A tennis training aid includes a glove and a wrist brace. An attachment mechanism extends between the back side of the glove and the wrist brace. The attachment mechanism has a first piece releasably connected to second piece so as to secure the glove, and thus the hand, at a desired angle relative to the wrist brace, and thus the wrist. The attachment mechanism preferably has an adjustable length so as to select the desired angle. Preferably, the attachment mechanism is a strap clip. The tennis training aid can also include both right-handed and left-handed gloves so as to accommodate for users having different dominant hands and allowing for use of the training device for the serve toss and the forehand and backhand strokes.

A butt-end device or knob for a sports implement with a handle for holding the sports implement. The butt-end device or knob has an inner member or inner surface mountable adjacent to a longitudinal end of the handle and a hand-engaging surface to engage a user's hand when holding the handle, the hand-engaging surface being movable relative to the handle in order to follow movement of the user's hand when the user swings the sports implement.

A ball throwing machine can include a hopper for receiving one or more balls and a ball delivery device. The ball delivery device can be used to throw or pitch a ball from the hopper to a user of the machine. The ball delivery device can include wheels to impart speed to the ball and a direction system to control the projection angle of the ball. The direction system can control at least one of the up and down angle and the side to side angle of the ball as it is thrown, among possibly other throwing parameters. A controller may be provided for controlling operation of the ball throwing machine.

The invention relates to a sports racquet having a head having a string bed is attached to two throat beams that extend continuously downward to a shaft having a handle. Each throat beam contains a bending zone in which the width of the throat beam parallel to the string bed and the width of the same throat beam perpendicular to the string bed gradually changes in equal, but opposite, dimensions such that the circumference of the throat beam remains substantially constant through at least the length of the bending zone or the length of the entire throat beam. Where the width of the throat beam parallel to the string bed is the widest and the width of the throat beam perpendicular to the string beg is the narrowest defines the flexible cross-section or flex point of the bending zone.

System and methods for automatically determining states of game object possession for sporting contests. The system uses the minimum necessary and sufficient data, including the predefined tracking layout, official game time-in versus time-out data, centroid location of each player matched with their identity data and centroid location of the game object data which is then converted deterministically into at least clock states and game object movement states. The system and methods also disclose the further combining of these states into the determination of the cycle of possession flow. For determining the states of possession of the game object, the system and methods disclose using either an instantaneous or average measured distance between each player and the game object in combination with a minimum radius defining each player's area of influence and a minimum time necessary for the game object to be within this area before possession can be assigned.

The present application is direction to a computing device having a memory and a processor. The processor is configured to receive data generated in response to a motion of a sporting apparatus, where the data includes a first data relating to a first characteristic of the motion of the sporting apparatus. The first data is based on a comparison between at least two different directional segments of a path created by a first location on the sporting apparatus during the motion of the sporting apparatus. The processor is further configured to analyze the data to determine a skill value, determine a recommended sporting apparatus from a group of at least two sporting apparatuses based on the skill value; and transmit information relating to the recommended sporting apparatus.

A handle for sport equipment comprises a tubular body (7) which extends along a longitudinal axis (L) and has an outer peripheral surface (8) adapted to be grasped by a user and shaped with a plurality of longitudinal faces (9) placed side by side in correspondence of edges (10) adapted to facilitate the positioning of the finger joints of the gripping hand by the user. The edges (10) are arranged along at least one pair of helical or spiral paths that develop around said longitudinal axis (L) with mutually opposite sign to subdivide each of said longitudinal faces (9) into a plurality of areas or flat surfaces (11) sized to accommodate a corresponding phalanx of the gripping hand of the user, each of said areas or flat surfaces (11) being perimetrically delimited by at least one pair of edges (10, 10) of each of the helical or spiral paths.

A racquet includes a handle; and a frame connected to an end of the handle, the frame defining a rounded interior space, the frame including a negative Poisson's ratio (NPR) foam material, in which the NPR foam material, and in which the frame has a Poisson's ratio of between 0 and 1; and a network of strings stretched across the rounded interior space defined by the frame. A golf tee includes an elongated stem; and a head disposed at an end of the elongated stem and shaped to receive a golf ball; in which at least a portion of the golf tee is formed of a negative Poisson's ratio (NPR) foam material, in which the portion of the golf tee has a Poisson's ratio of between 0 and 1, and in which the NPR foam material includes an NPR metal foam, an NPR ceramic foam, or an NPR-PPR composite foam.

A racquet includes a handle; and a frame connected to an end of the handle, the frame defining a rounded interior space, the frame including a negative Poisson's ratio (NPR) foam material, in which the NPR foam material, and in which the frame has a Poisson's ratio of between 0 and 1; and a network of strings stretched across the rounded interior space defined by the frame. A golf tee includes an elongated stem; and a head disposed at an end of the elongated stem and shaped to receive a golf ball; in which at least a portion of the golf tee is formed of a negative Poisson's ratio (NPR) foam material, in which the portion of the golf tee has a Poisson's ratio of between 0 and 1, and in which the NPR foam material includes an NPR metal foam, an NPR ceramic foam, or an NPR-PPR composite foam.

A handle for sport equipment comprises a tubular body (7) which extends along a longitudinal axis (L) and has an outer peripheral surface (8) adapted to be grasped by a user and shaped with a plurality of longitudinal faces (9) placed side by side in correspondence of edges (10) adapted to facilitate the positioning of the finger joints of the gripping hand by the user. The edges (10) are arranged along at least one pair of helical or spiral paths that develop around said longitudinal axis (L) with mutually opposite sign to subdivide each of said longitudinal faces (9) into a plurality of areas or flat surfaces (11) sized to accommodate a corresponding phalanx of the gripping hand of the user, each of said areas or flat surfaces (11) being perimetrically delimited by at least one pair of edges (10, 10) of each of the helical or spiral paths.