Pickleball paddle having impact reflective material, and method of sport training

Abstract

A sports paddle. The sports paddle has a handle and a playing surface comprising opposing faces, wherein the opposing faces are configured to strike a sports ball during play. Preferably, the sports paddle is a pickleball paddle and the sports ball is a pickle ball. The sports paddle has an impact reflective material residing on each of the opposing playing surfaces. The impact reflective material may comprise carbon paper or carbonless paper that is placed over each of the opposing playing surfaces. Alternatively, the impact reflective material comprises a sheet of piezo-electric material that resides under a skin of each of the respective playing surfaces. A method of sports training using a paddle having the impact reflective material is also provided herein.

I claim: 
     
         1 . A sports paddle, comprising:
 a handle;   a head comprising opposing playing surfaces, wherein the opposing playing surfaces are configured to strike a sports ball during play;   a transition section disposed between the handle and the head; and   an impact reflective material residing on one or both of the opposing playing surfaces of the sports paddle.   
     
     
         2 . The sports paddle of  claim 1 , wherein:
 at least one of the opposing playing surfaces comprises a face; and   the impact reflective material is placed over the at least one face.   
     
     
         3 . The sports paddle of  claim 2 , wherein the impact reflective material comprises carbon paper or carbonless paper. 
     
     
         4 . The sports paddle of  claim 2 , wherein the impact reflective material comprises an electrically-responsive substrate selected from the group consisting of piezo-electric material and capacitive sensing material. 
     
     
         5 . The sports paddle of  claim 4 , wherein:
 the at least one face comprises a skin; and   the electrically-responsive substrate resides under the skin.   
     
     
         6 . The sports paddle of  claim 2 , wherein the sports paddle is a pickleball paddle or a padel paddle. 
     
     
         7 . The sports paddle of  claim 2 , further comprising a head guard bounding the head and the transition section, wherein the head guard is fabricated from a pliable polymeric material. 
     
     
         8 . A method of sport training, comprising:
 providing a sports paddle comprising:
 a handle; 
 a head comprising opposing playing surfaces, wherein the opposing playing surfaces are configured to strike a sports ball during play; 
 a transition section disposed between the handle and the head; and 
 an impact reflective material residing on each of the opposing playing surfaces of the sports paddle; 
   striking a series of sports balls with one or both of the playing surfaces of the sports paddle;   inspecting the impact reflective material on the playing surfaces of the sports paddle; and   from the inspecting, determining where the sports ball is being struck on the respective playing surfaces of the sports paddle.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein:
 each of the opposing playing surfaces comprises a face;   the sports paddle is a pickleball paddle; and   the sports ball is a pickle ball.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein:
 the impact reflective material is placed over each of the respective playing surfaces;   the impact reflective material comprises carbon paper or carbonless paper; and   the impact reflective material comprises two layers, representing a base layer, and a marking layer residing over the base layer;   the method further comprises adhering the base layer onto the face of each of the respective playing surfaces;   inspecting the impact reflective material comprises removing the marking layer to expose the base layer on each of the respective playing surfaces; and   determining where the sports ball is being struck on the respective playing surfaces comprises reviewing the base layer for ball strike markings.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the impact reflective material comprises an electrically-responsive substrate selected from the group consisting of piezo-electric material and capacitive sensing material. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein:
 the face of each of the respective playing surfaces comprises a skin;   the electrically-responsive substrate resides beneath the respective skins; and   the sports paddle further comprises a memory device residing on or within the handle, wherein the memory device is in electrical communication with the electrically-responsive substrate and is configured to store 2-D data in the form of strikes on the respective playing surfaces as a function of 2-D location.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the memory device is a flash drive. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 removing the memory device from the handle; and   accessing the 2-D data using a computing system.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 transmitting the 2-D data from the computing system to a portable computing device by means of a wireless network.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 calculating, by the computing system, an average location of strikes on each of the respective playing surfaces based on the 2-D data;   comparing the average location to a predetermined optimal location for the sports paddle; and   determining an efficiency rating for a player based on a proximity of the average location to the predetermined optimal location.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 for each of a plurality of different paddles:
 calculating, by the computing system, a respective average location of strikes on the respective playing surfaces based on respective 2-D data; 
 comparing the respective average location to a respective predetermined optimal location for each of the plurality of different paddles; 
 determining a respective efficiency rating for the player for each of the plurality of different paddles based on a proximity of the respective average location to the respective predetermined optimal location; and 
 selecting one of the plurality of different sports paddles having a highest efficiency rating. 
   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 defining a coordinate system on each of the respective playing surfaces, the coordinate system comprising:
 an x-axis parallel to the handle; and 
 a y-axis perpendicular to the handle, 
   wherein the average location and the predetermined optimal location are each defined by respective x coordinate values along the x-axis and y coordinate values along the y-axis.   
     
     
         19 . A sports paddle, comprising:
 a handle;   a head comprising opposing playing surfaces, wherein the opposing playing surfaces are configured to strike a sports ball during play, and wherein each of the opposing playing surfaces comprises a face having a skin;   a transition section disposed between the handle and the head; and   an impact reflective material comprising sheets of piezo-electric material, wherein a respective sheet of piezo-electric material resides under the skin of each of the opposing playing surfaces.   
     
     
         20 . The sports paddle of  claim 19 , further comprising:
 a controller disposed within the handle and in electrical communication with the sheets of piezo-electric material; and   a receiver configured to receive a portable memory device, upon which the portable memory device receives data indicative of 2-D data from controller for each of the opposing playing surfaces.