REBOUDING SPORT TRAINING DEVICE

Abstract

The invention pertains to a sport training device to be mounted between a first vertical support and a second vertical support. The sport training device has a rebounding surface, preferably a net that is mounted at a predetermined location between the vertical supports. Mounting is facilitated by attachment means coupled at one end to the net and at the other to the vertical supports. The invention is preferably used in the sport of soccer where the vertical supports are the uprights of a soccer goal. This training device is particularly advantageous as it does not include mounting to the upper crossbar of the soccer net. It is easily mounted to the uprights and is configured for easy removal therefrom. In use, a user would kick a ball at the sport training device and the rebounding surface would absorb part of the impact and return the ball at a reduced speed compared to the impact speed.

Claims

1. A sport training device comprising; at least one rebounding surface; at least two attachment means coupled to said at least one rebounding surface, said at least two attachment means configured to allow the at least one rebounding surface to be realisably secured at a predetermined location between a first vertical support and a second vertical support.

2. The sport training device of claim 1 wherein the rebounding surface is made from a material selected such that it deforms to absorb at least part of the impact of an object striking said rebounding surface and rebound the object away from the rebounding surface at a reduced speed compared to the impact speed.

3. The sport training device of claim 2 wherein the rebounding surface is a net.

4. The sport training device of any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein at least one of the at least two attachment means is provided with a means to increase tension on the attachment means to maintain the rebounding surface in the predetermined location between said first vertical support and said second vertical support with a tension sufficient to rebound an object striking the rebounding surface.

5. The sport training device of any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein each of said at least two attachment means is individually adjustable in length.

6. The sport training device of any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the at least one rebounding surface has four sides and four corners and four attachment means; each of said four attachment means is coupled to one of the four corners of said rebounding surface.

7. The sport training device of any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein at least two of the attachment are provided with a means to positively grip a vertical support such that the attachment means will not slide up or down the vertical support.

8. The sport training device of any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the at least one rebounding surface comprises a first rebounding surface and a second rebounding surface; wherein the first rebounding surface is coupled to the first vertical support and the second rebounding surface is coupled to the second vertical support and at least one intermediary attachment means is coupled to, and located between said first rebounding surface and said second rebounding surface.

9. The sport training device of claim 8 wherein said at least one intermediary attachment means is provided with a tensioning device to increase tension of said intermediary attachment means.

10. The sport training device of claim 9 wherein the first rebounding surface has a top side, a bottom side, first side and a second side and said second rebounding surface has a top side, a bottom side, a first side and a second side; and said at least one intermediary attachment means includes a first intermediary attachment means and a second intermediary attachment means; said first intermediary attachment means is coupled at a first end thereof to the top side of said first rebounding surface and at a second end thereof to said top side of said second rebounding surface and said second intermediary attachment means coupled at a first end thereof to the bottom side of said first rebounding surface and at a second end thereof to said bottom side of said second rebounding surface.

11. The sport training device of claim 10 wherein said first rebounding surface is coupled to two attachment means on said first side and to said first intermediary attachment means on said second side; said second rebounding surface is coupled to two attachment means on said second side and to said first intermediary attachment means and said second intermediary attachment means on said first side.

12. The sport training device of claim 11 wherein at least two of said attachment means are provided with a means to positively grip a vertical support such that the attachment means will not slide up or down the vertical support.

13. The sport training device of any one of claims 1 to 13 further comprising targets coupled to said at least one rebounding surface.

14. The sport training device of claim 13 wherein said targets are releasably coupled to said at least one rebounding surface.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] Preferred embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawings, wherein:

[0022] FIG. 1 is a user kicking a ball at a practice device of the present invention;

[0023] FIG. 2 is a front view of the practice device of the present invention attached to soccer goal post;

[0024] FIG. 3 is a close-up view of the means for attachment means;

[0025] FIG. 4 is a view of an attachment strap to attach the practice device to a vertical support:

[0026] FIG. 5A shows a strap hook used to attach an attachment means to a vertical support;

[0027] FIG. 5B is an alternative hook to attach the attachment means to a vertical support;

[0028] FIG. 6 is a front view of a practice apparatus having two practice devices coupled to each other;

