Abstract:
An apparatus is described that includes a bat handle and a bunt element within a region of space extending from the baseball bat handle where a meat portion of a bat would exist if the bat handle was part of a baseball or softball bat. The bunt element has solid material in a first location of the region of space that is struck by a pitched ball that first meets the region of space within a bunt window on the region of space. The bunt element has empty space in a second location of the region of space that is struck by a pitched ball that first meets the region of space outside the bunt window.

Description:
CLAIM TO PRIORITY 
       [0001]    This application is continuation and claims the benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/771,152, filed on Apr. 30, 2010 entitled, “Bunting Practice Bat” which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    In the sport of baseball or softball, bunting is a special skill that is difficult to master. Even at the professional level, full time coaching staffs have been known to rely on an outside bunting specialist to teach bunting skills during spring training. 
         [0003]    Bunting requires a degree of hand-eye coordination that is comparable to (and possibly even exceeds that) of hitting a baseball or softball. A bunt is most often used to advance a base runner by placing a (bunted) ball with a dampened velocity along one of the base lines. The low velocity in combination with the deliberate placement causes the ball to linger within the infield a maximum distance away from the fielders who are responsible for fielding it. The fielders must therefore run a significant distance in order to field the ball which gives the base runner sufficient time to safely reach the next base. 
         [0004]    As observed in  FIG. 1A , according to one technique, bunting involves a correctly positioned batter stabbing downward at the ball toward one of the base lines. The downward motion of the bat causes the ball to hit the ground at a steep angle which dampens the speed of the ball. In order to successfully bunt the ball (in either the manner described above or an alternative manner), ideally, the ball first makes contact with the bat within a window (hereinafter the “bunt window”) on the bat surface. As observed in  FIGS. 1B and 1C  the window  101  is centered approximately: 1) along the length axis (γ) of the bat, off the tip end of the bat within the “meat” end of the bat; and, 2) along the width axis (χ) of the bat surface facing the field of play, in the middle of the bat. The precision at which the batter attempts to place the bat is apparent from  FIG. 1C . Here, even if the batter is successful at the lengthwise placement of the bat such that the ball hits the “meat” of the bat, if the batter places the bat too high, the ball will strike the ground at too sharp an angle  102  (which would effectively stop the ball rather than dampen its speed), or, if the batter places the bat too low, the ball will project upward  103  for an easy fly-out (that fails to advance the runner). Placing the bat such that the ball strikes the bunting window causes the ball to strike the ground at, for example, appropriate angles  101 A and/or  101 B. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0005]    The present invention is illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references indicate similar elements and in which: 
           [0006]      FIGS. 1A-C  show various aspects of bunting; 
           [0007]      FIGS. 2A-C  show a first embodiment of a bunting practice bat; 
           [0008]      FIGS. 3A-C  show a second embodiment of a bunting practice bat 
           [0009]      FIGS. 4A-C  shows a third embodiment of a bunting practice bat; 
           [0010]      FIGS. 5A-C  shows a fourth embodiment of a bunting practice bat; 
           [0011]      FIGS. 6A-C  shows a fifth embodiment of a bunting practice bat; 
           [0012]      FIG. 7  shows a sixth embodiment of a bunting practice bat; 
           [0013]      FIG. 8  shows a seventh embodiment of a bunting practice bat. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0014]    Disclosed herein are various embodiments of a practice device for developing a player&#39;s bunting skills. A perspective on the various embodiments disclosed herein is that the practice device should be shaped like a baseball bat in various respects yet have modifying features that force the player to focus his/her hand-eye coordination to the positioning and timing needed to bunt correctly. Continued use should result in the player eventually developing a natural feel for proper bunting. 
         [0015]    An example of a first embodiment is observed in FIGS.  2 A,B,C. As observed, the practice bat has many features of a typical baseball or softball bat in terms of the shape of the handle extending out toward the region  201  of the aforementioned “bunt window” on the bat where a successfully bunted ball is supposed to hit the bat. At the region of the bunt window  201 , however, the bat is modified with a structure (“bunt element”) designed to result in a solid hit on the ball only if the batter has positioned the bat correctly. 
         [0016]    FIGS.  3 A,B,C show another embodiment designed with a bunt element whose feedback mechanism is inverse to the mechanism described just above. That is, the bunt element includes, at the region of the bunt window  301 , a hole that is placed to result in a “miss” on the ball if the batter has positioned the bat correctly. 
         [0017]    In either of the embodiments above, the batter is given pronounced feedback with respect to the position of the bat (“hit” or “miss”) that causes the batter to better focus his/her hand-eye coordination concerning the placement of the bat while bunting. For instance, a player being developed with the practice bat of FIGS.  2 A,B,C may, at first, fail to make little if any contact with a series of pitched balls. Over time, however, with repeated pitches, the player should eventually learn/develop where the bat needs to be positioned in order to make solid contact with the ball. Development of this skill should translate into successful bunts with a real baseball or softball bat. 
