Abstract:
A football receiving target for practicing place-kicking and improving kicking skills at various distances. The target includes a vertically disposed rim structure, a net secured to the rim, and a pocket sewn in the net to receive footballs. The perimeter of the pocket opening is outlined with a pair of vertical straps and a horizontal strap to simulate the uprights and cross bar of a football goal post. A pair of removable auxiliary straps extend from the rim to the horizontal strap to limit the area of the pocket opening for practicing place kicks at different distances.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention pertains to an improved football practicing target which permits a kicker to practice place kicking without the assistance of a companion player who can receive and return the kicked balls promptly to the practice kicker, while at the same time gives the practice kicker an opportunity to practice place kicks of varying distances and improve his kicking accuracy. 
     Modern football is a game of specialists who can perform a specific task well. One such specialist is a place-kicker who is required to kick a football, held on a playing surface by another player, various distances at varying trajectories with a great degree of accuracy. To acquire these skills, a place-kicker puts in many long hours of practice perfecting his skills in kicking a football at different distances. On many of these practice sessions the kicker is unable to find a companion player to receive and return the kicked balls; therefore, he must use a number of footballs and retrieve them himself or use one of the presently available football practice targets. While a number of football practice targets are available, such, for the most part, are limited in their use. Some recently proposed practice targets include net structures which absorb the force of the kicked ball, while others simulate the goalpost and thereby afford and opportunity to practice place-kicking accuracy. However, these devices require the practice kicker to move farther from the target to simulate longer distances and, as such, a missed attempt may carry beyond the target requiring the kicker to stop practice to retrieve the loose balls. 
     Representative of the available practice target devices are those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,472,511; 3,675,922; 3,820,787; and 3,856,301. These prior art devices are suitable for limited place-kicking situations; however, they are not designed for a full range of actual football situations with which a place-kicker is presented in a game. With a greater importance on field goals and extra points in the game of football, greater emphasis is placed on a kicker being able to go into the game and accurately kick a football through the goalpost uprights from any distance. The further the kicker is from the goalpost the smaller the target becomes; therefore, he must be able to concentrate on practicing accuracy by kicking as many as possible kicks at different distances without worrying about running down loose balls. 
     Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 3,820,787 is directed to a football kicking device embodying a target formed by a rectangular frame simulating the cross bar and vertical posts of a goalpost, on which frame is mounted a flexible bag having its mouth connected to the frame, and of a length to loosely depend from the frame and operative to receive and retain a football which is kicked into it. The horizontal bar of the frame is vertically adjustable in accordance with the distance of the simulated kick. In addition, the distance between the upright arms of the frame is adjustable so as to vary the width of the target in dependence upon the distance of the simulated kick. However, any kick wide of the target will not be caught by the net and will have to be retrieved by the kicker. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,856,301 shows a portable frame and net for catching a football during practice kicking, the net being normally slack so as to move rearwardly and upwardly when a football is kicked into it. 
     In U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,472,511 and 3,675,922 devices for practicing field goal kicking are disclosed which include portable goal marks which rest on the ground and are adjustable to provide the proper target for kicks of varying distances. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention provides a portable football practice target adapted for practicing place kicks of varying distances without the use of a regulation goalpost comprising: 
     a. a vertically disposed rim; 
     b. a net secured to the rim, said net having a cut-out; 
     c. a pocket having an open end and a closed end, the open end of the pocket being attached to the perimeter of the cut-out; 
     d. a pair of vertical straps and a horizontal strap fixed to the net substantially outlining the perimeter of the cut-out; and 
     e. a pair of removable auxiliary straps for positioning over the open end of the pocket thereby limiting the size of the opening, the straps hanging vertically from the rim and attachable to the horizontal strap. 
     It is a primary object of this invention to provide a football practice target which will provide the kicker with a device that will aid in improving his skills in placekicking accuracy from various distances. 
     A further object is to provide a football receiving target that will allow the kicker to retrieve his own kicked footballs with a minimum of ball-return time, and to practice his kicking art in a studious isolated environment, away from the usual practice crowd, alone, and undisturbed by others around him. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a football practice target that can be readily employed for either permanent or temporary durations at practically any out-of-door location, including vacant lots and backyards of urban areas, at play-yards, at &#34;sandlots&#34;, and even indoors as within gymnasia. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a football goalpost assembly that is readily assemblable and disassemblable, i.e., dismantleadable, for ease in erection at any desired location, for interim storage, and for shipment between geographically remote locations. 
     It is a further object to provide a football goalpost assembly that is readily portable for relatively short distances in the assembled form thereof. 
     It is yet another object to provide a football goalpost assembly having a target member that is dimensionally selectively variable, appropriate to site conditions and to the development of kicking skills, even for younger and physically less mature players. 
    
    
     Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following detailed description thereof and the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a football practice target embodying the invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a further perspective view of the football practice target of FIG. 1 receiving a kicked ball; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a disassembled supporting frame for a football practice target embodying the invention; 
     FIG. 4 is a front view of the football practice target of FIG. 1, including auxiliary straps for limiting the width of the target; 
     FIG. 5 is a vertical cross-sectional view taken along the line 5--5 of FIG. 4; 
     FIG. 6 is a horizontal cross-sectional view taken along the line 6--6 of FIG. 4; and 
     FIG. 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of the football practice target showing one of the removable auxiliary straps prior to being attached. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown therein a football practice target generally designated by the reference numeral 2. Practice target 2 includes a frame 4 (shown in FIG. 3) designed to support a backstop net 6 in a vertically disposed position. The net 6 has a rectangular cut-out extending from the top of the net to about 18 inches from the bottom of the net and having a width X (FIG. 1) of about 20 inches centered equally between the side edges of the net. It has been determined that a cut-out beginning 18 inches from the bottom of the net and 20 inches wide is the proper scaled height and width for practicing extra points when a ball is placed 4 feet in front of the net. Sewn to the perimeter of the cut-out is a pocket 8 with an open end 10 and a closed end 12, best shown in FIG. 5. Surrounding the perimeter of the cut-out in net 6 are vertical straps 14 and 16 and horizontal strap 18. Integral with horizontal strap 18 is sleeve 20 adapted to contain a weight W. The sleeve 20 will hang in back of the net 6 so as not to interfere with a kicked ball. 
