Abstract:
A basketball handling training aid is disclosed, comprising a cover which fits over a basketball. The cover is comprised of a low-friction material which necessitates proper hand position on the basketball in order to maintain control of the ball while dribbling, and in order to achieve accuracy when passing or shooting. In one embodiment, the cover is constructed from a plurality of sections of the material and can be installed on, and removed from, an ordinary basketball as desired by the player. Various designs for fitting the cover securely on the basketball are disclosed. Alternately, the cover can be fabricated with a basketball permanently enclosed within, and the basketball/cover assembly provided as a set.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    This invention relates generally to a cover for a basketball and, more particularly, to a removable or a permanent cover for a basketball which serves as a training aid for handling the basketball, where the cover is constructed of a low-friction material which necessitates proper hand position on the basketball in order to maintain control of the ball while dribbling, passing or shooting. 
         [0003]    Discussion of the Related Art 
         [0004]    Handling a basketball—including dribbling, passing and shooting—is something that many people can do, but few people can do very well. One of the reasons most people who play basketball do not excel in the fine skills of the game is that they never learn the proper technique for handling the ball. 
         [0005]    Consider, for example, the act of dribbling a basketball. It is fairly easy to dribble a basketball on a flat floor without losing control of the ball. However, when dribbling an ordinary basketball, which offers a relatively high amount of grip or tackiness to the player&#39;s hand, some improper techniques can be developed by the player. One such undesirable technique is that the player can get away with receiving the ball in an off-center position in the hand at the top of the dribble, which is compensated for by imparting a side-spin on the ball on the down-flight. Another undesirable technique which is promoted by an ordinary basketball is “palming” the ball, or turning the hand over on the ball at the top of the dribble. 
         [0006]    Similarly, proper passing and shooting of a basketball involve techniques which can be overshadowed by friction-related compensations by the player. It would be desirable for a basketball to exhibit low friction characteristics for practice and training purposes, in order to promote proper technique and hand position on the ball. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, a basketball handling training aid is disclosed. A cover is provided which fits over a basketball. The cover is comprised of a low-friction material which necessitates proper hand position on the basketball in order to maintain control of the ball while dribbling, and in order to achieve accuracy when passing or shooting. In one embodiment, the cover is constructed from a plurality of sections of the material and can be installed on, and removed from, an ordinary basketball as desired by the player. Various designs for fitting the cover securely on the basketball are disclosed. Alternately, the cover can be fabricated with a basketball permanently enclosed within, and the basketball/cover assembly provided as a set. 
         [0008]    Additional features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is an illustration of a basketball showing proper hand position on the ball when a player is dribbling; 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  an illustration of a basketball showing how a high-friction ball surface enables improper hand position on the ball when a player is dribbling; 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is an illustration of a basketball with a low-friction training cover shown in a partially cut-away fashion; 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is an illustration of the training cover shown in  FIG. 3 , but without the basketball inside; 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  is an illustration of the basketball training cover showing a preferred embodiment where the cover is fabricated with a ball-insertion opening covered by broadly overlapping fabric panels; and 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  is an illustration of the basketball training cover showing an embodiment where the cover is fabricated with a ball-insertion opening having a zipper closure. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
       [0015]    The following discussion of the embodiments of the invention directed to a low-friction training cover for a basketball is merely exemplary in nature, and is in no way intended to limit the invention or its applications or uses. 
         [0016]    It is not particularly difficult for a person to dribble a basketball if there are no distractions. However, in a game situation where a defender is trying to steal the ball or disrupt the movement of the player dribbling the ball (the dribbler), it is imperative that the dribbler is in complete control of the ball at all times. In these situations, any mishandling or momentary loss of control of the basketball by the dribbler can be exploited by the defender. Furthermore, the dribbler needs to watch the defender and the other players on the court in order to determine what play to make, and therefore must be able to maintain ball control without looking at the ball when dribbling. 
