A practice ball with an off-axis weight distribution allows sportspeople to practice their ball catching, passing and other skills using a ball that flies through the air with a wobbly trajectory.

A sports simulation system comprises a projectile tracking apparatus configured to detect a projectile traveling through a projectile tracking region towards a display surface, a controller comprising one or more actuatable buttons, each actuatable button configured to communicate one or more control signals in response to actuation thereof, and at least one processing stage configured to receive data from the projectile tracking apparatus and determine three-dimensional positions, velocity and acceleration of a detected launched projectile traveling through said projectile tracking region, the three-dimensional positions, velocity and acceleration used by said at least one processing stage to calculate a trajectory of said launched projectile into a three-dimensional sports scene, receive one or more control signals from the controller and determine one or more control commands of one or more animated objects based on the one or more control signals, and use said calculated trajectory and said one or more control commands to generate updated image data including a simulation of said launched projectile into said three-dimensional sports scene and manipulate one or more animated objects associated with said three-dimensional sports scene, the updated image data associated with a sports result.

A computer-implemented American soccer training and evaluation method that includes subjecting a drilling user to pre-defined drilling protocol(s) of a plurality of American soccer drilling assemblies and obtain, from each pre-defined drilling protocol(s) of the plurality of American soccer drilling assemblies and from at least one sensor on each of the assemblies, at least one user physical characteristic of the drilling user. The user physical characteristic is communicated to an administrative server over a network, where it is stored and used to create a drilling user performance profile having individualized performance comparisons with respect to the at least one user physical characteristic of the drilling user and a performance benchmark. Then, the drilling user performance profile is communicated to to at least one of a plurality of electronic computing devices of a plurality of consuming users for evaluation and review.

The present invention proposes a court, which is a half- or full-court in which ball sports, such as soccer (penalty kicks), foot volleyball, volleyball, and basketball (3×3 basketball), can be played. The court allows balls to be automatically and rapidly supplied in the case where it takes time to resume a game, such as a case where a game is replayed or a case where a ball is out according to the characteristics of each type of sport, or in the case where serve-reception practice is required, and also allows balls to be naturally collected and lifted because the court is inclined and allows the balls to be automatically classified according to the types of balls and to be supplied to the court.

An athlete training device has one end adapted to be in contact with the athlete's body. The other end of the device is adapted to be secured to an athletic device, such as a ball or a golf club head. The level of difficulty readily may be adjusted from a relatively easy configuration to progressively more difficult configurations.

A training device for quarterbacks includes at least one mobile unit configured to simulate a teammate of the quarterback. The at least one mobile unit includes a target at which the quarterback can throw a football. The training device further includes a drive operatively connected to the at least one mobile unit, wherein the drive is configured to move the at least one mobile unit in at least two mutually perpendicular directions, and a controller operatively connected to the drive, wherein the controller is configured to control the drive. A training method for quarterbacks using at least one training device, wherein each training device comprises at least one mobile unit having a target at which the quarterback can throw a football includes moving the at least one mobile unit autonomously along at least one of a predetermined, semi-predetermined, or non-predetermined path of motion, and activating a target signal.

A soccer training net includes a frame having an upper portion and a lower portion, a generally rectangular net having a bottom edge and a top edge, and a lower elastic member having a first end, a second end, and a medial section that extends between the ends. The medial section is coupled with and extends along the bottom edge of the net. Each end is coupled the lower portion of the frame. Upper coupling members extend between and are coupled with the upper portion of the frame and corners of the top edge of the net. The frame does not include a member that extends along the bottom edge of the net such that the medial section of the lower elastic member and the bottom edge of the net are suspended between the sides of the lower portion of the frame.

A light up net is provided comprising a net frame constructed by a plurality of frame members, the frame members are composed of a front portion and a rear portion and one or more lights are affixed to the rear portion of the one or more frame members, wherein the front portion acts as a protective layer. A method of employing the light up net to increase visibility for a user comprising powering the one or more lights.

A sports simulator calculates the rotational and translational velocity of a sports object. The rotational velocity is calculated using image analysis. The translational velocity is calculated using image analysis and a set of emitters and sensors. The simulator then computes the future trajectory of the sports object based on the rotational and translational velocity. In one embodiment, the sports object is a golf ball and the sports simulator simulates golf.

An apparatus includes a training area in the form of an enclosed space in which light levels can be controlled, at least one physical element related to a task for which an individual is to be trained, and a lighting arrangement. The lighting arrangement generates a background luminance level in the training area sufficient to cause the vision system of the individual to function in the mesopic or low photopic range of vision, and the physical elements are themselves illuminated by an illumination means. The luminance level of the physical elements is greater than the background luminance level.