Racquet sports training devices and methods

Abstract

Racquet sports training aids are disclosed to provide racquet stroke training to a user. Certain embodiments will include a stand assembly having an upright support post and a ball attachment assembly carrying a target ball. The ball attachment assembly is pivotally moveable between a first position to present the target ball at an extended location where the target ball is adapted to being struck by a racquet, and a second position where the target ball is pivotally displaced to a retracted location relative to the extended location. According to some embodiments, a stand attachment assembly is provided which operatively attaches the ball attachment assembly to the upright support post of the stand assembly to allow for reciprocal selective height and angular orientation adjustments of the target ball relative to the upright support post of the stand assembly. Other embodiments may include an elastomeric force dampener to dampen inertial forces of the drum assembly during use.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This US Utility Patent Application is related to U.S. design patent application Ser. No. xx / xxx,xxx (Atty. Dkt. No. BHD-6456-0012) filed concurrently herewith, the entire content of which is expressly incorporated hereinto by reference.FIELD

[0002] The embodiments disclosed herein relate generally to training aids that allow a player to practice a variety of racquet strokes to hit balls associated with racquet sports.BACKGROUND

[0003] There are a variety of training aids that have been proposed which allow a player to practice racquet strokes to hit a ball associated with racquet sports to achieve desired ball spin and location. See in this regard, U.S. Pat. No. 9,623,312 and U.S. Design Pat. No. D838,330, the entire content of each being expressly incorporated hereinto by reference.

[0004] Although the racquet sports training aids that have been proposed to date are satisfactory for their intended purpose, there is still a need for improvements to allow a wider variety of practice racquet strokes. For example, it would especially be desirable if the stroke guide and target ball could be angled relative to vertical to allow a player to practice different strokes to impart not only top spin on the target ball but also slicing spins and side spins. Further, it would be desirable to allow greater positional adjustment of the target ball to accommodate players of varying sizes and / or to all one to train for different types of racquet strokes. Different stroke guides would also be desirable to train the player on proper racquet placement relative to the target ball.

[0005] It would therefore be highly desirable if a racquet sports training aid could be devised which fulfills the desirable improvements noted above. It is therefore towards providing such improvements that the embodiments disclosed herein are directed.SUMMARY

[0006] Broadly, the embodiments disclosed herein relate to racquet sports training aids which provide racquet stroke training to a user. More specifically, certain embodiments will include a stand assembly having an upright support post and a ball attachment assembly carrying a target ball. The ball attachment assembly is pivotally moveable between a first position to present the target ball at an extended location where the target ball is adapted to being struck by a racquet, and a second position where the target ball is pivotally displaced to a retracted location relative to the extended location. A stand attachment assembly is provided which operatively attaches the ball attachment assembly to the upright support post of the stand assembly to allow for reciprocal selective height and angular orientation adjustments of the target ball relative to the upright support post of the stand assembly.

[0007] According to some embodiments, the ball attachment assembly may include a support rod to connect the ball attachment assembly to the stand attachment assembly to allow for reciprocal rotations of the ball attachment assembly about an elongated axis thereof and thereby allow the target ball to be presented at selected different angular orientations. The ball attachment assembly may also include a housing, a drum assembly mounted to the housing for rotational movement about a drum axis to allow the drum assembly to be rotationally moved between the first and second positions. A ball support rod may be connected to and outwardly project from the drum assembly, the ball support rod having a terminal spindle defining a spindle axis parallel to the drum axis. The target ball is thus mounted to the terminal spindle to allow the target ball to spin about the spindle axis.

[0008] The stand attachment assembly may be provided with an indicator disc having indicia corresponding to angular orientations of the target ball. The support rod according to certain embodiments may include a radially projecting indicator sight in cooperative registry with the indicia of the indicator disc, the indicator sight thereby visually indicating a selected angular orientation of the target ball when the support rod and the ball attachment assembly are rotationally adjusted. A radially projecting tab may be provided opposite to the radially projecting indicator sight to facilitate manual rotational adjustments of the support rod and the ball attachment assembly. First and second friction locks may also be provided to releasably lock the stand attachment assembly and the support rod at the height and angular orientation adjustments that are selected.

