Rotational swing stability training

Abstract

An apparatus includes a harness attachable circumferentially around a waist area of an athlete. A mechanical resistance attachment guide is coupled to the harness and oriented circumferentially relative to the waist area of the athlete when the harness is worn by the athlete. The mechanical resistance attachment guide provides a circumferentially moveable approximately constant radius attachment location relative to an axis of rotation of the athlete throughout a rotational athletic swing. A vertical anchor plane is defined between the axis of rotation of the athlete and an anchor point located perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the athlete. At least a portion of the mechanical resistance attachment guide remains within the vertical anchor plane throughout the rotational athletic swing. This abstract is not to be considered limiting, since other embodiments may deviate from the features described in this abstract.

1 . An apparatus, comprising:
 a harness attachable circumferentially around a waist area of an athlete; and   a mechanical resistance attachment guide coupled to the harness and oriented circumferentially relative to the waist area of the athlete when the harness is worn by the athlete, where:
 the mechanical resistance attachment guide provides a circumferentially moveable approximately constant radius attachment location relative to an axis of rotation of the athlete throughout a rotational athletic swing; and 
 at least a portion of the mechanical resistance attachment guide remains within a vertical anchor plane throughout the rotational athletic swing, where the vertical anchor plane is defined by the axis of rotation of the athlete and an anchor point located perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the athlete. 
   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , where the mechanical resistance attachment guide further comprises a flexible mechanical resistance attachment guide that automatically adjusts vertically based upon a height of the athlete. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , where the flexible mechanical resistance attachment guide automatically adjusts radially throughout the rotational athletic swing to provide the circumferentially moveable approximately constant radius attachment location relative to the axis of rotation of the athlete throughout the rotational athletic swing. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , where the mechanical resistance attachment guide further comprises a rigid mechanical resistance attachment guide formed in an approximately constant radius arc relative to the axis of rotation of the athlete when the harness is attached to the waist area of the athlete. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 4 , where the harness further comprises at least one pivotal element that couples the rigid mechanical resistance attachment guide to the harness, where the rigid mechanical resistance attachment guide automatically adjusts by pivoting at the at least one pivotal element. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 4 , where the rigid mechanical resistance attachment guide is coupled at a first end to the harness at a point approximating a front side of a left hip of the athlete when the harness is worn and at a second end to the harness at a point approximating a front side of a right hip of the athlete when the harness is worn and where the rigid mechanical resistance attachment guide traverses across a back area of the athlete to form the approximately constant radius arc relative to the axis of rotation of the athlete when the harness is attached to the waist area of the athlete. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , where the harness further comprises a reversible harness capable of use during both left-handed rotational athletic swings and right-handed rotational athletic swings. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a mechanical resistance element coupled to the mechanical resistance attachment guide at a first end and to the anchor point at a second end, where the first end of the mechanical resistance element moves along the mechanical resistance attachment guide throughout the rotational athletic swing. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , where the mechanical resistance element further comprises an elastic portion and a non-elastic portion. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , where the non-elastic portion further comprises an adjustable element to allow adjustment of the non-elastic portion. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 9 , where the non-elastic portion further comprises at least one of a cable and woven nylon material, and the elastic portion further comprises at least one of a spring and a rubberized compound. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , where the mechanical resistance element further comprises a resistive element selected based upon a weight of the athlete. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , further comprising a removable coupling element coupled to the first end of the mechanical resistance element to allow the mechanical resistance element to be removably coupled to the mechanical resistance attachment guide. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , further comprising a removable coupling element coupled to the second end of the mechanical resistance element to allow the mechanical resistance element to be removably coupled to the anchor point. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , further comprising a rotatable coupling element coupled to the first end of the mechanical resistance element to allow the mechanical resistance element to move along the mechanical resistance attachment guide via the rotatable coupling element. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , where the rotatable coupling element further comprises a pulley wheel system. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , where the pulley wheel system further comprises at least one of a metal pulley wheel system, an alloy pulley wheel system, a plastic pulley wheel system, and a composite pulley wheel system. 
     
     
         18 . An apparatus, comprising:
 a harness attachable circumferentially around a waist area of an athlete;   a rigid mechanical resistance attachment guide coupled to the harness and oriented circumferentially relative to the waist area of the athlete when the harness is worn by the athlete, where:
 the rigid mechanical resistance attachment guide is formed in an approximately constant radius arc relative to an axis of rotation of the athlete when the harness is attached to the waist area of the athlete; 
 the rigid mechanical resistance attachment guide provides a circumferentially moveable approximately constant radius attachment location relative to the axis of rotation of the athlete throughout a rotational athletic swing; and 
 at least a portion of the rigid mechanical resistance attachment guide remains within a vertical anchor plane throughout the rotational athletic swing, where the vertical anchor plane is defined by the axis of rotation of the athlete and an anchor point located perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the athlete; and 
   at least one pivotal element that couples the rigid mechanical resistance attachment guide to the harness and where the rigid mechanical resistance attachment guide automatically adjusts by pivoting at the at least one pivotal element; and   a mechanical resistance element coupled to the rigid mechanical resistance attachment guide at a first end and to the anchor point at a second end, where the first end of the mechanical resistance element moves along the rigid mechanical resistance attachment guide throughout the rotational athletic swing, and where the mechanical resistance element further comprises:
 an elastic portion providing variable resistance to the lateral and vertical movement of the athlete; 
 a non-elastic portion comprising an adjustable element; 
 a rotatable coupling mechanism forming a portion of the first end of the mechanical resistance element; 
 a first removable coupling mechanism removably coupled to the rotatable coupling mechanism and the non-elastic portion to allow the mechanical resistance element to be removably coupled to the rotatable coupling mechanism; and 
 a second removable coupling mechanism forming a portion of the second end to allow the elastic portion of the mechanical resistance element to be removably coupled to the anchor point via the removable coupling mechanism. 
   
     
     
         19 . A method, comprising:
 enabling an athlete to be tethered via a harness and a mechanical resistance apparatus to an anchor point positioned approximately perpendicularly to and below a hip of the athlete;   allowing the athlete to rotate through a rotational athletic swing with an approximately constant radius moveable attachment location to the harness for a first end of the mechanical resistance apparatus relative to an axis of rotation of the athlete; and   providing resistive feedback to lateral and vertical movement of the athlete throughout the rotational athletic swing relative to the anchor point via the mechanical resistance apparatus to train the athlete to maintain lateral and vertical rotational stability throughout the rotational athletic swing.