         [0017]      FIG. 1  is an illustration of a basketball showing proper hand position on the ball when a player is dribbling. A basketball  10  is being dribbled by a player, whose hand  20  is shown. The basketball  10  is at the top of its up-flight, at the time and location where it is being received by the player&#39;s hand  20 . As would be understood by anyone familiar with the game of basketball, the player does not actually catch the ball  10  when dribbling it, but rather pushes the ball back down toward the floor so as to sustain a controlled bouncing of the ball  10 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , the hand  20  is centered over the ball  10 , such that all five fingertips and possibly the palm of the hand  20  make contact with the ball  10 . This is the optimal hand position on the ball  10 , as it maximizes hand-ball surface contact, and provides a direct downward force on the ball  10  with little or no sidespin-imparting torque. 
         [0018]      FIG. 2  an illustration of the basketball  10  showing how a high-friction ball surface allows the player to use improper hand position on the ball  10  when dribbling. In  FIG. 2 , the basketball  10  is again at the top of its up-flight, but in this case the hand  20  is not centered on the ball  10 . It can be seen that the hand  20  is positioned to the left of the center of the ball  10 , resulting in a situation where only two fingertips of the hand  20  come in contact with the ball  10 . Because the ball  10  is designed to have a relatively high-friction surface, the player can maintain some semblance of control over the ball  10  in the  FIG. 2  situation, as the right-most two fingertips can still impart a downward force, and the friction is high enough to prevent the ball  10  from slipping away to the right of the hand  20 . 
         [0019]    However, the situation shown in  FIG. 2  has some undesirable consequences in terms of ball control. First, the ball  10  will not be propelled straight down from the hand  20 , but rather down and to the right. This is due to the center of gravity of the ball  10  being to the right of the center of force from the hand  20 , and due to the inevitable wrist rotation causing the right-most two fingertips on the hand  20  to have a perpendicular vector which is oriented down and to the right. Because the ball is propelled down and to the right, the player will have to adjust his/her hand position on the next up-flight of the ball to compensate. Second, the off-center push from the fingers of the hand  20  will apply a torque to the ball  10 , causing the ball  10  to pick up a rotation or side-spin on the down-flight. This side-spin will further affect the line on which the ball  10  bounces after contacting the floor. Of course, similar undesirable consequences result from other off-center hand-ball contact—including the ball  10  being too far to the left of the hand  20 , the ball  10  being too far past the fingertips (too far from the body), the ball  10  contacting only the palm of the hand  20 , etc. 
         [0020]    The player can likely compensate for an unintentional zig-zagging ball motion in a solo dribbling environment—by watching the ball  10  as it bounces up off the floor and moving his/her hand accordingly—and in fact the player may not even realize that he/she is doing so. But in a game situation, the required compensations will likely cause the dribbler to look down at the ball  10  in order to regain control, thereby enabling a defender to steal the ball  10  or at least knock it away. It is far better for the player to develop a dribbling technique which is sustainable without having to look at the basketball  10 . Such a dribbling technique is possible with proper hand position on the ball  10 . 
         [0021]    For the reasons discussed above, it would be desirable to provide a basketball training environment where, in the off-center hand condition shown in  FIG. 2 , the player would lose control of the ball  10 . This sort of training environment would reinforce the proper hand position on every touch of the ball  10 , because the ball  10  would immediately slip away from the player if the hand  20  is positioned too far off center. With continuous reinforcement of proper hand position during dribbling, the player will subconsciously develop better ball handling skills, without needing to look down at the ball when dribbling. Such a training environment can be established by providing a low-friction cover over the ball  10  as discussed below. 
         [0022]      FIG. 3  is an illustration of the basketball  10  with a low-friction training cover  30  shown in a partially cut-away fashion. The cover  30  is made of a low-friction (silk-like) material, and is designed to completely cover the basketball  10 . The cover  30  is comprised of sections  32  which are stitched together to form a spherical shape. The cover  30  is made to fit tightly over the ball  10 , without any excess material or bagginess that would disrupt bouncing or handling. As discussed above, the cover  30  has a surface friction which is low enough that, if the dribbler receives the ball  10  with an off-center hand position, as in  FIG. 2 , the ball  10  will slip away and the player will lose control of the ball  10 . Several material and construction embodiments of the cover  30  are discussed below. 
