Color-coded practice band for a tennis racket

Abstract

A practice band to surround or replace the existing grip of a (e.g., tennis) racket so that a visual indication is provided as to where the hand or hands should be correctly positioned with respect to the grip by a player who is practicing a variety of (e.g., tennis) strokes. According to a preferred embodiment, the practice band is provided with a series of parallel-aligned stripes having different colors to correspond with the different positions around the grip to which the player's hand or hands should be rotated depending upon the stroke to be practiced. The practice band is also provided with printed indicia that is applied over the stripes to identify the different strokes to which the colored stripes of the band correspond.

1 . A combination comprising:
 a racket having a head at one end to hit an object by one of a variety of strokes and a grip at the opposite end to be held in the hand of a user; and   a band to be located over and in surrounding engagement with at least some of the grip of the racket, said band having a set of visual indicators corresponding to different positions around said grip at which said grip is to be held in the hand of the user depending upon a particular stroke chosen by which to hit the object with the head of the racket.   
     
     
         2 . The combination recited in  claim 1 , wherein the set of visual indicators of said band are different colors, said colors being indicative of respective ones of the variety of strokes and the corresponding positions around said grip at which said grip is to he held in the hand of the user to hit the object with the head of the racket. 
     
     
         3 . The combination recited in  claim 2 , wherein said different colors are arranged in parallel-aligned stripes running along said band. 
     
     
         4 . The combination recited in  claim 1 , wherein the set of visual indicators of said band is printed indicia indicative of respective ones of the variety of strokes and the corresponding positions around said grip at which said grip is to be held in the hand of the user to hit the object with the head of the racket. 
     
     
         5 . The combination recited in  claim 1 , wherein the set of visual indicators of said band are different colors and printed indicia, said colors and said printed indicia each being indicative of respective ones of the variety of strokes and the corresponding positions around said grip at which said grip is to be held in the hand of the user to hit the object with the head of the racket. 
     
     
         6 . The combination recited in  claim 5 , wherein said different colors are arranged in parallel-aligned stripes running along said band, and said printed indicia is located over said colored stripes. 
     
     
         7 . The combination recited in  claim 1 , wherein the set of visual indicators includes a designation on said band by which the center of said band is aligned with the center of said grip when said band is located over and in said surrounding engagement with said grip. 
     
     
         8 . The combination recited in  claim 1 , wherein said band is a flat strip that is adapted to be wrapped around the grip of the racket so as to lie in said surrounding engagement therewith. 
     
     
         9 . The combination recited in  claim 8 , wherein said flat strip has first and opposite ends and an adhesive located on at least one of said first and opposite ends to hold said ends together when said flat strip is wrapped around said grip. 
     
     
         10 . The combination recited in  claim 8 , wherein said flat strip is a sticker that has a layer of adhesive by which to attach said sticker in said surrounding engagement with said grip. 
     
     
         11 . The combination recited in  claim 1 , wherein said band is manufactured from a flexible stretchable material so as to be pulled over and held by means of friction in said surrounding engagement with said grip. 
     
     
         12 . The combination recited in  claim 1 , wherein the set of visual indicators is positioned on said band and said band is sized with respect to said grip so that the hand of the user does not cover the set of visual indicators of said band when the grip is held in the hand of the user. 
     
     
         13 . The combination recited in  claim 1 , wherein said racket is a tennis racket. 
     
     
         14 . The combination recited in  claim 1 , wherein the grip of said racket has eight sides and said band also has eight sides, the eight sides of said hand lying adjacent respective ones of the eight sides of said grip when said band is located over and in said surrounding engagement with said grip. 
     
     
         15 . The combination recited in  claim 1 , wherein said band is a stiff sleeve to slide on and off the grip of the racket. 
     
     
         16 . A racket having a head at one end to hit an object by one of a variety of strokes and a grip at the opposite end to be held in the hand of a user, said grip having a set of visual indicators formed thereon and corresponding to different positions around said grip at which said grip is to be held in the hand of the user depending upon a particular stroke chosen by which to hit the object with the head of the racket. 
     
     
         17 . The combination recited in  claim 16 , wherein the set of visual indicators of said grip includes different colors, said colors being indicative of respective ones of the variety of strokes and the corresponding positions around said grip at which said grip is to be held in the hand of the user to hit the object with the head of the racket. 
     
     
         18 . The combination recited in  claim 17 , wherein the different colors of said set of visual indicators are arranged in parallel-aligned stripes running along the grip of the racket. 
     
     
         19 . The combination recited in  claim 18 , wherein the set of visual indicators of said grip also includes printed indicia indicative of respective ones of the variety of strokes at which said grip is to be held in the hand of the user to hit the object with the head of the racket, said printed indicia being applied over said parallel-aligned stripes. 
     
     
         20 . The combination recited in  claim 16 , wherein said grip is fixedly attached to the opposite end of the racket.