Abstract:
The present invention relates to providing direct assistance and instruction to hand placement on balls and other sporting good equipment to improve the skills for those trying to learn the sport, including but not limited to young children where early habits are formed. Without proper assistance and instruction, bad habits for hand placement are formed and limit the ability for anyone to truly excel or just enjoy the sport.

Description:
[0001]    The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/904,517, filed Nov. 15, 2013, which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to providing direct assistance and instruction to hand placement on balls and other sporting good equipment to improve the skills for those trying to learn the sport, including but not limited to young children where early habits are formed. Without proper assistance and instruction, bad habits for hand placement are formed and limit the ability for anyone to truly excel or just enjoy the sport. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Hand placement is critical and essential for shooting a basketball, passing a basketball, throwing a baseball, holding a bat, throwing a soccer ball or throwing a football. Proper hand placement assists with proper form. If the hands are properly placed on the equipment it helps correct the position of the arms in many cases. An example is the arm of the shooting hand being kept close and tucked near the body or the arms forming a ‘V’ when holding a baseball bat properly. 
         [0004]    At the present time, products that attempt to provide instruction on proper hand placement are limited to the sporting good itself (i.e. a basketball, a football, a baseball, a baseball bat, a soccer ball). These products include permanent markings on the ball or the piece of equipment. See, for example, U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 2005/0119071 and 2005/0113195. These are of limited value. Children and adults use different size balls to accommodate strength and size of hand, and different weight bats for the same reason. Left hand dominant and right hand dominant children and adults may also require different instructional equipment. Ultimately, these differences require purchasing of multiple balls or bats just for selected instruction that then cannot be used by coaches in a game or practice game. It also becomes cost prohibitive. Moreover, coaches have little nuances they sometimes try to teach the children with hand placement and permanent markings on a ball or piece of equipment prohibit this instruction. It must be emphasized that using a ball like a mini-basketball or youth basketball, a youth football, or a soft or hard cover baseball or the right weight bat is critical when teaching children a sport. They are not strong enough to use normal sized equipment and if the equipment is too heavy or too big proper hand placement is of little value. 
         [0005]    It is also difficult to teach hand placement without an aid indicating where to place his/her hands. Habits must be established and only hundreds or possibly thousands of practice repetitions will establish the correct habits. It is difficult to ask a coach or a parent to be there with the player for every practice repetition to ensure it is done properly. It just is not possible. 
         [0006]    This leads to the problem we have today. There are not enough balls or bats with the proper markings that are suitable for today&#39;s players (young and older) knowing different sizes and weights are needed as the player gets older and stronger and becomes more skilled or can accommodate left and right hand dominant players. The equipment we have today with markings are somewhat cost prohibitive for a coach to have so he/she can instruct a group of ten to twelve and then have equipment for games where such markings do not distract the players. An invention is needed to help better instruct players on the proper hand placement that is convenient, adaptable and not cost prohibitive while still accommodating the growing needs of the player. 
         [0007]    The present invention provides significant advantages when learning a sport or trying to improve skills. It is player and coach friendly and very easy to use. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    This invention focuses on having a pair of hands that can be placed on almost any piece of sporting equipment including all sizes of basketballs from mini-balls to youth to adult, similarly for footballs, soccer balls, baseballs and all different sizes of baseball bats. The hands will be sized for youths (small, medium, large) and can be left or right hand dominant as well as adults. 
         [0009]    The hands can also be supplied as a kit where the player can customize the hands to their exact size if that is desired. Each package of hands will also come with simple instructions on where to place them on the equipment. It is common knowledge that hand placement is critical and there is little argument as to where the hands need to be placed on the equipment. Nevertheless, if a coach or parent has played the game at a higher level (high school, college, semi-professional, professional), they can still make adjustments as to where they place the hands. It is a very user friendly invention. 
