System and method for optimizing a sports ball launch

Abstract

A method includes identifying, from trajectory data for a kick, kick parameters for and adjusting a value of a first one of the kick parameters to a new value to calculate a first simulated trajectory in relation to a target area in combination with adjusting the value of the first kick parameter to a second value to calculate a second simulated trajectory and calculating a first blocked portion of the target area based on the first simulated trajectory and an obstacle between a launch position and the target area and a second blocked portion of the target area based on the second simulated trajectory and the obstacle. In addition, an optimized value of the first kick parameter is determined where a simulated trajectory of the ball calculated kicked with the optimized value results in a successful kick into the largest unblocked portion of the target area.

1 . A method, comprising:
 at a processor:
 identifying, from trajectory data for a kick, a plurality of kick parameters for a kicked ball; 
 adjusting a value of a first one of the kick parameters to a first new value to calculate a first simulated trajectory in relation to a target area; 
 adjusting the value of the first kick parameter to a second new value to calculate a second simulated trajectory in relation to the target area; 
 calculating a first blocked portion of the target area based on the first simulated trajectory and an obstacle between a launch position and the target area and a second blocked portion of the target area based on the second simulated trajectory and the obstacle; and 
 determining an optimized value of the first kick parameter where the simulated trajectory of the kicked ball calculated with the optimized value enters an unblocked portion of the target area, the unblocked portion of the target area being the area remaining when the blocked portion of the target area is subtracted from the target area. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a size of the unblocked portion of the target area based on the first simulated trajectory is different than a size of the unblocked portion of the target area based on the second simulated trajectory, wherein the optimized value of the first kick parameter is the value resulting in a greater size of the unblocked portion of the target area. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 adjusting a value of a second one of the kick parameters to a first new value to calculate a third simulated trajectory in relation to the target area;   adjusting the second kick parameter to a second new value to calculate a fourth simulated trajectory in relation to the target area;   calculating a third blocked portion of the target area based on the third simulated trajectory and the obstacle and a fourth blocked portion of the target area based on the fourth simulated trajectory and the obstacle; and   determining optimized values of the first and second parameters as values of the first and second parameters resulting in a greater size of the unblocked portion of the target area.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the kick parameters comprise an impact speed, a vertical launch angle, a horizontal launch direction, a spin rate at launch and a spin axis at launch. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the first kick parameter is one of the vertical launch angle and the horizontal launch direction. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 adjusting the impact speed and one of the spin rate at launch and the spin axis at launch to increase a size of the unblocked portion of the target area.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the target area is a simulated goal, the obstacle is one of a simulated defensive wall and a simulated goalkeeper and the kicked ball is a football. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 determining a goalkeeper area where the simulated goalkeeper is predicted to prevent a simulated trajectory of the kicked ball from entering the target area based on a time of flight for the simulated trajectory, wherein the goalkeeper area is at least part of the blocked portion of the target area.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the goalkeeper area is further based on an initial position of the goalkeeper at a time of launch and an expected reach of the goalkeeper within the time of flight. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the expected reach of the goalkeeper is based on a reaction time, a moving speed and a jumping speed of the goalkeeper. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 determining a wall area where the simulated wall is predicted to block a simulated trajectory of the kicked ball from entering the target area, the blocked portion of the target area further comprising the wall area and the unblocked portion of the target area being a goal area where the simulated goalkeeper and the simulated wall are not expected to block a simulated trajectory.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 storing, on a database, a first plurality of kick parameters for a first kicker and a second plurality of kick parameters for a second kicker; and   determining which one of the first and second kickers has a greater likelihood of scoring a goal based on the launch position, a position of the obstacle and the first and second pluralities of kick parameters.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising:
 receiving location data of an actual goalkeeper and an actual defensive wall in a football match from a player tracking system; and   simulating a location of the simulated goalkeeper and the simulated defensive wall based on the location data.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 graphically displaying the goal area, the wall area and the goalkeeper area with respect to the target area.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the kicked ball is one of a football, an American football, a Gaelic football, an Australian football or a rugby ball. 
     
     
         16 . A method, comprising:
 at a processor:
 identifying, from trajectory data for a launch, a plurality of launch parameters for a launched ball; 
 adjusting a value of a first one of the launch parameters to a first new value to calculate a first simulated trajectory in relation to a target area; 
 adjusting the value of the first launch parameter to a second new value to calculate a second simulated trajectory in relation to the target area; 
 calculating a first blocked portion of the target area based on the first simulated trajectory and an obstacle between a launch position and the target area and a second blocked portion of the target area based on the second simulated trajectory and the obstacle; and 
 determining an optimized value of the first launch parameter where the simulated trajectory of the launched ball calculated with the optimized value enters an unblocked portion of the target area, the unblocked portion of the target area being the area remaining when the blocked portion of the target area is subtracted from the target area. 
   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the target area is a portion of a racket sport court and the obstacle is one of a racket sport net and an opposing player. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the launched ball is a tennis ball. 
     
     
         19 . A device, comprising:
 a database storing trajectory data for a kick; and   a processor identifying, from the trajectory data, a plurality of kick parameters for a kicked ball, the processor adjusting a value of a first one of the kick parameters to a first new value to calculate a first simulated trajectory in relation to a target area; the processor adjusting the value of the first kick parameter to a second new value to calculate a second simulated trajectory in relation to the target area; the processor calculating a first blocked portion of the target area based on the first simulated trajectory and an obstacle between a launch position and the target area and a second blocked portion of the target area based on the second simulated trajectory and the obstacle; and the processor determining an optimized value of the first kick parameter where the simulated trajectory of the kicked ball calculated with the optimized value enters an unblocked portion of the target area, the unblocked portion of the target area being the area remaining when the blocked portion of the target area is subtracted from the target area.   
     
     
         20 . The device of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 a display graphically displaying the blocked portion and the unblocked portion with respect to the target area.