[0009] The drum assembly may comprise a generally cylindrical drum component attached to the ball support rod and a generally cylindrical drum reel component that is coaxially joined to (preferably integral with) the drum component. The drum and drum reel components are mounted to the housing for rotation as a unit about the drum axis between the first and second positions of the drum assembly. A tensioned rebound cord is provided having opposite ends respectively fixed to the drum reel component and the support rod, and an intermediate segment between the opposite ends having a portion thereof that is partially wrapped around the drum reel component. The rebound cord thus exerts a rotational bias force on the drum and drum reel components in a rotational direction toward the first position of the drum assembly. As such, rotation of the drum and drum reel components from the first to the second positions responsively increases the rotational bias force on the drum and drum reel components due to increased tension of the rebound cord which encourages rotational rebound of the drum assembly. A plurality of attachment posts may be positioned along and radially project from the support arm, the attachment posts being adapted for connection with one end of the rebound cord to allow selective tensioning thereof. The drum reel component may also include a cam element which is positioned so as to engage the intermediate segment of the rebound cord at a predetermined portion of the rotational travel of the drum assembly between the first and second positions thereof. Such engagement between the cam element and the intermediate segment of the rebound cord will thereby further increase tension of the rebound cord which in turn increases the rotational bias force exerted thereby on the drum and drum reel components.

[0010] The stand attachment assembly comprise a T-shaped stand attachment which includes a mounting sleeve moveably sleeved over the upright support post, and a forwardly projecting socket which rotationally receives a proximal end of the support rod. According to some embodiments, the upright support post is in the form of a square tubular post which defines opposed pairs of recessed guide tracks. The T-shaped stand attachment may thus include opposed guide rollers with each being received within a respective one of the recessed guide tracks of the upright support post to allow the T-shaped stand to be moveable along the respective recessed guide tracks and thereby permit height adjustment of the ball mounting assembly.

[0011] The ball attachment assembly may also include an elastomeric force dampener fixed to the housing. The force dampener may thus include upper and lower bumper stops that are positioned to contact the upper and lower stop members of the drum assembly to thereby establish the first and second positions thereof. The drum assembly may define an arcuate convex trough between the upper and lower stop members thereof, while the force dampener may define an arcuate concave surface between the upper and lower bumper stops thereof such that the arcuate concave surface is conformably configured to and received within the arcuate convex trough of the drum assembly. According to some embodiments, the housing will include a pair of opposed upright wall mounts, and an L-shaped mounting arm projecting from one of the upright wall mounts and being connected to the force dampener. The elastomeric force dampener may include a through hole adjacent to the lower bumper stop thereof so as to enhance force dampening characteristics thereof.

[0012] According to certain embodiments, the drum assembly will define an arcuate convex trough between the upper and lower stop members thereof, and a recessed seat adjacent the upper stop member. The force dampener will thereby be configured to include a tail member extending below the lower bumper stop. The tail member is adapted to curl inwardly in response to impact with the lower stop member of the drum assembly thereby exerting increasingly greater opposed friction and bias forces against a surface of the drum assembly to slow rotational movement thereof.

[0013] The upright support post of the stand assembly may be provided by lower and upper tubular post members coaxially connected together. According to such embodiments, the lower support post member will include an open upper end and an opposed pair of apertures, while the upper support post member will include (i) a connection rod which coaxially extends outwardly from a lower end thereof and is cross-sectionally adapted to being received with an open upper end of the lower support post member, and (ii) an opposed pair of fin spring clips which include pins sized and configured to be received within a respective one of the apertures of the lower support post member. Each of the upper and lower support post members may thus be in the form of square tubular elements that define opposed pairs of essentially continuous recessed guide tracks along the lengthwise extents thereof. On the other hand, each of the fin spring clips may be sized and configured so as to be slidably received within a respective recessed guide track of the lower support post member.