         [0023]      FIGS. 4 and 5  are illustrations of the basketball training cover  30  showing a preferred embodiment where the cover  30  is fabricated with a ball-insertion opening  34  bounded by broad fabric panels  36 / 38 , which may overlap or abut to close the opening  34  after the ball  10  is inserted. The opening  34  allows the ball  10  to be selectively inserted into or removed from the cover  30 .  FIG. 4  shows the cover  30  without the basketball  10  inside, and the ball-insertion opening  34  opened widely, from where the fabric can be stretched to fit the ball  10  through the opening  34 .  FIG. 5  shows the cover  30  with the ball  10  inside, and the opening  34  closed tightly over the ball  10 , ready to be used. 
         [0024]    The design shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5  allows the cover  30  to be installed on the basketball  10  when the player wants to practice with the ball  10  in the low-friction training mode, and the cover  30  can be removed from the ball  10  as desired. The cover  30  can be constructed by sewing together a plurality of individual fabric sections  32 . One embodiment (shown) includes a number (such as six or eight) of identical almond-shaped fabric sections  32  which can be joined by stitching or otherwise into a spherical shape. In another embodiment, the fabric sections  32  have shapes which match the shapes of the sections (between the black lines) on the skin of the basketball  10 . Still further embodiments include any combination and pattern of shapes which are used on the skin of other spherical balls—such as baseballs, soccer balls and volleyballs. Additionally, the cover  30  may be comprised of a single piece of fabric with a shape which can be wrapped into a sphere and stitched at the seams. Such a single piece of fabric may have a shape such as that used in world maps where the spherical surface of the Earth is approximated as a flat surface consisting of a number of irregular joined-together lobes, or a “flower” shape with a center and a number of petals extending radially outward from the center. 
         [0025]    In the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the ball-insertion opening  34  is bounded by overlapping fabric panels  36  and  38  on opposing edges. The basketball  10  is inserted through the opening  34  ( FIG. 4 ), and the overlapping panels  36  and  38  close over the ball  10  and lay flat thereon ( FIG. 5 —ball  10  visible in small cut-away). Inserting the ball  10  into the opening  34  may preferably include stretching the fabric of the cover  30 . The greater the degree of stretch allowed by the fabric, the smaller the opening  34  can be made. It is desirable to use a stretchy fabric and make the opening  34  as small as possible, as this minimizes any effects of the overlapping panels  36 / 38  while dribbling the ball  10 . The use of a stretchy fabric also allows the entire cover  30  to be made in a size which is slightly smaller than the ball  10 , such that the cover  30  stretches and fits tightly on the ball  10  when installed. The overlapping panels  36 / 38  may be provided with hook-and-loop fastener patches to provide a positive closure mechanism, or the design of the cover  30  may rely on the fact that the overlapping panels  36 / 38  will naturally tend to close the opening  34  when the cover  30  is stretched tightly over the basketball  10 . 
         [0026]    The cover  30 , with the overlapping panels  36 / 38 , may be reversible, such that the cover  30  can be turned inside out to reverse the inside and outside surface of the fabric. Reversibility of the cover  30  may be desirable to expose a new outside surface of the fabric if the previously-used outside surface of the fabric becomes worn or dirty through use. 
         [0027]    In another embodiment, the panels  36 / 38  which bound the opening  34  do not overlap when closed, but rather abut edges. This embodiment avoids increasing the thickness of the cover  30  in the area of the opening  34 , thereby offering a potentially truer bounce. In still another embodiment, the panels  36 / 38  are omitted from the cover  30 , and the opening  34  is simply a slit in the material or an unstitched seam between the sections  32 . This embodiment, without the fabric panels  36 / 38 , would have no surface irregularities and therefore would offer a very straight and true bounce. 
