METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR GOLF TRAINING

Abstract

Method for playing golf comprising acquiring a striking position of a golfer; acquiring flag information of a golf flag, which flag information comprises a flag position of the golf flag and information relating to a hole belonging to the golf flag; acquiring an acceleration of the golfer or of a golf club; outputting an associated striking time when a magnitude of the acquired acceleration lies above a predetermined threshold value; acquiring the surroundings of the golf flag upon receiving the striking time; checking the arrival of a golf ball in the surroundings and determining and outputting an assessment, in particular a point value, on the basis of the flag information, the striking position and the determined location using a to stored assessment system.

Claims

1. A method for playing golf comprising the following steps: acquiring a striking position of a golfer acquiring flag information of a golf flag, comprising a flag position of the golf flag and information relating to a hole belonging to the golf flag; acquiring an acceleration of the golfer or a golf club; outputting an associated striking time when a magnitude of the detected acceleration is above a predetermined threshold value; acquiring the surroundings of the golf flag upon receiving the striking time; checking for the arrival of a golf ball in the surrounding area; if a golf ball is detected in the area surrounding the golf flag: locating the golf ball; determining and outputting a position of the golf ball relative to the golf flag after it reaches a rest position; making and outputting an assessment, in particular a point value, based on the flag information, the striking position, and the determined location using a stored assessment system.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the following steps: whenever a further acceleration is detected, the magnitude of which is above the predetermined threshold value, determining and outputting a current striking position and a further striking time; wherein the number of further striking times and/or the current striking positions are considered when making the assessment.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the following steps: detecting a vibration of a container attached to the flag position for receiving golf balls outputting a hole-out signal which indicates the hole-out of a golf ball when a vibration is detected, the magnitude of which exceeds a predetermined vibration threshold value in terms of its amount.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the number of further striking times up to the hole-out are considered when making the assessment.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the striking position and/or the current striking position comprises a location information and an orientation information.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the following steps: determining and outputting a probable corridor for a movement of the golf ball and a time window for the arrival of the golf ball in the vicinity of the golf flag based on the striking position together with the striking time, with a speed of the golf ball determined based on the acceleration of the golfer or golf club and/or with the flag position of the golf flag, or based on the current striking position together with the further striking time, with the speed of the golf ball and/or with the known flag position.

7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising the following step: aligning an optical sensor arranged at the golf flag for acquiring the surroundings in accordance with the probable corridor and the time window.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the flag information of the golf flag includes at least one of the following information: information about the soil condition in the vicinity of the flag, elevation information, degree of difficulty of an associated hole, weather parameters, gradient information.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the following steps: acquiring a type of club used in each case; incorporating the type of club used when making the assessment.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the following step: establishing and outputting a player ranking based on assessments obtained.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the assessment is output to the golfer's mobile device.

12. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the following steps: taking a picture of the surroundings of the golf flag displaying the image of the surroundings, in particular after a golf ball has been located in the surroundings, on a mobile device of the golfer.

13. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the following step: in a multi-player mode, outputting the flag information, the striking position, the detected location, the current striking positions, and the number of striking times as well as the assessment of each golfer to the devices of additional golfers.

14. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the following steps: establishing a golf task based on the acquired flag information as well as stored assessments of the golfer already obtained, and outputting the golf task to a mobile device; and/or establishing at least one game improvement suggestion based on the flag information, the striking position, the striking time, the current striking positions, the further striking times of the detected location, the assessment and/or stored assessments already obtained, and outputting the game improvement suggestion to a mobile device.

15. The method according to claim 14, further comprising the following steps: in a multi-player mode, determining a fellow player based on stored assessments of golfers obtained; outputting the golf task to the devices of at least two golfers.

16. A system for golf training, comprising: a position sensor which is designed to acquire and output a striking position of a golfer; an acceleration sensor which is designed to acquire and output an acceleration of the golfer or a golf club; a first evaluation unit which is designed to determine a magnitude of acceleration based on the acquired acceleration and to compare it with a predetermined threshold value and, if the magnitude of the acquired acceleration is above the predetermined threshold value in terms of its amount, to output the striking position of the golfer and an associated striking time; a flag sensor which is arranged on or in the immediate vicinity of a golf flag and designed, in response to receiving a striking time, to acquire the surroundings of the golf flag; to check the surroundings for the arrival of a golf ball and, when a golf ball is detected, to locate it in the surroundings of the golf flag; to determine whether the golf ball has reached a rest position and, after the rest position has been detected, to determine and output a position of the golf ball relative to the golf flag; a second evaluation unit, which is designed to receive the striking position and the detected location, and to make and output an assessment based on a flag information of the golf flag, comprising a flag position of the golf flag and information about a hole belonging to the golf flag, the striking position and the determined location using a stored assessment system.