[0014] The upright support post of the stand assembly may comprise a lower end section which includes a foldable tripod assembly having a slide collar that is moveable along the lower end section of the upright support post so as to move the tripod assembly between deployed and stowed conditions thereof. An elastic toggle cord can be attached at one end to the slide collar and have an opposed end which includes a locking tab. A receiver may be fixed to the lower end section of the upright support post at a position such that the receiver is spaced from the slide collar. The slide collar is therefore adapted to receive the locking tab of the elastic toggle cord to thereby tension the toggle cord so as to maintain the tripod assembly in the deployed condition thereof.

[0015] According to some embodiments, the ball attachment assembly may comprise a screen holder having a Y-shaped head portion and a lower stem base removably connected to the housing of the ball attachment assembly. A plurality of differently configured guide screens may be provided with each such guide screens being adapted for removable attachment to the Y-shaped head portion. Such removable attachment may be achieved by providing the guide screens with a series of spaced apart mounting holes, and providing the Y-shaped head portion a corresponding series of spaced apart mounting studs adapted to be accepted within a respective one of the mounting holes of the guide screens.

[0016] These and other aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more clear after careful consideration is given to the following detailed description of the preferred exemplary embodiments thereof.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

[0017] The disclosed embodiments of the present invention will be better and more completely understood by referring to the following detailed description of exemplary non-limiting illustrative embodiments in conjunction with the drawings of which:

[0018] FIGS. 1 and 2 are respectively a left front perspective view and a front elevational view showing an exemplary embodiment of a racquet sports training device according to the invention;

[0019] FIGS. 3 and 4 are respectively a right rear perspective view and a top plan view of the racquet sports training device depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2 with the guide screen removed for clarity of presentation;

[0020] FIGS. 5 and 6 are respectively right front and rear perspective views of the T-shaped stand attachment assembly employed in the exemplary embodiment of the racquet sports training device;

[0021] FIG. 6A is a cross-sectional elevational view of the T-shaped stand attachment assembly shown in FIG. 6 as taken along lines 6A-6A therein;

[0022] FIGS. 7A and 7B are perspective views showing the assembly sequence for the upright support post employed in the stand assembly of the exemplary embodiment of the racquet sports training device;

[0023] FIG. 8 is a partially exploded left rear perspective view of the ball attachment assembly employed in the exemplary embodiment of the racquet sports training device;

[0024] FIG. 9 is an elevational view of the ball attachment assembly shown in FIG. 8 as taken along lines 9-9 therein;

[0025] FIG. 10 is an elevational view of the ball attachment assembly shown in FIG. 9 with the target ball in the retracted position thereof;

[0026] FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional elevational view of the ball attachment assembly shown in FIG. 8 as taken along lines 11-11 therein;

[0027] FIG. 12 is an elevational view of the ball attachment assembly shown in FIG. 11 with the target ball in the retracted position thereof;

[0028] FIGS. 13 and 14 are front elevational views of the ball attachment assembly shown in FIG. 8 depicting selected different angular orientations thereof;

[0029] FIGS. 15 and 16 are respectively right and left exploded perspective views of the ball attachment assembly shown in FIG. 8;

[0030] FIG. 17 is a front perspective view showing the removable attachment of the guide screen to the Y-shaped head portion of the screen holder; and

[0031] FIGS. 18-19 are enlarged side elevational views of alternative force dampeners that may be employed in the ball attachment assembly shown in FIG. 8.DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0032] Accompanying FIGS. 1-4 depict a racquet sports training aid 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In this regard, it will be observed that the training aid 10 generally includes a stand assembly 12, a T-shaped stand attachment assembly 14 positionally moveable relative to the stand assembly 12 and a ball attachment assembly 16 that is connected to the T-shaped stand attachment assembly 14 by a support rod 16a.

