System for picking up, tossing, and striking a ball

Abstract

A multi-purpose implement is provided, including a racquet, having a handle portion and a flexible planar area held under tension by a frame, and a ball basket attached to the racquet and adapted to lift a ball directly from a generally horizontal surface. A method of using the implement, without contacting the ball with one's hands, includes holding the handle portion in one or both hands, maneuvering the ball basket into contact with a ball lying on a generally horizontal surface, lifting the ball directly from the generally horizontal surface with the ball basket, tossing the ball from the ball basket into the air, and while the ball is in the air, striking the ball with the racquet.

1 . A ball lifting, tossing and striking system by which a user can pick up, toss and strike a ball in such a way that the ball does not come in contact with the user's hands, comprising:
 (a) a ball; and   (b) a multi-purpose implement that may be carried by a user in one or both hands, including:
 (i) a racquet, having a handle portion and a flexible planar area held under tension by a frame, and 
 (ii) a ball basket attached to the racquet and adapted to lift the ball from a generally horizontal surface; 
   (c) wherein a user may grasp the handle portion of the racquet, lift the ball from the generally horizontal surface with the ball basket, and without touching the ball with either of the user's hands, toss the ball from the ball basket into the air such that it may be struck by the racquet.   
   
   
       2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the flexible planar area includes a woven mesh area. 
   
   
       3 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the ball basket is a scoop adapted to be inserted underneath the ball to lift the ball from a generally horizontal surface and adapted to cradle the ball until the ball is tossed into the air. 
   
   
       4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the striking implement is in the form of a racquet. 
   
   
       5 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the striking implement is a tennis racquet. 
   
   
       6 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the striking implement is a racquet ball racquet. 
   
   
       7 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the striking implement is a squash racquet. 
   
   
       8 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the striking implement is a badminton racquet. 
   
   
       9 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the scoop is detachable from the racquet. 
   
   
       10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the scoop is attachable to an end of the racquet via at least one attachment fitting. 
   
   
       11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein each fitting includes two clamp arms between which extend a plurality of bristles, interlocking with the woven mesh area of the racquet, to further facilitate the attachment of the scoop to the end of the racquet. 
   
   
       12 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the scoop is permanently attached to the racquet. 
   
   
       13 . The system of  claim 2 , wherein the ball basket includes a press-fit ball grabber adapted to be pressed onto the ball to lift the ball from the ground and adapted to cradle the ball until the ball is tossed into the air. 
   
   
       14 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the flexible planar area is a piece of flexible sheet material attached to the frame. 
   
   
       15 . A multi-purpose racquet implement, that may be carried by a user in one or both hands, for lifting, tossing and striking a ball in such a way that the ball does not come in contact with the user's hands, comprising:
 (a) a flexible planar area held under tension by a frame having a proximal end and a distal end;   (b) a handle portion disposed at the proximal end of the frame; and   (c) a ball basket attached to the distal end of the woven mesh area and frame and adapted to lift a ball from the ground;   (d) wherein a user may grasp the handle portion, lift the ball from the ground with the ball basket, and without touching the ball with either of the user's hands, toss the ball from the ball basket into the air such that it may be struck by the racquet implement.   
   
   
       16 . The multi-purpose racquet implement of  claim 15 , wherein the flexible planar area is a woven mesh area. 
   
   
       17 . A method of lifting, tossing and striking a ball, comprising:
 (a) providing a multi-purpose implement, including:
 (i) a racquet, having a handle portion and a woven mesh area held under tension by a frame, and 
 (ii) a ball basket attached to the racquet and adapted to lift a ball directly from a generally horizontal surface; and 
   (b) without contacting the ball with one's hands:
 (i) holding the handle portion in one or both hands, 
 (ii) maneuvering the ball basket into contact with a ball lying on a generally horizontal surface, 
 (iii) lifting the ball directly from the generally horizontal surface with the ball basket, 
 (iv) tossing the ball from the ball basket into the air, and 
 (v) while the ball is in the air, striking the ball with the woven mesh area of the racquet. 
   
   
   
       18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the maneuvering step includes maneuvering the ball basket beneath a ball lying on the generally horizontal surface, and wherein the lifting step includes lifting the ball directly from the generally horizontal surface with the ball basket. 
   
   
       19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the ball basket includes a scoop, and wherein the maneuvering step includes scooping the ball. 
   
   
       20 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the maneuvering step includes maneuvering the ball basket over a ball lying on the ground, and wherein the lifting step includes lifting the ball directly from the ground with the ball basket. 
   
   
       21 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the ball basket is a press-fit ball grabber, and wherein the maneuvering step includes pressing the press-fit ball grabber onto the ball. 
   
   
       22 . The method of  claim 20 , wherein the ball basket defines a ball inlet and a ball outlet, the ball outlet being separate from the ball inlet, wherein the maneuvering step includes maneuvering the ball through the ball inlet and into the ball basket, and wherein the tossing step includes tossing the ball from the ball basket into the air via the ball outlet. 
   
   
       23 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising the step, after striking the ball with the woven mesh area of the racquet, detaching the ball basket from the racquet. 
   
   
       24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the detaching step includes disengaging at least one attachment fitting of the ball basket from a distal end of the woven mesh area of the racquet and frame. 
   
   
       25 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising the step, before the maneuvering step, of attaching the ball basket to the racquet. 
   
   
       26 . The method of  claim 17 , further comprising the step, after striking the ball with the woven mesh area of the racquet, detaching the handle portion from the frame of the racquet.