[0029] FIG. 7 is a close-up view for one means for attachment of the practice device vertical support;

[0030] FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the practice device mounted between two trees;

[0031] FIG. 9 is an illustration of a tree kit for the practice device;

[0032] FIG. 10 shows the practice device bundled for transportation or storage;

[0033] FIGS. 11 shows a partial view of the practice device having targets attached thereto;

[0034] FIG. 12 is a detailed view of the target.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0035] A preferred embodiment of the sport training device of the present invention is illustrated in the figures generally indicated by the numeral 10. The embodiment illustrated in the figures is designed to practice soccer, however, other embodiments will be apparent to those of skill in the art as explained herein below.

[0036] As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the sport training device 10 comprises a rebounding surface, preferably made of netting material 12, to rebound a ball 2 kicked at the device as will be explained herein below. The netting material is attached to the uprights 14 and 15 of a soccer goal 16 by a plurality of attachment means 18, 20, 22 and 24 as will be described herein below. The uprights are one example of a vertical support to which the sport training device could be mounted, however other examples of vertical supports include but are not limited to, trees, poles, fence posts or hooks on a vertical surface such as an eyehook secured to a fence.

[0037] The netting material 12 is an open mesh net where the openings of the netting material are sized to arrest the movement of the ball utilized in the sport for which the sport training device 10 is designed. The open mesh net is contained within a perimeter of webbing or strapping 26 to which the open mesh net is attached. At each of the corners of the netting material 12, a means for attaching the attachment means are provided. These means for attaching the attachment means may be any such means as are known in the art such as grommets, loops etc., attached to the netting material 12 which allows the attachment means 18, 20, 22 and 24 to be releasably connected thereto. Preferably, as shown in the embodiment illustrated in the figures, this means for attachment of the attachment means is strapping 28 attached to the perimeter strapping 26 of the netting material 12 and having a closed loop 30 for attachment of the attachment means 18, 20, 22 and 24. In an alternative embodiment, the attachment means are permanently attached to the netting.

[0038] The details of the attachment means 18, 20, 22 and 24 are illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 5. In the preferred embodiment, attachment means 18 and 20 are substantially the same and will be described together. Similarly, attachment means 22 and 24 are substantially the same and will be described together. Each of the attachment means 18 and 20 are provided with a first strap 32 and each of attachment means 22 and 24 are provided with a second strap 34. Each of the straps 32 and 34 are provided with a means for releasably attaching the strap 32 or 34 to the netting material 12 at a first end and means for releasably attaching the strap 32 or 34 to a vertical support such as the upright 14 or 15 of the soccer goal 16 at a second end. The ends of the straps 32 and 34 to be attached to the netting material 12 are provided with closed loops. The closed loops may be permanent closed loops such as 38 shown in the figures or they may be an adjustable loop. The permanent loops 38 are formed by folding the end of the strap 34 back onto itself and sewing it to the strap to provide the closed loop 38. Adjustable loops are formed by utilizing a slide or tension block to join the end of the strap to the rest of the strap to form the adjustable closed loop. Once the proper position for the adjustable loop is found, then the free end of the strap may be gathered and secured by elastic to aid in preventing the end of the strap from sliding back through the slide or tension block when the attachment means 18, 20, 22 and 24 is under tension and to keep any excess strap out of the way during use.

[0039] In order to attach the attachment means 18, 20, 22 and 24 to the netting 12, a connector 33 is used to connect the closed loop 30 of the means for attachment of the attachment means 28 to the closed loop 38 of the attachment means 18, 20, 22 and 24. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the connector is preferably a removable loop such as a carabiner or maillon.

[0040] The ends of the straps 32 of an attachment means 18 and 20 to be attached to the upright 15 of the soccer goal 16 are provided with a means for releasably attaching the end of the strap 32 to the upright 15. The means for releasably attaching the end of the strap 32 may be directly attached to the strap 32 to allow the end of the strap 32 to encircle the upright 15 and be attached back onto itself or may be provided on a separate strap coupled to the strap 32 as will be described below. The attachment means for attaching the end of the strap back onto itself may be any of those means which are commonly known in the art, such as a buckle or a hook connection which is attached to the strap as will be described below.