         [0018]    Likewise, if the practice bat of FIGS.  3 A,B,C is used, the player may fail to miss the ball at first. But with practice, the player will learn where the bat needs to be positioned in order to miss the ball. Development of this skill should, again, automatically translate into successful bunts with a real baseball bat or softball bat. 
         [0019]    Various practice bat embodiments can be implemented with either or both of the two approaches described above. FIGS.  4 A,B,C show the bunt element of FIGS.  2 A,B,C modified to better replicate the surface area of the bunt window  401  as it exists on an actual baseball bat or softball bat. 
         [0020]    FIGS.  5 A,B,C show the bunt element embodiment of FIGS.  4 A,B,C with one of the edges  502  being “full width” to give the batter a wider surface area to make contact with (the edge may be rounded as observed in FIGS.  4 A,B,C, or, for example, squared off) and the other of the edges  503  being “tapered” to give the batter a thinner surface area to make contact with. Here, for example, when initially using the practice bat as a development tool, the player may use the wider edge  502  to “coarsely” develop his/her bat placement skills. Once the player has become proficient at making contact with wider edge  502 , the player may then begin to use the narrowed edge  503  to “finely” develop his/her bat placement skills. 
         [0021]    FIGS.  6 A,B,C show a combined approach that integrates the design approach of FIGS.  5 A,B,C with the design approach of FIGS.  3 A,B,C. Here, three different learning styles can be attempted with a single bat design. Depending on how the player orients the bat relative to the pitched ball, the player can coarsely develop his/her bat position with the wide edge  602 , finely develop his/her bat positioning with the narrowed edge  603 , or, use a “miss” rather than “hit” feedback approach by attempting to “miss” the ball through the hole  601 . Notably, for the particular example of  FIGS. 6A , B, C, edges  602 ,  603  extend beyond the barrel of the bat. In an alternative embodiment, the edges may lie on a surface that corresponds to a normal bat barrel such as the edges observed in  FIG. 4B . 
         [0022]    FIGS.  6 A,B,C also show that differently shaped edges may be used for “fine” development. That is, for example, whereas FIGS.  5 A,B,C show a rounded narrowing edge, FIGS.  6 A,B,C show a more linearly narrowing edge. Here, any narrowing of an edge, when viewing a cross section of the bat perpendicular to its length axis, may be referred to as tapered. Thus, various tapered shapes may exist such as rounded, linear, etc. 
         [0023]    FIGS.  6 A,B,C also show the placement of slugs  604  within the practice bat. The slugs  604  are meant to give the bat approximately normal weight and balance given its length (e.g, so the “pull” felt by the batter is approximately the same as the pull the batter would feel for a normal bat of same length). As the various features described herein may correspond to less bat mass as compared to a similarly sized unmodified normal bat, the presence of slugs  604  act to compensate for the loss of mass. Other approaches may also be undertaken to compensate for such lost mass in the alternative or in combination to slugs. For instance, a sheet of dense material may be specially cut and affixed to a certain region (e.g., the end region) of the bunt element to compensate for the lost mass and provide for approximate balance and weight of a normal bat. A perhaps even simpler approach is to attach a disk at the end of the practice bat to give the bat the proper balance and weight compensation. Disks are discussed in more detail further below. 
         [0024]      FIG. 7  shows a practice bat having an adjustable “window” position. Here, for instance, as different players have different bat lengths, it may not be cost effective (e.g. for a baseball or softball team) to have different practice bats of different corresponding bat lengths. As such, the bunt element of the practice bat of  FIG. 7  can be adjustably positioned along the bat&#39;s length. By adjusting the bunt element to different positions along the bat&#39;s lengthwise axis, a single bat can be used to train a number of different players having a range of different bat length preferences. According to the embodiment of  FIG. 7 , the handle portion has a hollowed region  701  in which a guide member  702  of the bunt element slides in order to effect a particular effective bat length. Here, a particular bat length is established by setting one or more pegs through one or more pre set holes in the handle and one of the holes along the guide of the bunt element. 
         [0025]      FIG. 8  shows an alternate approach in which the handle has one or more fixed guides  801  along which the bunt element slides in order to effect a particular bat length. Here, the one or more guides  801  have a number of holes for establishing different effective bat lengths and the bunt element has one or more preset holes in which to insert corresponding pegs into the guide(s). Different weights/slugs may be needed to produce the proper weight and balance for each different length. Here, as just one approach, a collection of disks may be made available, where, each disk has a different weight to produce the correct weight/balance for a specific effective bat length. As observed back in  FIG. 7 , a particular disk  703  (or particular combination of disks) is attached to the end of the bunt element with (such as with a threaded bolt that threads into a weight mount fixture (e.g., a threaded opening) that is fixed into the end of the bunt element  702 ) to effect the correct weight and balance for a particular bat length. 
         [0026]    In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will, however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.