17. A system for golf training according to claim 16, further comprising a vibration sensor which is attached to a container for receiving golf balls that is attached to the flag position and designed to detect a vibration of the container.

18. A system for golf training according to claim 16, further comprising a sensor for identifying golf clubs, in particular an RFID sensor, more particularly an NFC sensor.

19. A system for golf training according to claim 16, in which the second evaluation unit is further designed to establish a golf task based on the acquired flag information as well as stored assessments of the golfer already obtained, and to output the golf task to a mobile device; and/or to establish at least one game improvement suggestion based on the flag information, the striking position, the striking time, the current striking positions, the further striking times of the determined location, the assessment and/or stored assessments already obtained, and to output it to a mobile device.

20. A system for golf training according to claim 16, in which the second evaluation unit is designed in the form of a computer program product.

Description

[0069] In the following, further exemplary embodiments will be described based on the drawing. It shows the following:

[0070] FIG. 1 A schematic representation of an exemplary embodiment of a system for golf training.

[0071] In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the system 100 for golf training comprises a position sensor 110. The position sensor 110 is designed to detect and output a striking position of a golfer. In the embodiment shown, the position sensor comprises both a GPS sensor and a gyroscope so that the position sensor can output a striking position and/or the current striking position, which includes location information and orientation information. In addition, the system 100 comprises an acceleration sensor 120, which is designed to acquire and output an acceleration of the golfer. The position sensor 110 and the acceleration sensor 120 are arranged in a common housing 105 here, which is worn on the body of the golfer. The housing can be attached to a golfer's belt, for example by means of a clip.

[0072] In the embodiment shown, a first evaluation unit 130a and a second evaluation unit 130b are implemented as a common evaluation unit 130, which is stored on a server as a computer program product. In alternative embodiments, one of the evaluation units is stored on a mobile device and the other is stored on a server, or both on the mobile device. The first evaluation unit 130a is designed to determine a magnitude of acceleration based on the acquired acceleration and to compare it with a predetermined threshold value and, if the magnitude of the acquired acceleration is above the predetermined threshold value in terms of its amount, to output the striking position of the golfer and an associated striking time. The information is output to a flag sensor 140 that is arranged on a golf flag 141 in this case. Upon receipt of the striking time, the flag sensor 140, which can be designed as a camera, for example, acquires a surrounding area 142 of the golf flag 141 and checks it for the arrival of a golf ball 150; if it detects a golf ball 150, it locates it in the area surrounding the golf flag. Furthermore, the flag sensor 140 is designed to determine whether the golf ball 150 has reached a rest position and, after the rest position has been determined, to identify and output a location of the golf ball relative to the golf flag; The second evaluation unit 130b is designed to receive the striking position and the identified location, and to make and output an assessment based on a flag information of the golf flag 141, comprising a flag position of the golf flag and information about a hole belonging to the golf flag, the striking position, and the identified location using a stored assessment system. Whenever the acceleration sensor 120 detects a further acceleration, the magnitude of which is above the predetermined threshold value, a current striking position and a further striking time are output. This information is also incorporated into the assessment so that a number of strokes up to the hole-out can be considered. In the embodiment shown, the hole-out itself is detected by a vibration sensor 160, which is attached to a container for receiving golf balls that is attached to the flag position, here at hole 161, and that is designed to detect a vibration of the container. The assessment is preferably output to a mobile device of the golfer, to which mobile device images of the surroundings, the flag information, the striking position, the striking time, the current striking positions, the further striking times and/or the identified location are preferably also output in addition to the assessment. In the embodiment shown, the second evaluation unit 130b is further designed to establish a golf task based on the acquired flag information as well as stored assessments of the golfer already obtained, and to output this golf task to a mobile device. Alternatively, or additionally, it can determine at least one game improvement suggestion based on the flag information, the striking position, the striking time, the current striking positions, the further striking times of the identified location, the assessment and/or stored assessments already obtained, and to output it to the mobile device of the golfer. This way the golfer is given specific exercises or suggestions for improvement based on his/her previous strokes or game results in order to optimize his/her training.

[0073] In addition, the system can also be equipped for a multi-player mode. In this mode, the second evaluation unit 130b also outputs flag information, striking position, identified location, current striking positions and the number of striking times as well as the assessment of each golfer to devices of additional golfers, who can then use this information to compare themselves with one another. In addition, in the multi-player mode, the second evaluation unit can be designed to determine at least one fellow player for the golfer based on the stored assessments of golfers obtained, and to output a golf task to the devices of the golfer and the at least one fellow player. Golfers can use this information to compete in direct comparison.