Patent ID: 9358442
Filing Date: 2016-06-07
CPC Classification: A63B,G09B

Claim Text:
1. A method for calculating a repeatability index of gestures and shots of a player striking a tennis ball with a racket, the method comprising: preliminary steps of, using the racket comprised of a handle, a frame, inside which frame is a head formed from different transverse and longitudinal strings, the head being tensed, and measurement sensors, fixed to the racket, that measure at least vibrations, i) conducting a series of shots with the racket striking a respective tennis ball in each of said shots, ii) with data from the measurement sensors, measuring vibration, angular velocity, and linear acceleration of the racket during each said shot, and iii) generating behavioral data of the racket corresponding to each said shot of the racket; wherein the shots of the racket include plural different types of hits by the racket on the tennis ball, the types of hits including at least a topspin forehand shot, a service shot, and a slice backhand shot, wherein the generated behavioral data includes data related to the measured vibration of the racket for each type of hit, the measured linear acceleration of the racket for each type of hit, and the measured angular velocity of the racket for each type of hit; playing steps of i) conducting a further series of shots with the player striking the ball with the racket, wherein the shots of the further series of shots include the plural different types of hits by the racket on the tennis ball, including the topspin forehand shot, the service shot, and the slice backhand shot, ii) using the measured vibration, the measured linear acceleration, and the measured angular velocity from said measurement sensors of the racket for each hit made in the further series of shots, measuring the vibration, the angular velocity and the linear acceleration of the racket for each shot of the further series of shots, and iii) generating second playing data of the racket corresponding to each said shot of the further series of shots; and analysis steps of i) comparing a) the measured vibration, angular velocity and linear acceleration of the racket for each shot of the further series of shots to b) the behavioral data to determine the type hit, from the plural different types of hits, being used by the player in each shot of the further series of shots, and ii) for at least the shots of a first of said determined type of hit made in the further series of shots, determining a repeatability index of the player's shots of said first type of hits, by comparing a) the second playing data for each shot of the first type of hit with b) the second playing data for other shots of the first type of hit from the further series of shots, the repeatability index indicating an ability of the player to repeat each of the first type of hit identically.