A system has footwear and a striking device. The striking device has a shaft connected to a striking surface for contacting an object. A sensor affixed to the shaft changes electrical resistance when the striking surface is swung to contact the object to in turn generate a signal reflective of the deflection of the shaft. The footwear is configured with an array of sensors that change at least one electrical characteristic upon deflection when the player is operating the striking device. The footwear is to send signals reflective of the deflection of the feet as the shaft is swung. The signals reflective of the deflection of the shaft and the footwear are sent to a cell phone, notebook, PC or the like suitably programmed to present audio and visual images of the feet positions and movement and movement of the striking device (e.g., golf club, racket).

An exercise training system is provided having a system controller and a plurality of stimulant target units connected via a wireless network to the system controller. Each stimulant target unit has a light source providing light to stimulate a user, a proximity sensor providing an output of a distance between the proximity sensor and an object external to the unit, and means for providing feedback to the user to signal that the unit has been actuated by the user. The system controller includes a program for activating the stimulant target units in a sequence. The reaction by the user to the illumination is registered when the user brings a body part or other object to within a selected distance of the proximity sensor, this distance being programmable by the user.

Training equipment includes a hollow shaft having a sidewall defining an internal cavity and at least one polymer material filling at least a portion of the internal cavity. The polymer material may fill the entire internal cavity of the hollow shaft. The polymer material may be a visco-elastic polymer material or polyurethane. A spacer or a filler may fill at least a portion of the internal cavity. A method of making weighted training equipment with a hollow shaft having a sidewall defining an internal cavity may include injecting a curable composition into at least a portion of the internal cavity. The method may further include curing the curable composition into a polymer material.

A sports racquet and removable wrist strap system may include a head, a handle coupled to the head, a flexible tether extending from an end of the handle, a wrist strap, and a wrist strap connector releasably connecting the wrist strap to the flexible tether. The wrist strap connector includes a collar and an insert. The collar is connected to one of the wrist strap and the flexible tether and has an interior having a side opening and a side slot extending from the side opening. The insert is connected to the other of the wrist strap and the flexible tether. The insert is insertable into the interior through the side opening while portions of the wrist strap or the flexible tether are insertable into the interior through the side slot.

An automatic ball launcher includes a ball feed control system that includes a meter wheel with radially-spaced ribs or grooves to selectively block and pass balls to the flywheels of the launcher. The meter wheel rotates to selectively block and release a single ball to pass at a time. The controller of the launcher can be programmed to stop the meter wheel when a ball has been metered by monitoring the current at peak of the motor driving the meter wheel. A meter-event can be determined to have occurred when the current of the drive motor drops to a trough by a pre-set magnitude following a rise to a peak value. A remote control can be provided for the user to operate the launching machine and adjust a plurality of parameters.

Structures with racket performance varied according to the configurations of cylindrical parts can be easily used. A grommet (25-28) includes a cylindrical part (32) which is mounted pierced through a through hole (23) formed in a frame (20) of a racket (10) and through which a string (21) passes. The string is extended in a tensioned state on the frame so as to form front and back faces as hitting faces (22). The cylindrical part includes a first formation section (35) forming both sides of a central axis position (C) of the cylindrical part and a second formation section (36) rotationally shifted with reference to the central axis position by 90 degrees relative to the first formation section and forming both sides of the central axis position. One of the first and second formation sections is disposed on both sides in a front/back direction. The first and second formation sections each have a different rigidity.

The present invention relates to a method for characterizing a racket head of a ball game racket frame as well as to the representation of a racket head.

An automatic ball launcher includes a ball feed control system that includes a meter wheel with radially-spaced ribs or grooves to selectively block and pass balls to the flywheels of the launcher. The meter wheel rotates to selectively block and release a single ball to pass at a time. The controller of the launcher can be programmed to stop the meter wheel when a ball has been metered by monitoring the current at peak of the motor driving the meter wheel. A meter-event can be determined to have occurred when the current of the drive motor drops to a trough by a pre-set magnitude following a rise to a peak value. A remote control can be provided for the user to operate the launching machine and adjust a plurality of parameters.

A piece of sports equipment includes a handle, a head attached to the handle, and at least one dead blow mechanism. The at least one dead blow mechanism includes a chamber and a movable portion disposed within the chamber. The chamber and the movable portion each include a similar cross sectional shape.

Systems and methods for motion capture and analysis are described. The system may include a motion sensor unit configured to capture data associated with movement of an object. The motion sensor unit is configured to be directly or indirectly coupled to the movement object at a first location. The system also includes a processor to process the captured data to determine one or more values and to translate the data and/or values to correspond to a second location on the movement object located away from the first location. The data and/or values, including translated data and/or values, may be transmitted by wireless transmitter and displayed by a display unit.