Selection of a sports club, racket or bat using ground pressure forces applied by the player in a stroke

Abstract

A method for selecting a most suitable golf club from a set, where the shafts of the set are of different levels of flexibility along the shaft, includes using a pressure sensing mat upon which the player places both feet while carrying out a sample swing to measure forces applied by feet of the player during the stroke. The pressure sensing mat provides output signals indicative of vertical forces, lateral forces, both heel to toe and side to side, lateral speed, both heel to toe and side to side applied by the feet of the player during the swing and a processor operating on the signals selects certain ones of the output signals to calculate a load factor from the selected signals which is used to select one of the set most suitable for use by the player using a color coding system applied to the load factor.

Claims

1. An apparatus for use in a sporting activity where a game element is impacted by a manually operable impact element swung by a player, the apparatus comprising: a set of the manually operable impact elements for striking the game element in an impact during a swing or stroke; each of the set of manually operable impact elements having a shaft or body which flexes throughout the swing or stroke, prior to and post impact; each one of the set of manually operable impact elements having a shaft or body which flexes throughout the swing or stroke differently from others of the set; a pressure sensing mat or plate upon which the player places both feet while carrying out a sample swing or stroke; the pressure sensing mat or plate measuring forces applied by both feet of the player during the swing or stroke and generating output signals dependent on the measured forces; and a processor for calculating a selected one of the set most suitable for use by the player depending on the output signals; wherein each manually operable impact element of the set is provided with a visually distinguishable code or combination of codes so as to distinguish from said other manually operable impact elements of the set; and wherein the processor is arranged to provide an output indicative of the code or combination of codes for the selected one of the set most suitable for use by the player depending on the output signals.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the pressure sensing mat or plate provides output signals indicative of vertical forces, lateral forces, both heel to toe and side to side and lateral speed applied by the feet of the player during the swing or stroke.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the processor uses an algorithm which uses a combination of selected ones of the output signals for calculating a selected one of the set most suitable for use by the player.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the processor uses an algorithm which uses a combination of selected ones of the output signals to determine a load factor applied on a shaft or body during the swing or stroke for use in calculating a selected one of the set most suitable for use by the player.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the processor uses an algorithm which uses a combination of the following output signals for calculating a selected one of the set most suitable for use by the player; Total mass applied to the mat by the player during the swing or stroke; Horizontal forces in one or more directions; Horizontal speed; Vertical forces.

6. The apparatus according to claim 5 wherein the algorithm uses a combination of some or all of the output signals at impact to determine the overall load applied on a shaft or body during the swing or stroke.

7. The apparatus according to claim 5 wherein the algorithm uses a combination of some or all of the output signals to calculate a load factor value associated with the player and the swing or stroke of the player.

8. The apparatus according to claim 5 wherein the algorithm uses the load factor value to select said one of the set most suitable for use by the player.

9. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the mat generates an output related to a transition of the weight of the player from one foot to the other during the swing or stroke.

10. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the mat generates an output related to movement of a center of pressure applied by the feet of the player to the mat during the swing or stroke.

11. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein each of the set of manually operable impact elements has a shaft or body which contains sections along its length with different levels of flexibility between the sections.

12. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein each of the set of manually operable impact elements has a shaft or body which contains sections along its length with different levels of flexibility between the sections and wherein the sections of each manually operable impact element of the set are different from the sections of others of the set.

13. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the visually distinguishable code or combination of codes comprise a set of different colors.

14. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the manually operable impact elements are golf clubs, baseball bats, rackets for a racket sport, hockey sticks or cricket bats.

15. A method for selecting a most suitable manually operable impact element of a set of the manually operable impact elements for use by a player for use in a sporting activity where a game element is impacted by the manually operable impact element swung by a player, where the set includes a plurality of the manually operable impact elements for striking the game element in an impact during a swing or stroke, where each of the manually operable impact elements has a shaft or body which flexes throughout the swing or stroke, prior to and post impact, where each one of the set of manually operable impact elements has a shaft or body which flexes differently from others of the set and wherein each manually operable impact element of the set is provided with a visually distinguishable code or combination of codes so as to distinguish each one of the set which flexes differently from other elements of the set; the method comprising: using a pressure sensing mat or plate upon which the player places both feet while carrying out a sample swing or stroke to measure forces applied by both feet of the player during the swing or stroke; the pressure sensing mat or plate providing output signals indicative of vertical forces, lateral forces, both heel to toe and side to side, lateral speed applied by the feet of the player during the swing or stroke; selecting certain ones of the output signals to calculate a load factor from the selected signals; and using the load factor to select one of the set most suitable for use by the player and to provide an output indicative of the code or combination of codes for the selected one of the set most suitable for use by the player.

