Multiuse reusable grip enhancers, and grip enhancing covers, and uses of said enhancers

Abstract

According to the various features, characteristics and embodiments of the present invention which will become apparent as the description thereof proceeds, the present invention provides reusable control enhancers for the arm area, in particular the wrist and forearm, as well as control enhancing covers for conventional sports arm pads, and, reusable control enhancers for the hand, in particular the fingers of the hand, and the uses thereof, and methods thereof, intended to increase the performance in arm and/or hand task activities.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0001]An important goal in playing sports is to win. Often that means proper play execution, proper form in the sports fundamentals and especially good ball control. Many of these tasks are performed by the hand, but are often also performed, to some degree, with parts of the arm (the wrists, forearm, elbow and bicep areas). Ball control and therefore proper play execution depend on adequately using the parts of the forearm, elbow and / or bicep areas to handle, strike, control or otherwise maintain possession. Inadequate play execution can result in inconsistencies and turnovers, both long standing problems in many sports, and can often determine the outcome of a game.The Need for Arm Task Enhancers[0002]In the sport of football, for example, lack of play execution is often categorized by turnovers, fumbles and incomplete passes. This is of particular concern to those players that have to control the football such as running backs, receivers, tight ends, ki...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Inadequate play execution can result in inconsistencies and turnovers, both long standing problems in many sports, and can often determine the outcome of a game.

Unfortunately, one need only view the statistics to see that fumbles persist as an insoluble problem, even at the professional level today.

Part of the problem lie in the seemingly inherently unstable and uneven way a player controls and cradles a ball when running.

Although prior art exists to increase grip around the hand, no art currently exists that will increase ones grip in the forearm area or the wrist.

Additionally, inconsistencies or incompletes often arise when a ‘stress factor’ is introduced once a receiver first touches and places the ball on their arm area.

This problem is so pronounced that many instant replay situations revolve around seeing whether the ball moves even slightly in the receivers arm—including the forearm.

As such, an unrecognized problem currently exists because it is very difficult to grip a ball with parts of the arm.

In football, unstable or weak ball control can, among other things, increase fumbles, increase incompletes and thereby increase turnovers and decrease performance.

The ability of the player to maintain control of the football was still problematic because of the lack of any grip enhancing device for the player to use; devices that could be placed on the arm such that the player could now more significantly control a ball with his arm, thereby creating a better overall grip of the football throughout the football.

As a result of this unmet need, inconsistencies and turnovers were still high in the sport.

The introduction and subsequent proliferation in the use of gloves found some success but even with these advancements, however, fumbles and incompletes still persist today.

For one, whereas a running back who uses a grip enhancing glove will be better able to properly grip a football by using his hands, his hand, and therefore the grip enhancing device, only cover the front part of the ball, leaving the rest of the ball, and therefore the overall grip, still significantly unstable.

One need only add a stress factor and this currently unstable hold on the ball can easily result in a fumble.

No improvements have been developed that could provide enhanced gripping support around the wrist area, an area that almost always touches the ball when cradling the ball.

Improvements have lacked in offering a player the ability to achieve an enhanced grip capability around the forearm area, an area that plays a major role in maintaining control of a ball when a receiver is completing a reception (as mentioned above, there are certain play situations where if there is even slight movement with any part of the ball—including the wrist or forearm areas, a pass will be considered incomplete even if the receiver actually caught the ball).

Advances have lacked in increasing one's grip around the wrist area, or in increasing ball control around the elbow or bicep areas.

In addition, no art currently exists that offers a grip enhancing device as a covering for one's sports arm pads.

For example, if a running back has a forearm pad for protection but also wants to add a grip enhancer to it, he currently cannot purchase a grip enhancer cover that he could place over his arm pad.

Given the fact that fumbles persist at the professional level and therefore certainly at the collegiate and amateur levels, one can see that past attempts to solve these problems have had limited success.

Although there are forearm, elbow and even bicep devices that could be used for protection, or simply for aesthetic purposes, no prior art exists that would enhance ball control in said areas for volleyball.

Unfortunately, this current method of passing a volleyball can provide inconsistent results.

First, the initial contact control is generally with the forearm skin of the player, and without any grip enhancing device, it can become very difficult to redirect a volleyball with consistent precision.

Additionally, a more general reason for inconsistencies is in one's inability to grip with one's forearm.

Without providing the forearm with some way to better grip a volleyball, inconsistencies in the sport of volleyball will continue to be a long-standing problem.

Although offering some advantages, using prior art creates disadvantages that often forces an individual to choose not to use any grip enhancin

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