Shot Spotter

Abstract

A head mounted device is used to train the shooter in basketball shooting. The device is mounted on the forehead of the user and has a flexible pointer which is adjusted relative to the basket rim to indicate the line-of-shot. With the line-of-shot now indicated, the shooter now gives the basketball the required impetus and accuracy to reach the basket.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention is directed to a device for training basketball players and, more particularly, to a player worn device to indicate the line-of-shot between the player and the basket.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Normally, practice devices for basketball players have, in the past, consisted of attachments for the basket to affect the manner in which the ball reacted relative to the basket. Some devices were used by the player, but these were mainly gloves which the player wore and these would help in his shooting as shown by U.S. Pat. No. 2,845,628. Generally, the improvements were made in a shooter's ability to make baskets during shooting merely by having the player repeatedly shoot the basketball at the basket. By the constant trial and error method above, the shooter learned how to shoot the ball at the basket with some degree of accuracy. Often the five man basketball team consisted of one or two inherently good shooters with the other players feeding the ball to these good shooters. Little effort was spent in developing all the team members as good shooters.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention herein is a device and its use in training a basketball player in shooting baskets. The device consists of a cushioned pad with an elastic band which holds the pad in place centered on the forehead of the user. A flexible pointer has its one end fastened to the pad. The pointer has a flexible portion about midway of its length so that the pointer may be bent and orientated. On the other end of the pointer there is located a small disc or spotter.

In use the shooter/user positions the device on his forehead. The user faces straight ahead toward the basket and does not raise his head to face toward the basket. The user then raises his eyes only or uses his peripheral vision upward to see that the spotter is positioned relative to the spot on the rim of the basket directly opposite the spotter. The flexibility of the pointer enables the user to adjust the spotter relative to the rim. This adjustment is made without moving the head from its straight ahead position. The user thereafter "sees" the spotter on the rim of the basket and the entire portion of the flexible pointer defines the line-of-shot; that is, the flight path the ball should follow from the shooter to the basket. The shooter then must propel the ball with sufficient force and accuracy to follow the line-of-shot and go the distance between the shooter and the basket to secure a good shot in the basket.

One object of the device herein is to train players to shoot baskets without the lifting of their head upward toward the basket to determine whether or not he is in position to shoot. This lifting of the head is a signal to a good defenseman to set himself for a pending shot. Therefore, the device herein trains one not to telegraph his shots by lifting his head prior to shooting.

Another object of the device herein is to train players to score baskets by shots straight through the basket without the banking of the ball from the backboard. There is a great tendency to teach players to bank shots. Therefore, there is crowding under and in front of the basket because most players must bank their shots from this area. With the device herein one can shoot from further out on the playing floor and still score well.

Finally, one can use the device herein to train himself and the device herein provides one with consistently good training methods by which to train.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. I is a top view of the shot spotter device; and

FIG. II is a view of the device in use by a basketball player standing to the left side of the basket.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The invention herein is a device which trains a basketball player to shoot consistently good shots from anywhere within shooting range on the ball court. The device 2 consists of a cushioned pad 4 which has fastened to its ends, the ends of an elastic cord 6. The cord holds the pad against the forehead of the user of the device 2 (see FIG. II). The pad may be made of a vinyl material with a foam rubber backing to be worn next to the forehead.

Positioned in the center of the pad 4 and, therefore, in the center of the forehead of the user of the device 2 is a shot pointer 8. The pad 4 has a hole 10 in the center thereof. A flanged cup 12 is placed in the hole 10. The flange of the element 12 is positioned on the side of the pad 4 which rests against the forehead of the user of the device 2. The cup portion of the element 12 extends beyond the front surface of the pad 4. A washer 14 is placed around the forwardly extending part of the cup portion so that element 12 is held fast to the pad 4. One end of the pointer 8 is inserted in the cup portion of the element 12 and this holds the pointer in position relative to the center of the pad 4 and, therefore, the center of the forehead of the user of the device 2.