[0033] The stand assembly 12 includes an upright support post 18 comprised of a pair of lower and upper support post members 18a, 18b that are coaxially connected together to provide an elongate upright to support the stand and ball attachment assemblies 14, 16, respectively. The support post members 18a, 18b are each preferably in the form of square tubular elements that, when assembled, define opposed pairs of essentially continuous recessed guide tracks 22a, 22b along the lengthwise extent of the support post 18.

[0034] As is shown in greater detail in FIG. 5-6 and 7A-7B, the upper support post member 18b is provided with a connection rod 18b1 that extends outwardly from the lower end thereof and is cross-sectionally configured so as to be received within the open upper end of the tubular lower support member 18a. In order to secure the lower and upper support post members 18a, 18b to one another, the upper support post member will have an opposed pair of fin spring clips 20a which include pins (not shown) at a lower end thereof. The fin spring clips 20a are sized and configured to be slidably received within a respective one of the recessed guide tracks 22b and are of sufficient length so that the pins of the fin spring clips 20a are received within a respective corresponding aperture 18a1 associated with the lower support post member 18a when the support post members 18a, 18b are in abutting contact with one another. When joined together by the connection rod 18b1 and the spring clips 20a, the lower and upper post members 18a, 18b will be securely stabilized at the abutment joint therebetween to prevent bending and / or separation during use. The lower support post member 18a may be provided with a lower post cap 18a2 while the upper support post member 18b may be provided with an upper support cap 18b2. Although two post members 18a, 18b are depicted in the drawing Figures, it will be appreciated that additional post members could be provided to achieve a desired height for the post 18.

[0035] A tripod assembly 24 is provided at the lower end of the support post 18a and includes tripod legs 24a-24c that are each hingedly connected at an upper end thereof to a slide collar 26 which is operatively associated with the lower support post member 18a so as to be slidable between raised and lowered positions therealong in the direction of arrow A1. Support braces 28a-28c are hinged to and extend between the lower post cap 18a2 and an intermediate location of each of the tripod legs 24a-24c, respectively. Movement of slide collar 26 in an upward direction of arrow A1 will thereby allow the tripod legs 24a-24c to be hingedly folded into a stowed condition whereby each of the legs 24a-24c is aligned generally with the elongate axis of the support post 18a. Conversely, movement of the slide collar 26 into a lowered position as shown in FIGS. 1-4 will cause the tripod legs 24a-24c to be hingedly deployed outwardly so as to provide stable support to the support post 18 during use.

[0036] An elastic toggle cord 30 is attached at one end to the slide collar 26 and includes a locking tab 30a at an opposite end. The locking tab 30a may be provided with a finger hole 30a1 to facilitate the manual manipulation of the toggle cord. The elastic toggle cord 30 may thereby be pulled down to allow the locking tab 30a to be removably captured by a U-shaped receiver 32 to maintain the toggle cord 30 under a locking tension. The tensioned toggle cord 30 will thereby maintain the tripod legs 24a-24c in the deployed condition as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Removing the toggle cord 30 from the receiver 32 will thus release the locking tension and thereby allow the slide collar 26 to be moved upwardly in the direction of arrow A1 to thereby in turn cause the tripod legs 24a-24c to be hingedly folded from the deployed condition and into the stowed condition thereof.

[0037] As is perhaps best shown by FIG. 5-6, the T-shaped stand attachment assembly 14 is attached to the support post 18 to allow reciprocal height adjustment in the direction of the arrow A1. The T-shaped stand attachment assembly includes a mounting sleeve 40 which is movably sleeved over the support post 18 and a forwardly projecting socket 42 which receives a proximal end of the support rod 16a to allow the support rod 16a to be rotated about its longitudinal axis (arrow A2 in FIG. 1).