[0041] Preferably, the attachment means for attaching the end of the strap 32 is a separate strap arrangement 41, shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, which releasably encircles the upright 15. The strap arrangement 41 is provided at one portion with a loop 35 which is releasably coupled to strap 32 by a feeding strap 32 through D-ring 37. Strap 32 is fed through tension block 40 and the excess strap 32 is gathered and held in place by any suitable method. FIG. 2 shows an elastic arrangement 42 which is attached directly to the strap 32. In a preferred embodiment, the strapping 43 as shown in FIG. 4, which is stitched to strap arrangement 41 to provide loop 35, is stitched on the inside surface 45 of the strap arrangement 41. The strap arrangement 41 is provided with a buckle 46 having a male part 48 which releasably locks into a female part 50 as illustrated in particular in FIG. 4. One part of the buckle would be attached to the end of the strap arrangement 41 by, for example, sewing 52. The second part of the buckle would be adjustably attached opposite the end of the strap arrangement 41 a sufficient distance away from the end to allow the end of the strap arrangement 41 to encircle the upright 15 when the two parts of the buckle 46 are connected one to the other.

[0042] Another means for releasably attaching the end of the strap to an upright is shown in association with attachment means 22 and 24. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, this embodiment utilizes an S hook 54 with one of the loops 56 of the S is closed on strap 34. This loop 56 is attached to the end of the strap 34 for example by sewing 58. In order to attach the strap 34 to the upright 14 the end of the strap 34 encircles the upright 14 and the open loop 60 of the S hook 54 captures the strap 34 to allow it to connect to itself. The S-hook is provided with a gate 65 which closes the open loop 60 to prevent snagging or tangling with the net when the apparatus is not in use.

[0043] FIG. 5B shows an alternative to S-hook 54. This is a belt-style carabiner clip 200 having a slot 202 through which the strapping 34 is fed. The strapping 34 is then attached back onto itself via stitching 58. The opposite end of the belt-style carabiner clip 200 includes a loop portion to 204 and gate portion 206. The gate portion 206 is moveable such that it can open to allow loop portion 204 around the strap 34 and then close to secure it in place and prevent tangling during travel.

[0044] This arrangement of the means for releasably attaching the end of the strap 34 is of particular use where the strap 34 is provided with a way of easily adjusting the tension of the strap to allow for the mounting and dismounting of the sport training device 10 to the soccer goal 16. In the embodiment illustrated in particular in FIG. 2, the method of easily adjusting the tension utilizes a strap ratchet 62 which allows the user to operate the strap ratchet 62 to increase tension on the strap 32 or 34 to mount the sport training device 10 in the desired position and to the release the tension when it is desired to dismount the sport training device 10.

[0045] The sport training device 10 of the present invention is easily attached to the uprights 14 and 15 of the soccer goal 16 without requiring it to be attached to the crossbar of the soccer goal 16. This is achieved in part by the use of a means for adjusting the tension of the strap, which in the preferred embodiment, is the strap ratchet 62. In most cases, this would be sufficient to maintain the sport training device 10 in the proper position.

[0046] However, in order to further increase the ability of the sport training device to remain in the desired position, it is preferred if the inside surface of the end of the strap 32 or 34 which encircles the uprights 14 or 15 be provided with an anti-slip or high friction surface. In a preferred embodiment, this higher friction surface is provided by a web of rubberized material molded onto or applied to the interior surface of the end of the strap 32 or 34. In an alternative embodiment, the buckle 46 is provided with a high friction pad 51 on the inside thereof. In this embodiment, no friction treatment is applied to the strap. Other higher friction surface treatments will be apparent to those of skill in the art. In one embodiment, only the strap 41 around upright 15 is provided with a higher friction surface while strap 34 has none.

[0047] As illustrated in FIG. 10, the sport training device 10 of the present invention may be easily rolled up to allow it to be carried within a backpack or sport bag for transport to and from the practice area at which the sport training device 10 will be utilized. Although not necessary, auto winding devices could be utilized to wind the attachment means for transport.