The pointer 8 is composed of four parts and has a length of about 41/2inches. The first section 16 is fastened to the cup 12, while the other end of the section is fastened to a flexible portion 18. The second section 20 is also connected to the flexible portion 18 which is the third part of the pointer assembly. The flexible portion permits the movement of the second section 20 relative to the first section 16 and, more particularly, permits the movement of the outer end 22 of second section 20 relative to the spot on the rim directly opposite the shooter. On the end 22 of section 20 there is placed the fourth part, the disc or spotter 24 which is similar in structure to that of flanged cap 12. It is the need to move this spotter 24 relative to the initial line of vision position of the basketball shooter toward the spot on the rim opposite the spotter 24 that necessitates the provision of the flexible section 18 between sections 16 and 20. The adjustment of the spotter to the rim is made initially before playing and will not be changed during play unless accidentally knocked out of adjustment during the playing. Once the initial adjustment is properly made, one makes all shots with that setting and shoots when the spotter is toward the spot on the rim.

The device described above is utilized in the following manner. The user of the device positions it on his head with the pad held, by the elastic band, on his forehead. The pad is positioned on the forehead so that the pointer 8 extends from the center of the forehead and most of the pointer is visible to the user of the device. The user/shooter faces straight ahead toward the direction of the basket, as shown in FIG. II, which direction of facing is shown by line 26. The shooter does not raise his head so that he is facing directly at the basket, but he is facing at some point directly below the basket. The shooter raises his eyes only or uses his peripheral vision upward to see the spotter 24 on the end of the pointer 8. The second section 20 of the pointer is adjusted upward so that the spotter 24 appears to register with the spot 28 directly opposite on the rim of the basketball basket. In other words, the line of vision 30 of the shooter extends in a straight line from his eyes along section 16, the spotter 24 and on to the spot 28 indicated on the basket rim. The portion of the pointer 8 which the shooter now sees defines the vertical plane containing the flight path direction the ball should follow from the shooter to the basket. The actual flight path of the ball is an arcuate path 32 which terminates in the basket just behind the spot 28 on the rim where the shooter appears to see the spotter 24. The actual flight path of the ball travels in the same direction as the line-of-shot which is defined for the shooter by the spot pointer affixed to his forehead.

Once the flight path direction is defined by the pointer 8, the shooter then must propel the ball with sufficient force and accuracy to follow that direction and enter the basket. The shooter aims to place the ball in the basket at a point just behind the spot where the spotter 24 appears relative to the rim. With the device herein the shooter need not limit himself to one side or spot on the floor where he can bank the ball off the backboard into the basket. The shooter can now learn to shoot from positions on the floor all around the basket. The device herein teaches the shooter to shoot the "swish" (ball entering the basket without touching the backboard). This does not mean that the backboard should not be used at all, but it does mean that the shooter can learn, by using the device herein, that he need not limit his effectiveness by always positioning himself only at a certain on-court spot from which he can bank the ball into the basket. Finally, by using the device herein, the shooter will learn to shoot baskets without the lifting of his head toward the basket and thereby telegraph to the defenseman that he is about to shoot. Since the spotter 24 is initially positioned relative to the rim without the head lifted toward the basket and all shots thereafter are to be made with the spotter placed relative to the rim to get the line-of-shot, the head will not be raised for shooting.

The method herein for the training of one to shoot a basketball at the basket is in no way limited to the specific device disclosed herein, but may be practiced with comparable or equivalent type devices.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A basketball training device for shooting the basketball at the basket, comprising, a head band, means for fastening the head band to the forehead of the one shooting the basketball, a pointer fastened to the head band and held by the head band centrally of the forehead of the one shooting the basketball, said pointer being composed of two short straight sections connected together by a flexible section, one end of one short section being fastened to the head band, the other end of said one short section being connected to the flexible section, one end of the second short section being connected to the flexible section and the other end of said second short section having affixed thereto a spotter in the form of a disc.

2. A method of training to shoot a basketball at the basket using a training device which positions a flexible pointer centrally of the forehead of the shooter, said pointer having a disc on its end opposite from the end of the pointer affixed to the forehead of the shooter, the steps comprising; facing straight ahead in the direction of the basket, but not face upward toward the basket, adjusting the disc on the end of the flexible pointer upward so that it appears to register with the spot on the rim of the basket directly opposite while keeping the head level, and shooting the basketball toward the basket in the vertical plane defined by the pointer when the disc appears to register with the spot on the rim directly opposite the spotter.