Patent ID: 7959527

Claim:
A ball hitting practice apparatus comprising: A rigid vertical shaft, with telescopic components, such that said vertical shaft can be extended, retracted, and locked into a desired length or position, with said vertical shaft having an upper first end and lower second end, wherein said lower second end is coupled to a weighted basal anchor that rests flat on a horizontal surface; A rigid horizontal shaft, with telescopic components, such that said horizontal shaft can be extended, retracted, and locked into a desired length or position, with said horizontal shaft having a first end and a second end, wherein said horizontal shaft's first end is coupled by a hub mechanism, to the upper first end of the vertical shaft; A horizontal acoustic return mechanism having a first end and a second end, coupled at said horizontal acoustic return mechanism's first end to the vertical shaft's upper first end, by a hinging mechanism that can be locked to secure the horizontal acoustic return mechanism in a desired position relative to the vertical shaft; A cord having a first and second end that is tethered by said cord's second end to a cord dock affixed to the lower second end of the vertical shaft, wherein said cord runs upward from said cord dock, and across the horizontal shaft, such that said cord's first end hangs vertically downward from the second end of said horizontal shaft; A ball that is tethered to the first end of the cord; A rigid telescopic cylindrical casing, having a first end and a second end, wherein said telescopic cylindrical casing encases the portion of the cord that hangs vertically downward from the rigid horizontal shaft, said cord portion comprising specifically that length of the cord between the second end of the horizontal shaft and the ball; A spring control mechanism that couples said telescopic cylindrical casing's upper first end to said rigid horizontal shaft's second end.