         [0010]    The hands are peeled off the backing of the paper. Through adhesive material on the hands, they are then placed on the ball or piece of equipment of choice. The hands will stick to any non-porous surface (textured or smooth), will not be affected by heat or cold and should not tear. They are less than paper thin and will not cause an obstruction to the player when handling the equipment. The player then places his own hands on those that were placed on the equipment and begins the repetitions in practice. This could be shooting a basketball, passing a basketball, throwing a football or soccer ball or swinging a bat in batting practice. No special equipment is needed. The invention uses the equipment the player is practicing with. It should be noted that for baseballs, the focus will be more on the finger placement and the upper portion of the hand since the entire hand is not used in throwing a baseball. 
         [0011]    This gives the player and the coach and/or parent a clear guide for the player and allows them to place their hands on those that have been secured onto the equipment and the player just needs to make sure their hands are on those as indicated. Each player will be able to practice repetition upon repetition with the correct size equipment and using correct hand placement. When the repetitions or practice for that particular drill are completed, the hands can be taken off the piece of equipment and returned to the backing of the paper (e.g., release liner) on which they were supplied or a separate sheet supplied for that purpose. The hands can be used over and over again. Also, when the hands are taken off the equipment, there is no residue that remains on the equipment. 
         [0012]    This invention allows for the player to use the current equipment which is assumed to be the correct size and weight for that age, does not require more than a minute or two to apply, can accommodate right and left hand dominant players, and provides very simple visual feedback to the player on correct placement. Over time, the player will automatically acquire the correct hand placement habit and the invention will no longer be needed, if that is the goal for that player. It can also be used for all ages from children to adult and is not cost prohibitive to implement for any parent or recreational league coach or even more highly organized programs found in schools or various leagues. 
         [0013]    Finally, the invention allows for color coding signifying where pressure should be applied and not applied. For example, in shooting a basketball for a right hand dominant player, the shot hand (right hand) needs pressure on the fingers and the ball hardly touches the palm of the hand where there is no pressure. The guide hand, which is the left hand is more the opposite. The player does not want to apply finger or thumb pressure as this will push the ball off center when the player shoots. More pressure is needed from the palm to discourage use of the guide hand for any purpose other than a guide. The coach, if he/she has their own ideas/teaching methods about pressure, can also take a color marker and mark the hands (e.g., in a color such as blue) where they want pressure and (e.g., in another color such as red) where they don&#39;t want pressure. Any colors may be selected although blue/red are known more for touch/pressure and no touch/less pressure. 
         [0014]    In one embodiment, the present invention relates to a kit useful for teaching proper hand placement on a sporting good, such as a basketball, football, or baseball. The kit includes at least one sheet of material adherable to a sporting good to provide a color distinguishable indicia in the shape of a hand indicating desired hand placement on the sporting good. The sheet is removable, repositionable, and reusable on the sporting good. Each sheet has an adhesive side, which in the kit is preferably removably adhered to a release liner. Preferably, the kit includes at least two sheets of material, one being in the shape of a left hand and the other being in the shape of a right hand. The sheets may be adhered to the same or different release liners. The kit may further include instructions for adhering the one or more sheets onto one or more sporting goods, including their proper placement on the sporting goods. The kit may also include one or more sporting goods. 
         [0015]    In one preferred embodiment, the sheet includes color coding signifying where pressure should be applied or not applied by the user. For example, pressure points can be colored blue, and points where pressure should not be applied can be colored red. 
         [0016]    Another embodiment is an instructional sporting good comprising (a) a sporting good; and (b) at least one sheet of material adhered to the sporting good to provide a color distinguishable indicia in the shape of a hand indicating desired hand placements on the sporting good. The sheet is removable, repositionable, and reusable. The sheet may be in the shape of a hand to indicate desired hand placement. The sheet may also have printed on it the shape of a hand to indicate desired hand placement. For example, the sporting may have two sheets of material adhered two it, one in the shape of a left hand and the other in the shape of a right hand. The sheets can also provide indicia demonstrating an action to take with the sporting good, and/or a legend explaining the hand placement indicia. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0017]      FIG. 1  depicts a basketball with the two materials of the present invention in the shapes of left and right hands adhered to it. 
