Basketball Shooting Training Article

Abstract

The disclosure relates to basketball shooting training articles. The article includes a sleeve having an elongate cylindrical body with an opening at a proximal end and an opening at a distal end for passage of a player's arm therethrough. The sleeve includes release indicia located adjacent the proximal end of the article so that when the article is worn the release indicia is located between the player's elbow and shoulder, preferably at the player's bicep, and more preferably at the upper portion of the player's bicep. The sleeve may also include alignment indicia for aligning the player's arm and basketball with a target. A method for training proper basketball shooting technique and a method of constructing a basketball shooting training device are also provided.

1 . An article for training proper basketball shooting technique, the article comprising:
 a sleeve having an elongate cylindrical body including proximal and distal ends, and an opening at the proximal end and an opening at the distal end for passage of a player's arm therethrough; and   release indicia located on the sleeve adjacent the sleeve proximal end to allow the release indicia to be located between the player's elbow and shoulder when the sleeve is worn.   
     
     
         2 . The article according to  claim 1 , wherein the sleeve proximal end is wider than the sleeve distal end to allow the sleeve to be worn so that the release indicia is located at the upper portion of the player's bicep. 
     
     
         3 . The article according to  claim 1 , wherein the sleeve has an axial length sized to allow the sleeve to be positioned between the player's elbow and shoulder. 
     
     
         4 . The article according to  claim 1 , wherein the sleeve is a sleeve portion of a garment selected from the group consisting of jacket, long sleeved shirt, sweatshirt, and jersey. 
     
     
         5 . The article according to  claim 1 , wherein the sleeve is of a resiliently flexible fabric material. 
     
     
         6 . The article according to  claim 1 , wherein the sleeve includes alignment indicia located to allow the sleeve to be worn with the alignment indicia located between the player's elbow and bicep. 
     
     
         7 . The article according to  claim 6 , wherein the alignment indicia is a pair of lines that diverge away from each other as the lines extend distally, and the release indicia is longitudinally spaced from the alignment indicia lines and generally circumferentially centered relative thereto. 
     
     
         8 . A method for training proper basketball shooting technique, the method comprising:
 positioning an article on the upper portion of a player's shooting arm, the article including release indicia located between the player's elbow and shoulder;   sighting the release indicia in the player's peripheral vision when raising the shooting arm to shoot a basketball; and   releasing the basketball when the release indicia is sighted.   
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the article is positioned on the upper portion of the player's shooting arm so that the release indicia is located at the upper portion of the player's bicep. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the method further comprises aligning alignment indicia with a target prior to releasing the basketball. 
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 10 , wherein the target is a basketball hoop. 
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the article is a sleeve and positioning the article comprises fitting the sleeve on the player's shooting arm between the elbow and shoulder of the shooting arm. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the article is a sleeve portion of a garment selected from the group consisting of jacket, long sleeved shirt, sweatshirt, and jersey, and positioning the article comprises wearing the garment so that the sleeve portion is on the player's shooting arm. 
     
     
         14 . A method of constructing a basketball shooting training device, the method comprising:
 providing a sleeve for fitting on a player's shooting arm; and   locating release indicia adjacent a proximal end of the sleeve with the release indicia used for timing the proper release of the basketball during shooting thereof.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14  including sizing the sleeve to fit on the player's upper arm between the shoulder and the elbow of the player's shooting arm with the release indicia adjacent an opening of the sleeve at the proximal end to allow the release indicia to be positioned at or adjacent the upper portion of the player's bicep of the shooting arm when the sleeve is worn. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14  including locating alignment indicia on the sleeve axially spaced from the release indicia with the alignment indicia used for aligning the player's shooting arm with a target. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the alignment indicia includes a pair of lines that diverge away from each other as the lines extend distally on the sleeve, and locating the release indicia adjacent the sleeve proximal end includes generally centering the release indicia relative to the alignment indicia lines longitudinally spaced therefrom.