[0038] The mounting sleeve includes opposed pairs of cylindrical guide rollers 44a, 44b that are received within the guide tracks 22a (see FIG. 6A) to allow the mounting sleeve 40, and thus the T-shaped stand attachment assembly 14, to be moved axially along the support post 18 in the directions of arrow A1 thereby permitting height adjustment of the support rod 16a and thus the ball attachment assembly 16 fixed to the distal end thereof. A threaded split clamp 46 is provided as an integral portion of the mounting sleeve 40 and accepts a first knobbed-handle clamp screw 46a which when tightened manually allows the mounting sleeve 40 (and hence the height of the support rod 16a) to be frictionally locked in a desired height position along the support post 18. The upper end of the mounting sleeve 40 integrally includes opposed inwardly canted guide fingers 48a, 48b which are received within the guide slot 22a and thereby stabilize the T-shaped stand attachment assembly 14 during use.

[0039] The socket 42 is provided with an integral threaded split clamp 49 which threadably accepts a second knobbed-handle clamp screw 49a which when tightened manually and thereby frictionally lock the support rod 16a (and hence the target ball TB carried by the ball attachment assembly 16 at the distal end of the rod 16a) at a desired angular orientation. In this regard, the distal end of the socket 42 is provided with an indicator disc 42a having visible indicia (e.g., angular degrees, clock face numerals, cardinal coordinate indicators and the like) of angular orientation of the target ball TB relative to a vertical plane bisecting the longitudinal axis of the rod 16a. A V-shaped indicator sight 16b is fixed to the proximal end of the rod 16a which can be aligned with the indicia associated with the indicator disc 42a when the rod 16a is rotated to thereby provide a visual indication of the amount of angular orientation for the target ball TB. Once the desired angular orientation of target ball TB has been achieved by rotation of the rod 16a (which rotation may be facilitated by the radially projecting tab 16c opposite to the indicator sight 16b), the second knobbed-handle clamp screw 49a may be tightened to thereby frictionally lock the rod 16a at such desired angular orientation.

[0040] The ball attachment assembly 16 is depicted in greater detail in FIGS. 8-17. As can be seen therein, the ball attachment assembly 16 includes a generally U-shaped rigid housing 50 having a pair of opposed upright wall mounts 50a, 50b between which a drum assembly 52 is mounted for rotational movement about the drum axis (arrow A3). The drum assembly 52 integrally includes a generally cylindrical drum component 52a and a coaxially adjacent generally cylindrical reel component 52b of smaller diameter. A receiver component 52c outwardly projects from the drum component 52a and is adapted to receive a lower end of the ball support rod 54. The upper end of the ball support rod 54 is configured so as to provide a terminal spindle 54a at substantially a right angle to the axis of the ball support rod 54 and thereby defines a spindle axis that is parallel to the drum axis. The center of the target ball TB is thus attached to the terminal spindle 54a for rotation about the spindle axis (arrow A4, see FIG. 3).

[0041] When struck by a racquet, therefore, the target ball TB will spin and will thereby be propelled forcibly in a rearward direction causing the drum assembly 52 to rotate (arrow A3, see FIG. 3) and move from an initial rest position (as shown by solid lines in FIGS. 9 and 11) whereby the target ball is in an extended condition to be struck by a racquet, and into a retracted position (as shown by solid lines in FIGS. 10 and 12). An elastic rebound cord 56 is provided to allow the drum assembly 52 and hence the target ball TB to rebound by reversing the rotational direction of the drum assembly 52 such that the targe ball moves from the retracted position to the initial rest position thereof. The rebound cord 56 will have one terminal end 56a fixed to the reel component 52b such that an intermediate portion of the cord 56 can be wrapped around the reel component 52b. The opposite terminal end 56b of the cord 56 may thus be attached under tension to one of the lateral attachment posts 58a-58c radially projecting from the support arm 16a. The attachment posts 58a-58c thereby allow the user to select between low, medium and high tension, respectively, depending on which post the terminal end 56b of the cord 56 is attached. As the drum assembly 52 reaches the retracted position, the cord 56 will be increasingly tensioned causing rotation of the drum assembly 52 in the direction toward the retracted position to eventually stop at which time the rotational direction of the drum assembly 52 is reversed as the tension of the cord 56 is unloaded. Such unloading of the tension of the cord 56 will thereby cause the target ball TB to rebound as the drum assembly 52 reaches its initial position thereby allowing the user to again strike the target ball TB and repeat the practice stroke.