16. The method according to claim 15 wherein the processor uses an algorithm which uses a combination of the following signals for determining the load factor: Total mass applied to the mat by the player during the swing or stroke; Horizontal force; Horizontal speed; Vertical forces at impact.

17. The method according to claim 15 wherein the visually distinguishable code or combination of codes comprise a set of different colors.

18. The method according to claim 15 wherein the manually operable impact elements are golf clubs, baseball bats, rackets for a racket sport, hockey sticks or cricket bats.

19. A method for selecting a most suitable manually operable impact element of a set of manually operable impact elements for use by a player for use in a sporting activity where a game element is impacted by the manually operable impact element swung by a player, where the set includes a plurality of the manually operable impact elements for striking the game element in an impact during a swing or stroke, where each of the manually operable impact elements has a shaft or body which flexes throughout the swing, prior to and post impact where each one of the set of manually operable elements has a shaft or body which flexes differently from others of the set and wherein each element of the set is provided with a visually distinguishable code or combination of codes so as to distinguish each one of the set which flexes differently from the other elements of the set; the method comprising: using a pressure sensing mat or plate upon which the player places both feet while carrying out a sample swing or stroke to measure forces applied by both feet of the player during the swing or stroke; the pressure sensing mat or plate measuring forces applied by both feet of the player during the stroke and generating output signals dependent on the measured forces; and using the output signals to select one of the set most suitable for use by the player and to provide an output indicative of the code or combination of codes for the selected one of the set most suitable for use by the player.

20. The method according to claim 19 wherein the visually distinguishable code or combination of codes comprise a set of different colors.

21. The method according to claim 19 wherein the manually operable impact elements are golf clubs, baseball bats, rackets for a racket sport, hockey sticks or cricket bats.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) One embodiment of the invention will now be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of the system according to the present invention.

(3) FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of the display of the apparatus of FIG. 1.

(4) FIG. 3 is an illustration of one club or bat of the set to be selected.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(5) The apparatus for use in a sporting activity includes a game element (not shown) which is impacted by an impact element or club or bat 10 swung by a player. The set of clubs or bats is shown in FIG. 3 where a single one is shown. The clubs or bats are arranged for striking the game element in an impact and include a handle end 11 and a striking end or club head 12.

(6) Each of the clubs has a shaft or body 13 which flexes throughout the swing, prior to and post impact and includes a set of sections 13A, 13B, 13C and 13D which are arranged to have different flexibility profiles and selected so that the flexibility profile of each shaft of the set is different from each of the others. In this way each club and its associated shaft has a characteristic flexibility profile suitable for a player having a characteristic load factor during the swing.

(7) A pressure sensing mat 14 is provided upon which the player places both feet 15 while carrying out a sample swing or stroke. The pressure sensing mat includes a sensor array of the type referenced above measuring forces applied by both feet of the player during the swing or stroke and generating raw data signals from the sensors dependent on the measured forces to a control and analysis processor 16. The processor 16 uses those raw force data signals to calculate output signals indicative of vertical forces, lateral forces, both heel to toe and side to side, lateral speed, both heel to toe and side to side applied by the feet of the player during the swing or stroke.

(8) The output signals of the above parameters are supplied to a processor 18 for calculating a selected club 10 of the set most suitable for use by the player depending on the output signals.

(9) That is, the processor 18 uses an algorithm which uses a combination of selected ones of the output signals for calculating load factor applied to the club or shaft by the player during the stroke and thus a selected one of the set most suitable for use by the player.

(10) As shown in FIG. 2, a display of the output from the processor 18 is made available to the player at an output display 19. This shows the calculated load factor at the left of a column 19A and shows color codes associated with different load factors at 19B. thus a player after the trial swing or swings is given information relating to the load factor as calculated from the algorithm using the selected ones of the output signals and to the color code associated with that load factor. These color codes are applied to a suitable location on the club 10 so that the player can take the selected club according to the color code.

(11) The selected output signals can use the following: Total mass applied to the mat by the player during the swing Horizontal force Horizontal speed; Vertical forces at impact

(12) Also the output signals from the mat are used for measuring performance benefits of variable shoe design, the selection of proper shaft grip, glove, etc.

(13) Since various modifications can be made in my invention as herein above described, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same made within the spirit and scope of the claims without department from such spirit and scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.