A method for tracking performance of player including determining global direction of magnetic field at first court and computing first court specific data; providing rotation for rotating apparatus about spin axis via player, wherein rotating apparatus comprising XYZ-magnetic field sensor; measuring plurality of magnetic field values as function of time when rotating apparatus is rotating about spin axis; computing magnetic field component of magnetic field in direction of local body co-ordinate of spin axis of rotating apparatus; determining direction of spin axis using computed magnetic field component of magnetic field and determined global direction of magnetic field; determining player specific data comprising angle of spin axis with respect to horizontal ground plane and angle of shot direction with respect to horizontal component of spin axis; and calibrating and storing first court specific data and player specific data to track performance of player at first court.

Systems and methods for assisting a user with creating a custom shots-made basketball practice arrangement are provided. A detector detects made basketball shots. A user interface receives a user selection of a subset of pass receipt locations for a custom shots-made basketball practice arrangement located about a basketball playing surface. A control system receives data indicating the user selection and a number of shots to be made and commands an ejector to launch basketballs to a particular one of the pass receipt locations in the subset until data is received indicating that the selected number of shots to be made are made at the particular one of said plurality of pass receipt locations, cease launching the basketballs to the particular one of the pass receipt locations, and begins launching basketballs to a second particular one of the pass receipt locations in said subset.

Methods and systems include, in at least one aspect: obtaining from a camera 2D image data of an object, obtaining from a radar device radar data of the object, combining the radar data and the 2D image data to produce 3D location information of the object, and modeling a 2D trace of the object using the 2D image data by finding an initial version of the 2D trace, receiving an initial portion of the 3D location information, extending the initial portion of the 3D location information in accordance with physical-world conditions to find at least one 3D location beyond the initial portion of the 3D location information, projecting the at least one 3D location into a 2D image plane of the camera to locate 2D region, and processing the 2D region in the 2D image data to extend the 2D trace of the object in flight.

A method, including scanning a golf club to obtain scanning information; inputting the scanning information into a processing system; using at least one camera positioned behind and in-line to a golf swing direction and at least one lighting unit to obtain a series of images of a golf club during the golf swing; converting the series of images into parameterized motion representations; using at least one radar to obtain a radar signal; inputting the parameterized motion representations and the radar signal into the processing system; receiving golf club parameters and golf swing parameters as an output of the processing system; and generating a visual model of the golf club and the golf swing in a virtual space using the golf club parameters and the golf swing parameters.

The present method and apparatus capture the position of a golf ball on a golf course consistently and accurately using consumer-grade, affordable technology. The output provides the latitude and longitude of the ball along with, optionally, additional insights including surface type, club, stroke, penalties, etc. Accuracy can differ slightly depending on location but is typically within a matter of feet. For example, the rough may be less accurate whereas the greens should be very accurate. This method and apparatus utilize 3-5 trackers, typically volunteers, per hole to capture shot-level data while leveraging commercially available smart devices and range finders.

Systems and methods for identifying golf equipment. The system may include one or more performance tracking devices, such as an optical sensor system or a radar sensor system for tracking at least one of a golf club swing or a golf ball flight. The system also may include at least one processor and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to perform a set of operations. The operations include receiving current dynamic input for a golf shot from a golfer and current static input for the golfer. The operations also include executing a trained machine-learning model based on the received current dynamic input and current static input to generate predicted golf club properties and/or predicted golf ball properties for the golfer. The predicted golf club properties and/or predicted golf ball properties are displayed on a connected display.

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including medium-encoded computer program products, for 3D flight tracking of objects include a method including determining a golf ball trajectory based on observations by sensor(s), extrapolating the trajectory backward in time, calculating distance measure(s) between the extrapolated trajectory and physical locations, estimating a systemic error for observation(s), wherein the systemic error affects observed ball positions, estimating a stochastic error associated with the observation(s), wherein the stochastic error affects an angle of a trajectory determined from observed ball positions, combining the estimated systemic and stochastic errors to form error measure(s) for the distance measure(s), identifying one of the physical locations as an origin for the golf ball when the error measure(s) satisfy a criterion, and waiting for additional observations of the golf ball by the sensor(s) when the error measure(s) do not satisfy the criterion.

Systems and methods for identifying golf equipment. The system may include one or more performance tracking devices, such as an optical sensor system or a radar sensor system for tracking at least one of a golf club swing or a golf ball flight. The system also may include at least one processor and memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to perform a set of operations. The operations include receiving current dynamic input for a golf shot from a golfer and current static input for the golfer. The operations also include executing a trained machine-learning model based on the received current dynamic input and current static input to generate predicted golf club properties and/or predicted golf ball properties for the golfer. The predicted golf club properties and/or predicted golf ball properties are displayed on a connected display.

Systems, methods and computer-readable media are provided for determining an effective altitude in relation to a moving sports object. In some examples, a method includes determining respective values for an air temperature, an air pressure, and a relative humidity of an environment of interest. Based on the determined respective values of the air temperature, the air pressure, and the relative humidity, an air density for the environment of interest is calculated to derive a first air density value. A second air density value is derived for a reference environment. An absolute value of a difference between the first and second air densities is compared against a preset comparison value and, based on the comparison being equal to or smaller than the preset comparison value, an output including an indicator of the effective altitude is generated.

Golf balls including a plurality of radar detectable marks disposed on any single layer or among two or more layers thereof are provided. When all of the radar detectable marks present on any layer of the ball are radially projected onto the outer surface of the ball, the resulting overall pattern of projected radar detectable marks includes a series of three or marks located on a 1.5 mm wide great circle band on the outer surface of the ball.