[0048] The size of the netting 12 can vary, however, the preferred size ranges include 3 feet-8 feet high and 3 feet to 22 feet long. These sizes are particularly useful in the sport of soccer. Sizes of the preferred embodiments include 7 feet high by 10 feet long, 6 feet high by 12 feet long, 6 feet high by 6 feet long, 8 feet high by 20 feet long, 3 feet high by 6 feet long and 8 feet high by 2 feet long.

[0049] The sport training device 10 of the present invention is utilized by first extending the device 10 from the rolled-up position as illustrated in FIG. 10 to span the opening of the soccer goal 16. The straps 32 are then releasably attached to the uprights 15 by means of the buckle 46 or alternatively a hook. The straps 34 are then attached to the upright 14 by clipping the hook back onto the strapping 34. The tension on the lower straps 32 and 34 is then adjusted utilizing the strap ratchet 62 attached to the lower strap 34. The positioning and tension of the upper straps 32 and 34 is then adjusted utilizing the strap ratchet 62 of the upper strap 34.

[0050] The tension on the sport training device of the present invention may be adjusted through a combination of the positioning of the attachment means 18, 20, 22 and 24 on the uprights as well as the tension on the individual attachment means 18, 20, 22 and 24. By positioning the attachment means 18, 20, 22 and 24 closer to the center of the netting material 12 the tension on the netting material will be reduced. If it is desired to increase the tension, then the attachment means are moved to the edges of the netting material 12 or beyond. In particular, the upper attachment means 18 and 22 are moved upwardly on the upright above the upper edge of the netting material 12. In addition, the tension on the netting material may also be adjusted by the use of the strap ratchets 62 attached to the straps 34.

[0051] In another embodiment of the invention, the practice device 10 can be attached to alternative types of vertical supports. One such alternative vertical support would be a tree. The design of the current invention could be easily adapted to facilitate connection to a tree. As shown in FIG. 8, attachment means 34 are coupled to the tree 70 in the same manner in which they were coupled to the upright 14. That is, the S-hook 54 is looped around the tree and clipped back on the strap 34. The two attachment means 32 on the opposite end of the practice device 10 could be simply fastened to a tree in the fashion in which they were fastened to upright 15. However, in some instances, strap 41 would be too small to wrap around the entirety of the circumference of tree 72. In this case, a tree kit can be provided. The tree kit is shown in FIG. 9 and consists of a larger strap 74 having a buckle 76 with a male portion 75 and a female portion 77 which engage together. This tree strap 74 has additional length when compared to the embodiment for use with soccer uprights and can also be thicker to provide additional support and resistance to wear. One end of the buckle is attached to the strap by any suitable means, for example, stitching 78. The other end of the strap is adjustably coupled to second portion of the buckle. This strap 74 is adjusted to and clipped around the circumference of the tree. An extension strap 80 is provided. This extension strap includes a D-ring 82 attached at the end thereof. Any suitable attachment means can be used, however, in the example shown, stitching 84 is used to attach the D-ring to the extension strap 80. This extension strap is coupled to the strap 74 by any suitable means. One such means is shown in FIG. 9. The extension strap 80 is provided at the loop end thereof opposite the D-ring 82. This loop is fed around tree strap 74 and the D-ring end is slipped through the loop to provide a knot of the extension strap 80 on the tree strap 74 as shown in FIG. 9. The free end of the attachment means 80 is fed through the D-ring 82 and fed back through tension block 40 to couple the attachment means 20 to the tree kit. Similarly, attachment means 18 would have the same combination of elements as a means of attaching to the tree. Once both ends are coupled to the trees, ratchet 62 is used to tension the net between the trees. The tree kit strap 74 is larger and utilizes a wider strap as illustrated.

[0052] This particular feature allows a user the flexibility to use the practice device in areas which lack traditional vertical supports such as soccer net uprights.