[0042] In order to increase tensioning of the rebound cord 56 and thereby assist in arresting the rotational movement of the drum assembly 52 toward the retracted position thereof, a cam element 58 is integrally associated with the reel component 52b. The cam element 58 is positioned in such a manner so as to engage an intermediate region of the cord 56 as the drum assembly 52 rotates through a first portion of its rotational travel to thereby cause additional extension of the rebound cord 56 which in turn increases the tension of the rebound cord 56 during a second portion of the rotational travel of the drum assembly 52. This additional increased tension of the rebound cord 56 will thereby serve to further arrest the rotational movement of the drum assembly 52 at the retracted position thereof, at which time the tension will unload and cause the drum assembly 52 to reverse rotational direction and return to its initial position.

[0043] The mounting wall 50b is integrally provided with an outwardly extending L-shaped mounting arm 60 which is connected to and supports a force dampener 62 in opposition to the drum assembly 52. The force dampener 62 defines upper and lower bumper stops 62a, 62b that respectively establish the initial and retracted positions of the drum assembly 52 (see the enlarged view of FIG. 18). More specifically, it will be observed that the drum component 52a defines a recessed arcuate trough 64 which includes stop members 64a, 64b at each end thereof. As is shown more clearly in FIG. 18, the force dampener 62 defines an arcuate concave surface 62c that conforms to the arcuate convex surface of the trough 64 to thereby exert some frictional interference therebetween. The initial position of the drum assembly 52 (and hence the initial position of the target ball TB) is thereby established upon contact between the stop member 64a of the drum assembly 52 and the bumper stop 62a of the force dampener 62. Similarly, the retracted position of the drum assembly 52 (and hence the retracted position of the target ball TB) is established upon contact between the stop member 64b of the drum assembly 52 and the bumper stop 62b of the force dampener 62.

[0044] In order to minimize (if not prevent entirely) bouncing movement of the drum assembly 52 (and hence the target ball TB carried thereby) when returned to the initial position thereof, the force dampener 62 is most preferably formed of a one-piece solid elastomeric material (e.g., a relative hard synthetic or natural rubber-like material). In this regard, the force dampener 62 may be provided with a disc-shaped guard 62d which serves to protect the user's racquet head from being damaged by the rigid housing 50 in the event of a mishit with the target ball TB. Further, a through hole 63 may be provided in the force dampener 62 behind the lower bumper stop 62b to permit the lower bumper stop 62b to be resiliently compressed somewhat (e.g., due to the elastomeric nature of the material forming the force dampener 62) and thereby absorb additional energy force when the lower bumper stop 62b is forcibly contacted by the stop member 64b of the drum assembly 52.

[0045] A screen holder 72 may be provided with an integral upper Y-shaped head portion 72a adapted to removably secure a guide screen 70. A lower stem base 72b having a slide connector 74 at a terminal end thereof extends from the Y-shaped head portion and is adapted to be received within the slide channel 76 downwardly extending from the housing 50 of the ball attachment assembly 16. A moveable locking tab 76a may be provided in cooperation with the slide channel 76 so as to positionally lock the slide connector 74 to the housing 50. A fixed tab 76b may extend from the housing 50 in parallel spaced relationship to the moveable locking tab 76a so as to provide structure to allow a user to grip the tab 76a and assist in its forcible movement to unlock the slide connector 74 and allow removal thereof.