     At the corners where vertical straps 14 and 16 and horizontal strap 18 intersect there are tabs 22 and 24. These tabs extend horizontally part way across the opening of pocket 8. The tabs 22 and 24 can be sewn to the net during assembly of the vertical straps and horizontal strap to make a better reinforced finished structure. The face of the tabs 22 and 24 exposed to the front of the net 6 are covered with a self-adhering gripping material 25, adapted to secure a pair of auxiliary straps to the practice target, as will be discussed later. Tabs 22 and 24 may be replaced by a continuous strip of gripping material secured to the front face of horizontal strap 18. 
     The frame 4 shown in FIG. 3 is a knock-down construction having a U-shaped tubular base 30 and a pair of substantially identical L-shaped vertical tubular members 32 and 34. The short horizontal legs of the L-shaped tubular members 32 and 34 are connected together by a connecting pin 36 which is fixed to one of the L-shaped members and slidably connected with the other. When assembled the L-shaped members form a U-shaped rim 4 which is attached to U-shaped base 30 by sliding the free ends of the U-shaped rim 4 over a pair of connecting pins 40 and 42 which are firmly secured to the upstanding free ends of U-shaped base 30. 
     In FIG. 4 a pair of vertically extending auxiliary straps 26 and 28 are shown removably attached to the horizontal cross bar of the rim 4 and to gripping surfaces 25 of tabs 22 and 24. The auxiliary straps are parallel to vertical straps 14 and 16 with auxiliary strap 26 attached to tab 22 and auxiliary strap 28 attached to tab 24. It can be seen that the width of the open end 10 of pocket 8 is thus limited to the distance between auxiliary straps 26 and 28. It is obvious that the width of the opening 10 can be adjusted by moving the straps 26 and 28 either closer together or further apart. The auxiliary straps 26 and 28 have gripping surfaces 44 and 46 for securing the upper ends of the straps around rim 28, as shown in FIG. 7 where only strap 26 is shown. The strap 26 is wrapped over the horizontal cross bar of rim 38 and gripping surface 44 is secured to gripping surface 46. The auxiliary strap 26 is stretched and a gripping surface 48 is secured to gripping surface 25 of tab 22. There may also be provided a pair of secondary gripping surfaces 50 and 52 in identical locations on auxiliary straps 26 and 28 for raising the position of an auxiliary horizontal cross strap (not shown) to further limit the area of the pocket opening. The gripping surfaces 44, 46 and 48 on the auxiliary 26 and 28 straps and gripping surfaces 25 on tabs 22 and 24 may be of a self-adhering or adhesive material such as Velcro, or some other self-sticking material. 
     As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 5 and 7, sleeve 20 is provided a weight W extending horizontally beneath strap 18 which forms the bottom edge of the target cut-out in net 6. When a football is kicked into pocket 8, the weight W aids in absorbing the force of the ball as the pocket 8 is extended upwardly and rearwardly. In addition, the weight W maintains the rectangular configuration of the target cutout by pulling downward on the vertical and horizontal straps to simulate a goalpost. 
     It may be necessary to balance the practice target 2 against tipping over from the force of a kicked football received in pocket 8. To this end, the U-shaped tubular base 30 can be filled with sand 54 or some other material to give the base added weight, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. 
     The net 6 and pocket 8 may be made of any of the conventional cellulose or synthetic fiber cords or synthetic strands commonly used in net making. It is also to be understood that the net and pocket may be formed as an integral structure, in which case vertical straps 14 and 16 and horizontal strap 18 will still define the perimeter of opening 10 of pocket 8. 
     The material used to make the straps may be a woven or a non-woven fabric of cellulose, nylon or synthetic plastic. It is also contemplated that the front surfaces of vertical straps 14 and 16 may have gripping surfaces to retain auxiliary straps 26 and 28 when not in use. 
     To use the football practice target 2, a football F if placed on a tee or held on the ground by a player at least 4 feet from the target. Facing the target the kicker should align himself and the ball with the center of the pocket opening 10. The vertical straps 14 and 16 and horizontal strap 18 simulate a goalpost; and when not using the auxiliary straps 24 and 26, the opening 10 of the pocket 8 is approximately the scaled size of a goalpost upright and cross bar when kicking an extra point. Field goal kicks of different distances are practiced without moving the ball further back from the target 2 by using the auxiliary straps 24 and 26 as described above to limit the size of the open end 10 of pocket 8. By moving the auxiliary straps closer to the center of the opening, the size of the target is further restricted, simulating the distance of longer field goals. To practice trajectory, an auxiliary horizontal strap (not shown) can be used to raise the level of the cross bar requiring the ball to be kicked in a higher trajectory. 
     Although only one specific form of football practice device has been described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it will be understood that various modifications and changes may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the inventive concept. Reference should therefore be had to the appended claims for a definition of the scope of the invention.