Softball pitching thigh pad

Abstract

A pad protecting a pitcher's thigh has a tube containing a flexible pad around a front of the tube but not between the pitcher's legs and at least a portion of the back of the tube. A belt encircles the pitcher's waist and a padded top portion and connecting strip connect to the belt and extend laterally from the pitcher's navel to just past the pitcher's hip and extends downward to connect to the front of the tube. The padding covers a strike area where the pitcher's glove arm and glove hit the pitcher's hip and thigh when throwing a fast pitch softball.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A pitcher's thigh pad for protecting a strike area on the pitcher's first thigh where a pitcher's glove and/or gloved arm may impact a front and outer side of the first thigh when throwing a pitch in fast pitch softball, comprising:
 a belt configured to encircle the pitcher's waist;   a single tube of flexible material having opposing top and bottom ends and configured to encircle the first thigh during use, the tube having an inner side adjacent the pitcher's second thigh and an outer side opposite thereto and further having a front side and opposing back side, the tube sized to extend from just above the pitcher's knee to the pitcher's crotch while still encircling the pitcher's thigh;   padding connected to and extending along the front and outer side of the tube, the padding being sized to cover at least a majority of the strike area located vertically between the knee and the navel and extending laterally from a vertical line along the inner side of the patella around the outside of the leg and hip to a back of the first thigh, the padding not extending along the inner side of the tube that is located between the pitcher's thighs during use and, at least a majority of the padding being flexible padding;   a connecting strip of flexible material extending between the belt and the front side of the tube to position the tube vertically relative to the belt, the connecting strip not being connected to at least the back side of the tube adjacent the inner side of the tube;   wherein at least a portion of the single tube includes an elastic material resiliently urging the first tube toward the pitcher's first thigh during use.   
     
     
         2 . The sleeve assembly of  claim 1 , wherein the padding is further connected to and extends along the connecting strip between the belt and the top of the tube, and wherein the top of the connecting strip extends laterally from a location vertically above the pitcher's crotch to the back side of the pitcher's hip. 
     
     
         3 . The sleeve assembly of  claim 2 , wherein the padding includes a top portion extending above the belt and extending upwards to the level of the pitcher's belly button and laterally to a location above and on the back side of the pitcher's hip. 
     
     
         4 . The sleeve assembly of  claim 3 , wherein the padding connected to the tube extends over an arc of 180° to 220° measured relative to a longitudinal axis of the tube during use. 
     
     
         5 . The sleeve assembly of  claim 4 , wherein the padding has a front, inner edge extending along a parasagittal plane extending along the inner side of the patella. 
     
     
         6 . The sleeve assembly of  claim 3 , wherein the elastic material encircles the tube and at least a portion of the padding. 
     
     
         7 . The sleeve assembly of  claim 3 , wherein the tube comprises an inner and outer layer of fabric and the padding is contained between those two layers of fabric. 
     
     
         8 . The sleeve assembly of  claim 3 , wherein the tube is configured to fit an average sized pitcher's body of one the designated sizes: large, medium and small, such that the tube extends from above the average sized pitcher's knee of the designated size to just below the pitcher's crotch during use. 
     
     
         9 . The sleeve assembly of  claim 7 , wherein the padding comprises neoprene. 
     
     
         10 . The sleeve assembly of  claim 8 , wherein the padding connected to the tube is configured to cover a substantial majority of the strike area enclosed by the tube during use. 
     
     
         11 . The sleeve assembly of  claim 8 , wherein the padding connected to the tube and connecting strip and top portion is configured to cover a substantial majority of the strike area. 
     
     
         12 . The sleeve assembly of  claim 3 , wherein the connecting strip is permanently connected to the belt which has a front and back strap, each strap having a length measured from the padding to a distal end of the respective strap, the back strap having a length that is 2 to 4 times longer than the front strap. 
     
     
         13 . The sleeve assembly of  claim 3 , wherein the connecting strip is permanently connected to the belt with a belt buckle located so that when the padding on the front of the tube covers the front of the pitcher's leg, the buckle is between the sagittal plane and the mid-frontal plane on the side of the pitcher's body opposite the pitching pad. 
     
     
         14 . The sleeve assembly of  claim 3 , further comprising a cutout in the padding around the pitcher's crotch, the cutout extending away from the sagittal plane in a lateral direction. 
     
     
         15 . The sleeve assembly of  claim 3 , wherein the tube has a diameter that is larger at the top than at the bottom by 0.5 to 5 inches. 
     
     
         16 . A pad for a pitcher's thigh that is adjacent the pitcher's glove arm, for use in a fast pitch softball game, comprising:
 a flexible pad configured to cover the pitcher's thigh and groin opposite the pitcher's pitching arm, the pad configured to extend in the lateral direction from a parasagittal plane along the Sagittal side of the patella and extending past the outside of the thigh at the mid-frontal plane and onto the back of the thigh and past the hip, and to extend vertically from the pitcher's knee to the level of the pitcher's navel and above the hip, the thigh pad not extending between the pitcher's legs at the mid-frontal plane and not extending onto the back of the leg at the sagittal plane;   a belt having a front end and back end with a buckle to releasably connect the belt ends together, the belt connected to the pad to be located at or just above the hips and being long enough to encircle the pitcher's waist at that location, a top portion of the pad extending above the belt, the pad connected to the belt so the pad can cover the described area over the front and back of the pitcher's thigh adjacent the pitcher's glove arm during use, the belt not being connected to any thigh pad for the pitcher's other thigh that is adjacent the pitcher's pitching arm.   
     
     
         17 . The pad of  claim 16 , further comprising a tube configured to encircle the pitcher's thigh and connected to the pad, the tube having at least a portion made of elastic material that resiliently holds the pad to the pitcher's leg during use. 
     
     
         18 . The pad of  claim 17 , further comprising an elastic portion encircling a bottom end of the tube to urge the tube toward the pitcher's leg during use. 
     
     
         19 . The pad of  claim 18 , wherein the tube includes an elastic material encircling the tube and resiliently urging the tube toward the pitcher's thigh during use. 
     
     
         20 . The pad of  claim 17 , wherein the pad includes two layers of fabric with the pad located between those two layers of fabric and with at least one of the at least two layers of fabric comprising the tube. 
     
     
         21 . The pad of  claim 20 , wherein the tube has a diameter at the top end that is larger than a diameter at a bottom end of the tube by 0.5 to 5 inches. 
     
     
         22 . The pad of  claim 19 , wherein the pad is from 0.2 to 0.8 inches thick. 
     
     
         23 . The pad of  claim 19 , wherein the belt has a separate front and back strap each connected to an opposing side of the pad. 
     
     
         24 . The pad of  claim 17 , wherein the belt comprises a strap with one of a hook or loop fastener and the pad includes the other of a hook or loop fastener.