Tennis training system and method for simulating a real tennis match

Abstract

Programmable robotic ball shooting machines, linked by cable or wireless signal communication, are positioned on one side of a tennis court and are structured for firing tennis balls to predetermined locations on the opposite side of the court in accordance with a preprogrammed shot sequence. A remote control communicates with the ball shooting machines and is operable to selectively control the firing of each shot from any of the machines at a time and from a direction which is directly responsive to a tennis shot made by a practicing player on the opposite side of the court. Immediately following the firing of each shot, all ball shooting machines advance in preparation for firing the next shot in the programmed sequence at a predetermined speed, spin and height particular to each ball shooting machine position, thereby controlling the depth and location of each fired shot in order to hit the predetermined location. The system allows for continuous play, simulating a real tennis match, without breaking the rhythm and timing of the practicing tennis player.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A tennis training system for simulating a real tennis match on a tennis court for one or more practicing players, said system comprising: 
 a plurality of programmable robotic ball shooting machines positioned at predetermined locations on one side of the tennis court, said plurality of ball shooting machines each being structured and disposed for firing tennis balls, on demand, to predetermined locations on the opposite side of the tennis court in accordance with a preprogrammed shot sequence;    a remote control structured and disposed for delivering signals to said plurality of ball shooting machines for selectively controlling the firing of each shot in the preprogrammed shot sequence at a time which is directly responsive to a tennis shot made by the practicing player on the opposite side of the court.    
     
     
         2 . The system as recited in  claim 1  wherein each of said plurality of ball shooting machines is structured and disposed to fire each tennis ball in the preprogrammed shot sequence at a predetermined controlled spin, speed and height.  
     
     
         3 . The system as recited in  claim 2  further comprising a conductor connecting between said remote control and at least one of said plurality of ball shooting machines for delivering said signals from said remote control to said plurality of ball shooting machines.  
     
     
         4 . The system as recited in  claim 2  wherein said signals are delivered from said remote control to said at least one ball shooting machine by wireless communication.  
     
     
         5 . The system as recited in  claim 4  wherein said signals are radio signals.  
     
     
         6 . The system as recited in  claim 4  wherein said signals are infrared signals.  
     
     
         7 . A tennis training system for simulating a real tennis match on a tennis court for one or more practicing players, said system comprising: 
 a plurality of programmable robotic ball shooting machines positioned at predetermined locations on one side of the tennis court, opposite to the practicing player, each of said plurality of ball shooting machines being structured and disposed for firing tennis balls, on demand, to predetermined locations on the opposite side of the tennis court in accordance with a preprogrammed shot sequence; and    a remote control structured and disposed for delivering signals to at least one of said plurality of ball shooting machines for selectively controlling the firing of each shot in the preprogrammed shot sequence from any one of the plurality of ball shooting machines at a time which is directly responsive to a tennis shot made by the practicing player on the opposite side of the court.    
     
     
         8 . The system as recited in  claim 7  wherein said plurality of ball shooting machines are each structured and disposed to fire each tennis ball along a plurality of lines of fire throughout a range of angles.  
     
     
         9 . The system as recited in  claim 8  wherein said plurality of ball shooting machines are each structured and disposed to fire each tennis ball in the preprogrammed shot sequence at a predetermined controlled spin, speed and height along any one of said plurality of lines of fire throughout said range of angles.  
     
     
         10 . The system as recited in  claim 9  wherein said plurality of ball shooting machines are each structured and disposed to fire each tennis ball in the preprogrammed shot sequence to a predetermined location on the opposite side of the tennis court by controlling the depth of the fired tennis ball along a selected one of the plurality of lines of fire.  
     
     
         11 . The system as recited in  claim 10  wherein said plurality of ball shooting machines are each structured and disposed to control the depth of the fired tennis ball along the selected one of the plurality of lines of fire by varying the speed, spin and height of the fired tennis ball.  
     
     
         12 . A method for simulating a real tennis match on a tennis court for one or more practicing players, said method comprising the steps of: 
 positioning a plurality of programmable, computer-controlled robotic ball shooting machines at predetermined locations on one side of the tennis court, opposite to the one or more practicing players;    programming said plurality of robotic ball shooting machines to fire a plurality of tennis balls, on demand, to predetermined locations on the opposite side of the tennis court in accordance with a preprogrammed shot sequence; and    selectively commanding the firing of each shot in the preprogrammed sequence from any one of the plurality of ball shooting machines at a time which is directly responsive to a tennis shot made by the practicing player on the opposite side of the court.    
     
     
         13 . The method as recited in  claim 12  wherein said step of selectively commanding further comprises the step of: 
 selectively commanding the firing of each shot in the preprogrammed shot sequence from any one of the plurality of ball shooting machines from a direction which is directly responsive to the location of the tennis shot made by the practicing player on the opposite side of the court.  
 
     
     
         14 . The method as recited in  claim 13  further comprising the step of: 
 controlling the angle of each shot in the preprogrammed shot sequence by providing a plurality of lines of fire, throughout a range of angles, along which each of the fired tennis balls from each of the ball shooting machines may be directed.  
 
     
     
         15 . The method as recited in  claim 13  further comprising the step of: 
 controlling the firing of each shot in the preprogrammed shot sequence from any one of the plurality of ball shooting machines along a plurality of lines of fire throughout a range of angles.  
 
     
     
         16 . The method as recited in  claim 13  further comprising the step of: 
 controlling the spin, speed and height of each fired shot in the preprogrammed shot sequence from any one of the plurality of ball shooting machines.  
 
     
     
         17 . The method as recited in  claim 15  further comprising the step of: 
 controlling the depth of each fired shot in the preprogrammed shot sequence from any one of the plurality of ball shooting machines by controlling the spin, speed and height of each fired shot along any one of the plurality of lines of fire throughout the range of angles.  
 
     
     
         18 . The method as recited in  claim 17  further comprising the step of: 
 controlling the depth and the selected one of the plurality of lines of fire of each fired shot in the preprogrammed shot sequence in order to hit the predetermined location on the opposite side of the tennis court.