Baseball practice bat

Abstract

A baseball practice bat has a movable handle portion disposed around a shaft between the barrel portion of the bat and the knob at the other end of the bat to provide sensual, visual, audible or electronic feedback to a practice hitter or coach as to proper hand and arm position while hitting a ball based on temporal feedback from the motion of the movable handle.

1 . A baseball practice bat, comprising: 
 a) a shaft having a first end and a second end,    b) a knob disposed at the first end of said shaft,    c) a barrel disposed at the second end of said shaft,    d) a movable handle located around said shaft between said barrel and said knob,    e) said movable handle configured to translate along said shaft to provide indication of a correct baseball swing,    f) wherein the motion of the movable handle toward the knob is sensed during the execution of a swing.    
     
     
         2 . The baseball practice bat of  claim 1  wherein the barrel is tapered in thickness in the direction of said knob.  
     
     
         3 . The baseball practice bat of  claim 2  further comprising a first stop disposed around at least a portion of said shaft disposed to limit translation of the movable handle between the tapered portion of said barrel and said knob.  
     
     
         4 . The baseball practice bat of  claim 1  further comprising a grip stop disposed around at least a portion of said shaft disposed to limit translation of the movable handle between said barrel and said grip stop.  
     
     
         5 . The baseball practice bat of  claim 1  further comprising a fixed grip disposed around at least a portion of said shaft adjacent said knob to limit translation of the movable handle between said barrel and said fixed grip.  
     
     
         6 . The baseball practice bat of  claim 1 , further comprising a switch responsive to movement of the movable handle toward said knob.  
     
     
         7 . The baseball practice bat of  claim 6 , wherein said switch activates an audible alarm.  
     
     
         8 . The baseball practice bat of  claim 6 , wherein said switch activates a vibratory alarm.  
     
     
         9 . The baseball practice bat of  claim 6 , wherein said switch activates a camera.  
     
     
         10 . The baseball practice bat of  claim 6 , wherein said switch triggers the transmission and storage of a signal corresponding to the timing of the one or more of the events selected from the group consisting of the contact of the ball with the bat, the contact of the movable handle with a fixed stop or handle, the rotation of the movable handle about the axis of the bat.  
     
     
         11 . The baseball practice bat of  claim 6 , wherein said switch triggers one or more cameras or video recording devices for collecting an image of the hitter according the occurrence of an event selected from the group consisting of the contact of the ball with the bat, the contact of the movable handle with a fixed stop or handle, the rotation of the movable handle about the axis of the bat.  
     
     
         12 . A kit for adapting a baseball bat to a practice bat, the kit comprising: 
 a) a movable handle assembly.    
     
     
         13 . The kit of  claim 9  further comprising a stop assembly or fixed grip assembly,  
     
     
         14 . The kit of  claim 9  further comprising a switch for connecting to an alarm circuit for producing an audible, vibratory or electronic signal indicating the movement of said movable handle toward said knob.  
     
     
         15 . The kit of  claim 11  further comprising a switch for connecting to an alarm circuit for producing an audible, vibratory or electronic signal indicating the contact of the barrel portion of said bat with a baseball for temporal comparison with the movement of said movable handle toward said knob.  
     
     
         16 . The kit of  claim 11  further comprising a switch for triggering a camera to record one or more images upon the activation of one or more switches disposed in the bat.  
     
     
         17 . The kit of  claim 11  further comprising headphones for connecting to an electronic component disposed in the handle of set bat and producing an audible signal indicating movement of said movable handle toward said knob.