Football Training Aid

Abstract

A glove comprising a trap or palm area that is designed to receive the end section of a football is provided herein. The shape of the glove has a continuous round edge, which allows the edge to act as a funnel to guide all errant throws into the webbing of the glove. With the rounded shape of the glove, the overall width of the glove will allow for a larger surface area for successfully catching a throw. The overall width and larger surface area of the glove further serves to reduce the chance a caught football will pop out of the glove.

Description

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62 / 825,490 filed on Mar. 28, 2019 entitled “Gridiron Glove”, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONField of the invention[0002]The present invention relates generally to a football training aid, and more particularly, to a glove that allows users to more easily catch footballs while reducing the discomfort of repeated catches.Description of the Related Art[0003]Gloves are generally worn to protect the hands of the user wearing the glove. The field of sporting goods is replete with gloves that have been adapted for the particular sport being played. For example, in baseball a glove is worn to enable the wearer to catch a baseball and to reduce the force of impact. The glove protects the wearer's hand by absorbing some of the force imparted by the ball. Baseball gloves traditionally have padding built into the p...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention is a glove designed to catch a football while protecting a player's hand. The glove has a trap or palm area that can catch the end section of a football. The rounded shape of the glove allows for a larger surface area to catch the throw, reducing the chance of the football popping out. The glove is also water-resistant to provide protection in wet or damp conditions. The finger and hand area of the glove are designed to protect from soreness, injury, and fatigue caused by a football being received in the palm of the glove. The glove has layers of padding to improve flexibility and articulation, including the middle phalanx of the index finger and the proximal interphalangeal joints of the long finger. The padding architecture comprises a sheet form and is stitched in areas where improved flexibility and articulation may be required.

Problems solved by technology

While improving the ability of the glove to absorb the force of impact, the increased thickness interferes with the wearer's ability to catch a ball.

Increasing the amount of padding material provided in the baseball glove sacrifices the amount of control the wearer will have when catching a ball.

The thicker glove is more difficult to manipulate, interfering with the wearer's ability to retain the ball.

The feel of the ball is substantially diminished by the thicker padding, increasing wearer's reaction time to the impact of the ball.

Although the additional padding more effectively absorbs the force of impact, the reduced flexibility and increased response time significantly reduces the wearer's ability to catch a ball.

While gloves exist for many different sports such as baseball, hockey, lacrosse, and so on, there is no glove that has been designed for use with the sport of American football that allows a player to catch the ball more easily.

Football gloves do exist, but they are thin, fingered gloves intended to be worn by players to increase the friction or stickiness of their hand while providing minimal protection or cushioning.

These gloves do not offer significant protection or reduce injury that can occur in practice from repeatedly catching a football.

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