and softball as, among other components, the system comprises a vertical, ground-up soft toss ball delivery mechanism, automated player and ball-tracking devices, and ball-collection and transport systems. The ball collection and return components eliminate the need for “fielders” and enable the creation of the first “batting range”. The vertical, ground-up soft-toss pitch machine further enables the first multi-story batting facility with player batting bays that open onto a sports field. Further, certain embodiments of the present invention integrate hitting screens, augmented reality display and simultaneous coordination of gameplay and communication between players, regardless of the players' physical location.

In one example, we describe a method and system for invitation to games or sports. For example, when the user uses our system (PlayUs), she or he gets connected to others very easily (e.g., in the city's “Open League”). This way, the player/user is immediately presented with a feed of all recent activities and has immediate access to all active players in the area. The user can also access his/her friends through the social networks, to increase participation very rapidly. One can also make groups and find new friends using our app (mobile application), e.g., with mobile phones or devices. One can also be discovered by others, depending on the level of privacy desired or previously set. Many different variations or combinations are also shown here.

An athlete tracking system and method for tracking an athlete during training sessions. The system includes a mobile tracking device wearable around a portion of the athlete's head, and a training log server for maintaining an athlete profile that includes a training record updatable by the athlete and a training plan supplied by a coach.

Messages may be passed between Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags using RFID readers. A first tag with a message intended for a second tag sends the message to an RFID reader. The reader then determines that the destination of the message is the second tag and sends the message to the second tag. The second tag may confirm receipt of the message by sending a receipt confirmation message to the reader for forwarding to the first tag, and/or the reader may itself confirm that the message was sent to the second tag by sending a transmit confirmation message to the first tag.

Systems and methods for determining a time of a passing at a reference line of an RFID tag traveling along a route and a time of lapsing of the tracked RFID tag on the route, the system have a plurality of spaced apart tag reader systems for wirelessly obtaining tag reads, wherein at least one of the tag reader systems is space apart from the reference line. The timing system receives a plurality of tag reads and determines the time of passing of the RFID at the reference line responsive to the plurality of received tag read messages received from the plurality of tag reader systems.

A computing system retrieves historical hole-by-hole data for a plurality of holes for plurality of golf tournaments for a plurality of players. The historical hole-by-hole data includes a yardage of each hole and a par associated with each hole. The computing system clusters the plurality of holes into a plurality of clusters of hole types. The computing system generates a strokes gained metric for each hole type of the hole-by-hole data for each player. The computing system adjusts the strokes gained metric for each hole type based on a field of strength metric associated with each tournament. The field of strength metric represents a strength of a player field in a given tournament. The computing system generates a ranking of the plurality of players based on the adjusted strokes gained metric.

An electronic tournament gaming tabletop for use with ping pong, beer pong, or other tabletop games. The table includes a means for entering each player's name and keeping the list of players. The player names and scores are displayed on the surface of the table for use in a tournament. The table may implement a rule of winner remains, advancing the list when an end-game signal is entered by the players, or a bracket. When the feature is specified, usage can be automatically tracked and directly communicated with a cloud system for the accurate tracking and sharing of gameplay information including time of use, while personal identifying information such as names will remain on the device, be erased upon power-off, and never be sent over the internet.

Systems, apparatus, and methods for using mobile sporting goods. In one aspect, the system permits a sporting enthusiast to track the location of a mobile sporting good, such as a golf ball, relative to a target, such as a target on a driving range, and correlate that location to a simulated location on a simulated golf hole.

The method makes it possible to measure a speed of a competitor, such as a skier or snowboarder, on a ski or snowboard course, by means of a measurement system with a transponder module worn by the competitor. The method includes the step of activating the transponder module which includes a measurement unit with at least one measurement sensor, as soon as the race starts, a step of measuring the speed of the competitor via the measurement unit during the race along the course, and a step of transmitting the competitor's speed measurement to at least one base station of a decoder device of the measurement system for a timing device in order to display the speed of the competitor in real time or continuously on at least one screen.