           [0018]      FIG. 2  depicts a football with the material of the present invention adhered to it. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0019]    The material used preferably has sufficient adhesion so that it can be applied to any non-porous surface (smooth or textured and flat or curved) of a sporting good, such as a basketball, football, or baseball). The material also preferably does not tear, is sufficiently thin so as not to obstruct the player when using the equipment, and is readily removable, reusable and repositionable on the sporting good (e.g., it can be used over and over again and reapplied to the sporting good multiple times). Finally, the material preferably leave little or no residue after its removal from the sporting good. Preferably, there should be no evidence on the sporting good once the material is removed. 
         [0020]    Suitable materials include adhesive backed polyester fabrics (such as Photo Tex™ available from Photo Tex Group Inc. of Boardman, Ohio (including Photo Tex™ (OPA), Photo Tex™ (EX), and Photo Tex™ (EXS)), static cling and ultra cling vinyl substrates, and other low tack adhesive substrates. For example, the material can contain polyester and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) (e.g., the material can include about 50% polyester and about 45% PET). The print (top) side of the material can include an inkjet coating with low tack adhesive on its backside. The material can have a thickness of from about 0.001 mil to about 0.1 mil, and preferably has a thickness of from about 0.005 to about 0.05 (e.g., 0.01 mil). Decals may be printed on the print (top) side of the material, for example, using either digital or silkscreen printers and plot cutters, in any sizes and dimensions as to fit the sporting good. The material is also referred to herein as ‘hands’. 
         [0021]    The hands should be placed on the sporting good in the proper or desired position. For example, in some embodiments, the fingers cannot be too spread out and the thumb needs to be positioned correctly. There is consensus among the experts on this subject for any sport appropriate to the invention. Hands can be supplied for youth and adult with small, medium and large for both. For example, an adult kit can include sets of small, medium, and large left and right hands. Alternatively, the kit can include one size of left and right hands. The hands can be placed inside a package. Measurement requirements can be placed on the outer package to determine the correct size. The kits can also permit the user to customize the hands to their particular size. This can be very accommodating and important for players who may have an abnormality with their hands or are missing a finger or both. The kit can be packaged in singles (one set of hands) and multiples (multiple sets of hands) to accommodate individuals and teams, respectively. 
         [0022]    The material can be color coded indicating where pressure should be placed and where it should not be placed or in some instances, where the equipment should not touch the hand as in the palm of the shooting hand for a basketball or color coding the knuckles which should be lined up properly on a baseball bat. The material may also permit coaches and/or players to put their own markings concerning where pressure needs to be placed, or other markings. 
         [0023]    The kit can include simple and easy to use instructions on how to place the hands properly on sporting goods, including any included in the kit. The material allows for easy removal and adjustment while placing it on the sporting good. 
         [0024]    Once the hands are placed on the sporting good, the player just places their hands over the silhouette and immediately receives visual feedback if they have the correct placement. After numerous repetitions, the hands can be removed. The hands would be removed during games and practice scrimmages so as to not distract any player. The hands can be used with any size equipment and with existing equipment. Purchasing additional equipment is not necessary. This allows the player to continue to use existing equipment which is most likely age appropriate. 
         [0025]    When the hands are not in use, they are removed from the equipment and placed on the release liner provided and put back in the package for use at another time. They can be used over and over again due to the durability of the adhesive and lack of residue left on the equipment when removed. 
         [0026]    The kits can also permit the user to make or tailor the material to any particular size hand. The kit can include instructions as to how to create the proper silhouette of a hand while accommodating for any deficiencies or abnormality such as a missing finger or an abnormal thumb/finger that cannot be positioned due to restrictions in movement or whatever may be the cause. Such custom kits can also be used for players with abnormally large or small hands. 
         [0027]    All patents, patent applications, and publications cited herein are incorporated by reference in their entireties.