Football practice aid

A practice device for the throwing of a football, the device consisting of a football and an elasticized cord and an adjustable wrist support band with a means for connecting the cord between the football at one extremity and the wristband at its opposite extremity in combination with a means for causing to develop a spiralling trajectory when thrown.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The invention pertains to a practice device permitting an athelete to throw 
a football as a pass thrown spirally and forwardly toward a receiver, each 
so-thrown ball being returnable to the thrower, the ball being tethered. 
The salient advantage of the apparatus is that it serves as a practice tool 
for training not only throwers in the art of throwing but also receivers 
in the art of receiving spirally thrown balls. 
The ball may be thrown with different levels of velocity, being increased 
or decreased according to the improving ability of the thrower. 
One primary object hereof is to simulate in flight the spiral path of a 
regular thrown football in which the ball rotates on its long axis while 
moving through the air. 
The mechanism allows for the development of a maximum of control in the art 
of throwing a ball toward an intended target. 
By the ball retrieving system, the thrown ball may be immediately returned 
to the player for a succeeding throw thereof. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
The developed art to date has revealed the following patents: 
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U.S. Pat. No. 667,563 
Feb. 5, 1901 Oakley 
U.S. Pat. No. 672,099 
Apr. 16, 1901 
Jackson 
U.S. Pat. No. 733,024 
July 7, 1903 Gamble 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,804,409 
Apr. 16, 1974 
Schachner 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,940,133 
Feb. 24, 1976 
Civita 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,127,268 
Nov. 28, 1978 
Lindgren 
U.K. 2,263,408 July 28, 1993 
Webb 
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None of the references show the specific construction of the ball hereof. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The description will set forth rather broadly the more important features 
of the present invention in order that the invention may be better 
understood, and in order that the present contributions to the art may be 
better appreciated. 
Before explaining the invention in detail, it is understood that the 
invention is not limited in its application to the details of the 
construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the 
following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is 
capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in 
various ways. Also it is to be understood, that the phraseology and 
terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should 
not be regarded as limiting. 
It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to provide a 
new and improved tethered ball apparatus which is capable of assuming a 
spiral path in its flight when thrown, the ball rotating on its long axis 
while moving through its trajectory. 
This and other objects, aspects and features of the present invention will 
be better understood from the following detailed description of the 
preferred embodiment when read in conjunction with the appended drawing 
figures.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
In FIG. 1 is shown the complete ball retrieving apparatus wherein a 
football 10, of the well known size and shape is formed of a plastic foam 
material, and has the familiar ellipsoidal configuration. It is tethered 
by a length of elasticized bungy cord 12 which is connected at its 
opposite end to an adjustable wrist band 14 consisting of a flat, flexible 
rectangular-shaped member capable of being entrapped around the wrist of a 
thrower and having stitched thereto a pair of Velcro patches 16, which 
patches may be brought into confrontation with each other after the step 
of wrapping the band around the person's wrist has been completed, all to 
tie the tether to the thrower. 
The ball is provided with a central end-to-end hollow chamber 20 along its 
longitudinal axis, into which chamber is seated an end-to-end plastic tube 
22. 
At the rightward ball end, as viewed in FIG. 4, a right end cap 24, having 
a curved exterior surface conforming to the exterior surface of the ball, 
is provided for covering the nose of the ball in a 
hollow-chamber-enclosing manner. The right end cap also has a central, 
inwardly-projecting tubular extension 26 integral therewith, which 
extension snugly nests within the rightward terminus of tube 22, the 
extension diameter being slightly less than the tube diameter to allow 
this. 
A throw opening 28 extends centrally of the end cap and extension. 
At the leftward ball end, a left end cap 30, having a curved exterior 
surface for conforming to the exterior surface of the ball is provided for 
covering the opposite nose of the ball. 
The left end cap has a central inwardly-projecting tubular extension 32 
integral therewith, which extension is of a diameter so as to snugly fit 
around the exterior of the leftward terminus of tube 22. 
The left end cap is provided with an enlarged central through opening 34 
defining an annular shoulder 36 approximately midway therethrough. 
An end cap plug 38 is nestably receivable within the outer end of the 
opening 34 of the left end cap. 
A tubular swivel housing 40 is so dimensioned so as to be receivable within 
the left terminus of tube 22 and is provided with a flared outer annular 
rim 42 which is seatable upon the annular shoulder 36 of the left end cap. 
A swivel housing plug 42 is nestably receivable within the outer opening of 
tubular swivel housing 40. 
And a central opening 46 extends through the inner end wall of the swivel 
housing. 
The end of the tether on assembly is extended through opening 28 in the 
right end cap 24, through the length of tube 22, and through opening 46 in 
the swivel housing. 
The terminus of the tether has a cup shaped swivel 50 sleeved thereon, 
which swivel is held fast to the tether by virtue of a knot 52 formed at 
the extreme end of the tether, it being appreciated that swivel and tether 
terminus are disposed within the swivel housing when the arrangement is 
completely assembled. 
The novel arrangement of the tubular guides, allows the bungy cord to spin 
freely within the ball and imparts the spiralling motion to the ball as it 
proceeds in its trajectory, when thrown. 
An invention has been disclosed which fulfills the objects thereof as set 
forth hereinabove and provides a new and useful tethered football of 
novelty and utility. 
Slight changes and modifications or alterations in the teachings hereof may 
be contemplated by those skilled in the art without departing from the 
intended spirit and scope thereof. 
As such, it is intended that the present invention only be limited by the 
terms of the appended claims. 
The arrangement is such that the tether is loosely confined within the 
football body and is anchored at the leftware end (as viewed in FIG. 4) so 
as to allow a swivelling motion of the left end cap when the ball is in 
operational use thereby defining a twisting trajectory when thrown.