Baseball batting trainer

Abstract

The batter training device attaches an ankle strap on the batter's forward ankle to a weighted sack on the side of home plate opposite to the batter. A cable placed over home plate connects the sack to the ankle strap. As a fast ball is pitched through the strike zone the weight attached to the batter's ankle inhibits the batter's involuntary reflex to draw away from the ball and ruin the batter's swing. Repeating this training with the device enables the batter to overcome or cope with this undesirable involuntary reflex. The weight in the sack, however, is not so great that it will prevent the batter from ducking away from a wild pitch outside of the strike zone in order to avoid injury. The device also can be used to restrain the batter's rear ankle, or the weighted sack can be attached to restrain both of the batter's ankles.

1 . A batting trainer for conditioning a batter to overcome an involuntary reflex to draw an ankle away from a ball in the strike zone comprising a movable weight, a line for coupling to said movable weight, an ankle restraint for the ankle, and means for coupling said ankle restraint to said line and said movable weight to overcome the batter's involuntary reflex to draw the ankle away from the ball. 
     
     
         2 . A batting trainer according to  claim 1  for enabling the batter to duck a ball outside of the strike zone wherein said movable weight further comprises a weight that enables the batter to voluntarily exercise muscles and reflexes to move said weight to permit the batter to duck the ball. 
     
     
         3 . A batting trainer according to  claim 1  wherein said line coupling further comprises a Dee ring for attachment to said movable weight, a spring clip for coupling to said Dee ring, a loop on said line for engagement with said spring clip, an ankle restraint, a spring clip for attachment to said ankle restraint and another loop on said line for engagement with said ankle restraint spring clip. 
     
     
         4 . A batting trainer according to  claim 1  wherein said movable weight further comprises a sack. 
     
     
         5 . A batting trainer according to  claim 4  wherein said sack encloses a weight of about twenty pounds. 
     
     
         6 . A batting trainer for conditioning a batter to overcome an involuntarily reflex to draw the ankle away from a ball coming through the strike zone and avoid impeding the batter from ducking away from a ball outside of the strike zone comprising: a sack, a twenty pound weight within said sack, strapping and a Dee ring for selectively closing said sack, a spring clip and eye for selective attachment to said Dee ring, a cable having a loop formed in an end of said cable and received in said eye on said spring clip; a ferrule engaging the end of said cable in order to form said loop, an ankle strap for binding the ankle, a further loop formed in another end of said cable, a ferrule engaging said cable end in order to form said further loop, another spring clip and eye, said eye receiving said further loop and said another spring clip selectively coupled to said ankle strap. 
     
     
         7 . A batting trainer for conditioning a batter to overcome an involuntary reflex to draw both ankles away from a ball in the strike zone comprising a movable weight, a line for coupling to said movable weight, a first ankle restraint for attachment to one of the ankles, means for coupling said first ankle restraint to said line and said movable weight, another line for coupling to said movable weight, a second ankle restraint for attachment to the other of the ankles, and means for coupling said second ankle restraint to said line and said movable weight. 
     
     
         8 . A batting trainer for conditioning a batter to overcome an involuntary reflex to draw both ankles away from a ball in the strike zone comprising two movable weights, two lines each for coupling to a respective one of said weights, a pair of ankle restraints each for an individual one of the ankles, and means for coupling each of said ankle restraints to a respective one of said two lines and the movable weight coupled to said line.