         [0028]      FIG. 6  is an illustration of a basketball training cover  40  showing an embodiment where the cover  40  is fabricated with a ball-insertion opening having a zipper closure. In this embodiment, instead of overlapping or abutting fabric panels, an opening  44  is bounded by a zipper  46 . The zipper  46  can be zipped closed after the ball  10  is inserted, thereby providing a secure and tight fit of the cover  40  on the ball  10 . A zipper fly panel (not shown, for clarity) can be provided which lies over the zipper  46  to minimize bad bounces, where the zipper fly panel has a design as commonly used in articles of apparel such as trousers. The zipper  46  may be of any suitable type—including the type that is completely separable at the start end, as is commonly found on an outerwear jacket. Separability of the two sides of the zipper  46  allows the zipper  46  to be made smaller while still allowing the ball  10  to be inserted into the cover  40 , including allowing fabric stretch to increase the size of the opening  44  during ball insertion. 
         [0029]    In any of the designs of the covers  30 / 40  with a ball-insertion opening  34 / 44 , it is likely that the stitching would be reinforced at the ends of the opening for added strength. 
         [0030]    The designs for the covers  30 / 40  as shown in  FIGS. 4-6  are desirable because they allow the covers  30 / 40  to be put onto and taken off of the basketball  10  as desired by the player. For example, the basketball  10  could be a ball that the player already owns; the cover  30 / 40  could be installed on the ball  10  for practice and training, and the cover  30 / 40  could be removed for regular usage of the ball  10  in a game. 
         [0031]    The cover  30  could also be fabricated so that it is permanently fitted on the ball  10 , and the combination ball/cover provided as a complete assembly. This embodiment has the advantage of eliminating any non-uniformities associated with openings for a removable ball. A permanent version of the cover  30  could be produced by stitching together all of the panels of the cover  30  except for one seam, then inserting the ball  10  in an uninflated or partially-inflated condition. The stitching of the remaining seam could then be completed, resulting in the cover  30  being complete and fully stitched, with the ball  10  still uninflated. An inflation needle can then be inserted through the fabric of the cover  30  and into the valve of the ball  10  for ball inflation. The technique described here, where the stitching of the cover  30  is completed with the ball uninflated, may be desirable because it provides slack material to make the final stitching easier to accomplish. The technique also allows for the cover  30  to be fabricated in a size which will fit tightly on the ball  10  when the ball  10  is fully inflated. Alternately, the cover  30  could be permanently fabricated directly over a fully inflated ball. 
         [0032]    Other types of removable basketball training cover designs could also be provided. Examples include a one-piece clam-shell design (two halves attached only across a short portion of the adjoining edges) and a two-piece design with either a circumferential zipper or hook-and-loop fastener, where these designs allow for easy insertion and removal of the basketball  10 . 
         [0033]    A variety of different materials could be used for the fabric sections  32  of the cover  30 / 40 . Material examples include, but are not limited to, charmeuse, rayon-polyester blend spandex, silk and any other low-friction material. Low coefficient of friction, at least on the outside of the material, is essential for the intended purpose. A coefficient of friction of 0.4 or lower (between the material of the fabric sections  32  and the hand  20  of the player) is desirable, where the value of 0.4 is significantly lower than the coefficient of friction between the basketball  10  and the hand  20 . As discussed above, it is also desirable for the material to have a fairly large amount of stretchiness, which allows the size of the ball opening  34  or  44  to be minimized, and also allows the nominal cover size to be made slightly smaller than the basketball size—thereby providing a tight fit of the cover  30 / 40  over the ball  10 . 
         [0034]    Basketballs are made in several different standard sizes, ranging from small sizes intended for use by young players through “full-size” balls used by collegiate and professional players. All of the designs of the cover  30 / 40  described above and shown in the figures would be provided in a variety of sizes to fit all of the standard basketball sizes—including, but not limited to, basketballs with a nominal circumference of 22.0″, 25.5″, 27.5″, 28.5″ and 29.5″. 
         [0035]    The low-friction basketball cover discussed above provides for a training environment in which a player can develop improved ball handling skills. By virtue of its low-friction surface which causes the player to immediately lose control of the ball if improper hand position is used, the training cover continuously reinforces proper hand position when dribbling the basketball, thereby giving the player the skill and confidence needed to dribble without looking at the ball in game situations. 
         [0036]    The foregoing discussion discloses and describes merely exemplary embodiments of the present invention. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from such discussion and from the accompanying drawings and claims that various changes, modifications and variations can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.