[0053] In an alternative embodiment shown in FIG. 6, a sport training device 100 has two practice devices 102 and 104 which are coupled together. Practice devices 102 and 104 can be set up anywhere along the goal posts 116, however, in the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 6, practice devices 102 and 104 are located in the corners of the goal 116 adjacent upright 114 and 115, respectively. This is to enable players to practice shooting at the corners of the goal. Practice devices 102 and 104 are essentially the same set up and, thus, will be described together. Each practice device 102 and 104 have netting 112 which is bounded by a border 126. At each of the corners of the netting material 112, a means for attaching the attaching means 128 and maillon 130 are provided. These means for attaching the attaching means 128 may be any such means known in the arts such as grommets, loops, etc., attached to the netting material 112 which allows the attachment means 106, 107 and 108 to be releasably connected thereto. Preferably, as shown in the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6, this means for attachment for the attachment means is strapping 128 attached to the border 126 of the netting material 112 having a closed loop 130 for attachment of the attachment means 106, 107 or 108. In an alternative embodiment, the attachment means are permanently attached to the netting. The detail of the means for attaching the attachment means 128 are identical to that shown for the single net embodiment in FIG. 3.

[0054] The means of attachment 106 and 108 are identical and, thus, will be described together. Each attachment means 106 and 108 is primarily comprised of strapping 132. A first end of the strapping has a fixed loop 135 through which maillon 133 is fed. The opposite end of maillon 133 is coupled to loop 130 on means for attaching the attachment means 128. The loop 135 can be made in any known manner, however, in the preferred embodiment, the strapping 132 is stitched back onto itself to create loop 135. The strapping 132 runs from maillon 133 on the first practice training device 102 to a ratchet 162 and is fed through the ratchet's winding mechanism. A second length of strap 132A runs from maillon 137 to the ratchet 162 and is attached to a fixed point on ratchet 162. After ratchet 162 is used to add tension to the device, any excess strapping 150 (the loose end of 132) is gathered and maintained out of the way by bracket 142 which contains an elastic, or other means, for securing the excess strap 150. Maillon 137 is attached at the opposite end to loop 130 of the second practice device 104.

[0055] Practice devices 102 and 104 are attached to the uprights 114 and 115, respectively, via strap 141. Strap 141 is an example of a means for attaching the practice device adjacent the goal post. Any means known to a person skilled in the art could be used, however, in the preferred embodiment, strap 141 wraps around the goal post and attaches to itself via a connector in the form of a buckle 146. This strap releasably encircles the upright 114 or 115. The strap arrangement 141 is provided at one portion with a loop 135 which is releasably connected to maillon 139. This loop is made by stitching additional strapping 143 on the inside surface 145 of the strap 141. The strap arrangement 141 is provided with a buckle 146 having a male part 148 which releasably locks into female part 151 as illustrated in FIG. 7. One part of the buckle would be attached at the end of the strap arrangement 141 by, for example, sewing 152 and the second part of the buckle would be adjustably attached the end of the strap arrangement 141, a sufficient distance away from the end to allow the end of the strap arrangement 141 to encircle the upright 114 or 115 when the two parts of the buckle 146 are connected to each other. As with the embodiment having only one net, the inside of the strap 140 can be provided with a high friction surface known to a person skilled in the art. In the preferred embodiment, a high friction pad 152 is provided on the inside of the buckle.

[0056] When setting up a double practice device apparatus, a user would attach the end of each apparatus adjacent the goal post with strapping 141 and then would use ratchets 162 to tighten the targets and provide the desired tension therebetween.

[0057] The sport training device 10, or 100, of the present invention is then utilized by a user 68 as illustrated in FIG. 1. The user 68 propels the soccer ball 2 into the netting material by kicking the ball 2. Owing to the design of the netting material 12 the netting material 12 absorbs some of the energy of the ball 2 by being displaced to the rear by the forward energy of the ball 2 and then when the netting material 12 returns to the resting position, the ball 2 is projected back to the user 68 at a reduced velocity. This allows the user 68 to easily stop the travel of the returned ball 2 and once again project the ball 2 into the netting material 12.

[0058] In a preferred embodiment, shown in FIG. 2, a band of strapping 90 is provided upward of the bottom end 92 of the practice device 10 or 100. The position of the strapping can vary, however, a preferred height of 4 inches to 9 inches from the ground is preferred. It is preferred as this height has been found efficient in rebounding a soccer ball kicked along the ground. The strapping is beneficial in stopping the soccer ball from being rebounded upward after a ball is kicked at the net with force along the ground. This strapping 90 can be applied to any of the embodiments disclosed above. In an alternative embodiment, two additional attachment means are coupled to opposite sides of the net at the level of this strapping to provide additional support.

