Ball Rotation Indicator and Method

Abstract

The present application is directed to an athletic training tool. The athletic training tool includes a ball and an elongated member attached thereto, the elongated member is attached to the ball in a manner effective to maintain the center of gravity of the ball. The elongated member may be visually observable during use of the athletic training tool.

I claim: 
     
         1 . An athletic training tool including a ball and an elongated member attached thereto, the elongated member being attached to the ball in a manner effective to maintain the center of gravity of the ball. 
     
     
         2 . The athletic training tool of  claim 1  wherein the elongated member extends out from the surface of the ball a first length and extends into the ball a second length. 
     
     
         3 . The athletic training tool of  claim 1  wherein the elongated member is constructed from one or more resilient materials. 
     
     
         4 . The athletic training tool of  claim 1  wherein the elongated member extends into the ball a depth up to about 70.0 percent of the outer diameter of the ball. 
     
     
         5 . The athletic training tool of  claim 1  wherein the elongated member further comprises a resilient member disposed therein, the resilient member having a length up to about 95.0 percent the length of the elongated member. 
     
     
         6 . The athletic training tool of  claim 1  further including one or more hand/finger indicia disposed across the surface of the ball. 
     
     
         7 . The athletic training tool of  claim 1  wherein the elongated member is constructed from polyurethane rubber of about Shore 40A to about Shore 80A. 
     
     
         8 . The athletic training tool of  claim 6  wherein the hand/finger indicia correspond to hand/finger placement according to one or more particular baseball pitch grips. 
     
     
         9 . The athletic training tool of  claim 6  wherein the hand/finger indicia correspond to hand/finger placement according to one or more particular softball pitch grips. 
     
     
         10 . A method of tracking the rotation of a sport sphere traveling in space comprising the following steps:
 providing a sport sphere with one or more elongated members extending from the surface of the sphere, the elongated member being attached to the ball in a manner effective to maintain the center of gravity of the sphere;   establishing a desired rotation for a sphere to be delivered;   while delivering the sport sphere analyzing the rotation of the sport sphere compared to the desired rotation.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the sport sphere is an athletic ball defined by a first weight and the elongated member is a cylindrical member constructed from polyurethane rubber defined by a second weight, the weight of the elongated member being from about 0.1 percent to about 20.0 percent the weight of the athletic ball. 
     
     
         12 . A system for collecting real time rotational data of a delivered athletic ball comprising:
 an athletic training tool including a ball and an elongated member attached thereto, the elongated member being attached to the ball in a manner effective to maintain the center of gravity of the ball;   one or more sensors attached to the athletic training tool operationally configured to track movement of the athletic training tool; and   a computer in wireless communication with the one or more sensors for receiving movement data from the one or more sensors.