A system and method for providing active golf ball location tracking according to the present invention is a hand-held device having a memory having instructions stored thereon, a display device, and a processor configured to execute the instructions on the memory to cause the hand-held device to establish a connection with a first golf ball among the plurality of golf balls, load a data buffer containing a unique ID into the first golf ball, periodically determine a current position of the first golf ball until the current position begins to change, receive cellular network tower signals associate with the first golf ball, periodically triangulate a moving position of the first golf ball using the cellular network tower signals, when the moving position of the first golf ball stops changing, determine a range and direction of the first golf ball from the hand-held device; and display the range and direction of the first golf ball on the display device.

A trajectory and a flight distance of a target moving body such as a ball hit by a golf club in an athletic competition such as a golf game may be calculated from the images having been taken. The calculation may be conducted from the pictures having been taken with a monocular camera of low resolution such as a smartphone. An initial velocity and a hitting angle of a target moving body such as a ball having been hit high by the golf club may be calculated.

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including medium-encoded computer program products, for 3D flight tracking of objects includes, in at least one aspect, a method including obtaining two dimensional image data of a golf ball in flight, the two dimensional image data originating from a camera; obtaining radar data of the golf ball in flight, the radar data originating from a Doppler radar device associated with the camera; interpolating the radar data to generate interpolated radar data of the golf ball in flight; and blending radial distance information derived from the interpolated radar data of the golf ball in flight with angular distance information derived from the two dimensional image data of the golf ball in flight to form three dimensional location information of the golf ball in three dimensional space.

A putting practice apparatus for evaluating the striking speed and tempo of a putter includes: an emitting unit (100) that emits light and is provided in a first sensor installation part; a light receiving unit (200) that receives the light emitted from the emitting unit (100); a speed detecting unit (300) and a position measuring unit (400) which respectively detect the speed and measure the position of the golf ball (1); a calculation control unit (500) for performing calculations in order to detect the initial position value of the golf ball (1) as measured by the position measuring unit (400) and the movement speed (Vb) and the moving distance (Hb) of the golf ball (1) as measured by the speed detecting unit (300); and a storage unit (600) for storing the measured speed (Vb) and the measured distance (Hb) of the golf ball (1).

An apparatus is provided for indicating a golf stance. The apparatus includes foot markers configured to provide an indication of where on the ground the golfer should place his feet and a reference grid arranged on the ground in a predetermined relationship relative to the foot markers, the reference grid including a plurality of points arranged in labelled rows and columns, thereby to identify each point in the reference grid. The apparatus has a golf club attachment including an attachment formation for attachment to a shaft of a golf club and an aiming aperture or reticule, wherein the golfer is able to align his eye with one of the points on the reference grid using or through the aiming aperture. The apparatus further has a ball marker and a support stand which supports the ball marker at an elevated position above the ground where the ball is intended to be placed, wherein the golfer is able to align his eye with the ball when placed on the ground using the ball marker. In use, (1) placement of the golfer's feet, (2) alignment of the golfer's eye (and accordingly head) with one of the points on the grid and the golf club using the aiming aperture, and (3) aligning the golfer's eye (and accordingly head) with the ball using the ball marker causes a desired or predictable stance of the golfer.

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.

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.

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.

System and method for a golf cart to automatically proceed to the location of a struck golf ball. The system and method allow a golfer to play golf without the need to keep diligent track of the ball. The golf cart determines the location of the struck ball and the proceeds to the location of the ball. This reduces the time needed to find a struck ball and reduces the instances of lost balls.

A golfing aid system and method includes an image capturing device and an interface system coupled to at least one processor and a memory coupled to the processor which is configured to be capable of executing programmed instructions comprising and stored in the memory to capture, with the image capture device, image data comprising at least one of a playing surface, a ball, or a designated location spaced from the ball on the playing surface. At least one type of spatial data and at least one type of playing surface data relating to the playing surface, the ball and the designated location is determined. An overall trajectory, a starting direction, and an initial velocity of the ball to reach the designated location is computed, wherein the computation identifies and accounts for at least one airborne segment. The computed overall trajectory, the starting direction, and the initial velocity of the ball are provided.