[0059] In order to increase the use of the sport training device 10 of the present invention in skill development of the user 68, it may be desired to provide targets 94 as illustrated in FIG. 11 which may be either permanently attached to the netting material 12 or as illustrated in FIG. 11, they may be provided with a means for releasably attaching the target 94 to the desired location on the netting material 12. As illustrated in FIG. 15 such a means may include a clip 96 to clip over the strands 98 of the netting material 12.

[0060] The targets 94 can be of any shape or size, however, as shown in FIG. 11, the preferred shape is a square. Each corner of the target is provided with a means for releasably attaching the target to the net or rebounding surface. One preferred means of attachment are small carabiner type clips. Other possible means include, but are not limited to, clips, hooks, mallions and ties. The targets are preferably made of a soft, lightweight material and can be provided with logos or designs to provide different aesthetic looks. Although the targets as shown as square, rectangle, triangle, circle or other shape targets are possible.

[0061] Although preferred designs for means of attachment have been described above, other alternative means include but are not limited to, y-shaped straps on either side of the rebounding surface or straps with hooks to be attached to chain-link fencing or eyehooks in the practice environment.

[0062] The sport training device 10 or 100 of the present invention allows for easy and quick attachment and release from the soccer goal 16 or other vertical supports. The sport training device 10 does not require any attachment to the crossbar of the soccer goal, thus making the installation and removal of the sport training device much easier. This is accomplished in part by the use of the means for adjusting the tension of the attachment straps, for example the strap ratchet, illustrated in the preferred embodiment by which the tension of the straps of the attachment means may be adjusted to maintain the sport practice device in the desired position. The use of the higher friction or anti-slip means on the inside of the strap also aids in maintaining the positioning of the sport training device of the present invention.

[0063] The use of the adjustable connectors of the straps of the attachment means as described above allows the netting material of the sport practice device of the present invention to be adjusted to cover a specific area of the goal into which the user desires to practice projecting the ball. In addition, the attachment means of the sport practice device of the present invention is preferably a bright color such as fluorescent yellow to make the strapping stand out so that a user can readily determine where the strapping is located for safety reasons to decrease the possibility of the user running into the strapping.

[0064] The sport training device of the present invention also utilizes smaller modular nets. The use of the smaller modular nets allows more focused practicing of the sport utilizing the sport training device. In addition, the smaller modular nets may be easily daisy chained together to increase the size of the opening of the soccer goal which is covered by the sport training device. The small size net is also beneficial when working with younger players as it can used to provide a reduced goal size in training or in games.

[0065] The netting material of the sport training device of the present invention is preferably selected to rebound the ball at a lower speed than that at which the ball is projected into the netting material. One advantage of such a design is that the netting material can withstand the impact of the ball over a longer period of time thus providing an increased life to the sport practice device.

[0066] The sport training device of the present invention, as described above, has been specifically designed and described for attachment to uprights of a soccer goal. Owing to the use of the separate strap arrangement and the adjustability of the attachment means, as described above, the sport training device may be utilized anywhere where there are two uprights which are generally perpendicular to the ground. For example, the sport training device of the present invention may be attached to two adjacent trees to allow the user to practice the sport without the requirement of the specific goal. In addition, the use of the separate strap arrangement 41 or 74, in the case of the tree kit, allows the portions of the sport training device 10 being most susceptible to wear upon extended use, namely the means of attaching the strap 32 or 34 to the vertical support to be easily replaced.

[0067] The preferred embodiment of the sport training device as described above has been designed for use in practicing soccer. It will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, however, that the sport training device may be easily modified for use in other sports in which a ball or other playing apparatus is projected by throwing, kicking or the use of an apparatus such as a stick, bat or club. Thus, the sport training device may be easily adapted for practicing other sports such as hockey, baseball, golf, etc.

[0068] While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described herein in detail, it will be appreciated by those of skill in the art that variations may be made thereto without departing from the invention.