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.

A smart ball (100) comprising: an inner sphere portion (12) consisting of a cork like material and an outer sphere (19) that ensconces said inner sphere, said inner sphere further comprising: a cylindrical cavity (14), located substantially at the core of said ball, said cavity formed by drilling into said cork from an operative top side; a sensor assembly (16) placed in the centre of said cylindrical cavity along a reference plane defined by a locus of points wherein said points being collinear points running from a first end of said seam (18) to a second end of said seam, thereby ensuring that orthogonal measurements of said sensor assembly being aligned with orthogonal axes of said ball; and a charging port on said seam, said charging port connected to a battery placed in said cylindrical cavity and said battery connected to said sensor assembly.

A sports training ball is disclosed that is made up of a shell having an embossed design that defines an enclosure having an interior volume substantially occupied by a filler that includes a mixture of a first material, a second material, and a third material.

Various embodiments for a swing training system are described that include a shoulder harness system having a wrist attachment and at least one coupling member having a first end configured to couple to the wrist attachment and a second end configured to couple to one of a shoulder portion of a chest portion of the shoulder harness system, where the shoulder harness system is configured to maintain a chest-to-arm position of an operator and detach from one of the shoulder portion or the chest portion of the shoulder harness system in response to a predefined amount of force being exerted by the operator during a swing motion using a swinging device; and at least one of: a light system and a stride training system.

A protective cover is configured to protect a grip end of a bat. For example, a baseball bat, a softball bat, a cricket bat or other bat. The protective cover has a substantially cylindrical body and an open end for receiving the grip end of the bat. In some embodiments, the grip end of the bat is inserted into the open top end of the body and the body is slid onto and over the grip end to couple the protective cover with the bat. Alternatively, the body may be placed on the grip end of the bat and zipped and/or otherwise closed to couple with and protect the grip end of the bat. The protective cover protects the grip end of the bat from damage as well as provides cushion to prevent damage to external objects and injury to other individuals when the bat is not being used.

The present disclosure describes a a protective glove for a human hand including a glove body comprised of flexible sheet material and configured to overlie the thumb, the second, third, fourth, and fifth digits, the back of the palm, and the knife edge of the hand of a wearer; for each of the second, third, fourth, and fifth digits, at least one elongate flexible lattice cushion connected to the glove body and overlying the dorsal surface of each digit; and at least one planar flexible lattice cushion configured to overlie the dorsal aspect of the palm.

A system for scheduling a sporting event is disclosed. The system receives information regarding a set of six teams, each team comprising twelve players; divides the set of six team into a first group and a second group, each of the two groups comprising three teams; and generates, for each of the two groups, as part of first round, a match schedule, the schedule indicative of which teams play against the other in their respective group along with time of the play, each play/match being of a defined time period and each team getting a maximum of 10 overs for batting. Next, the system generates another schedule wherein as part of second round, top team of the first group plays with the bottom team of the second group, bottom team of the first group plays with the top team of the second group, and the two middle teams play against each other. Finally the system generates schedules for semi finals and finals Each play/match lasts for 90 minutes.

Improved pitching machines capable of providing accurate, repeatable, and various pitches for training or simulation purposes (e.g., batting and catching). The pitching machine of the present invention may be operable to deliver pitches that each have a different predetermined trajectory, location, velocity (speed to target), and rotational velocity with repeatable precision and accuracy. Additionally, the pitching machine may be programmable and capable of simulating a pitch sequence, as thrown by a pitcher in a game situation, which provides a novel and effective tool for training batters.

A system for refereeing a sports match including a portable processing device for compiling data associated with the sports match and eyeglasses including data display means for displaying the data associated with the sports match to a wearer of the eyeglasses.

Methods, apparatus, systems, and articles of manufacture to track movement of sports implements are disclosed herein. An example sensing unit disclosed herein is to be coupled to a sports implement. The sensing unit includes an inertial measurement unit to obtain movement data of said sports implement during a swing of said sports implement and a swing analyzer to determine a follow-through pattern of the swing of said sports implement based on the movement data.