[0046] The Y-shaped head portion 72a is provided with several spaced apart mounting studs 73 that are aligned with and removably accepted by respective ones of the mounting holes 70a associated with the guide screen 70. The guide screen 70 is positioned relative to the target ball TB such that the latter extends entirely outwardly through the former. In use, the guide screen 70 depicted in the drawing Figures serves as planar guide surface for the user to follow when executing a practice stroke. Thus, when the target ball TB is in its initial position, a user may strike the target ball using a stroke which parallels but does not touch the guide screen 70 so as to impart the desired spin on the target ball TB mounted to the spindle 54a. Depending on the angular orientation of the ball attachment assembly 16 (and hence the angular orientation of the guide screen 70 and the target ball TB), the user may practice a variety of spin strokes, e.g., top spin, backspins (slice), sidespins and the like.

[0047] The hourglass-shaped guide screen 70 has been shown in the drawing Figures as being an exemplary guide screen that may be employed with the training aid 10. A variety of differently configured and shaped guide screens, such as the guide screens 80 and 90 depicted in FIG. 2, may optionally be provided to allow the training aid 10 to be used in training for different types of racquet stroke techniques. The guide screens 70, 80 and 90 are preferably formed of a relatively hard yet pliable, shape-retaining high density foam sheet material that will not damage or mar a user's racquet head when struck.

[0048] By way of example, the guide screen 80 is in the shape of a racquet that can be removably attached to the studs 72a of the Y-shaped mounting head portion 72. Angularly positioning the racquet-shaped guide screen 80 as desired by rotation of the mounting arm 16a can thereby visually present to the user the proper orientation of the racquet during the practice stroke. The smaller generally U-shaped guide screen 90 may be desired to be used when minimum stroke restrictions are desired. The guide screen90 thereby serves as a protective shield to prevent damage to the user's racket head by striking the ball attachment assembly 16.

[0049] An alternative embodiment of a force dampener 100 is depicted in FIG. 19 which is especially adapted to be used as a component part of the training aid 10 when a racquet sports ball having greater mass (and hence inertia) is employed as the target ball TB, for example, a tennis ball. Similar to the force dampener 62 discussed previously, the force dampener 100 may be connected to the L-shaped mounting arm 60 and will define upper and lower bumper stops 102a, 102b that respectively establish the initial and retracted positions of the drum assembly 52. The upper bumper stop 102a however will additionally be provided with a protuberance 104 that is positioned in the recessed seat 64c at the end of the trough 64 (see FIG. 15) when the drum assembly 52 is in its initial position. The frictional resistance between the protuberance 104 and the recessed seat 64c as the drum assembly 52 initially rotates away from its initial position following the target ball TB being struck will therefore assist in reducing the increased inertial energy associated with a target ball TB of greater mass.

[0050] In order to provide further inertial energy absorbance during the later rotational segment of the drum assembly 52, the force dampener 100 is provided with a lower force absorbent tail member 106 extending below the lower bumper stop 102b. Upon impact between the lower stop member 64b and the tail member 106, the latter will be forced to curl inwardly thereby exerting increasingly greater friction and bias forces in opposition against the cylindrical surface of the drum component 52a and slowing the rotational movement of the drum assembly 52. Upon contact being made between the lower stop member 64b and the lower bumper stops 102b, the force exerted on the cylindrical surface of the drum component 52a by the resilient nature of the tail member 106 along with the tension force provided by the elastic rebound cord 56 will reverse rotation of the drum assembly 52 thereby causing it to rebound and to the initial position thereof and allowing the tail member 106 to resiliently return to its normal condition. As with the force dampener 62 discussed previously, the alternative force dampener 100 may be provided with a disc-shaped guard 102d which serves to protect the user's racquet head from being damaged by the rigid housing 50 in the event of a mishit with the target ball TB.

[0051] It will be appreciated that the target ball TB shown in the accompanying Figures is illustrated as being an exemplary pickleball for use in practicing pickleball training shots. However, virtually any ball associated with other racquet sports may be employed as the target ball TB for use in the training aid 10 as described herein, for example, tennis balls, squash balls, racquet balls and the like. Thus, while reference has been made to particular embodiments of the invention, various modifications within the skill of those in the art may be envisioned. Therefore, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiments, but on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope thereof.

Claims

1. A racquet sports training aid comprising:a stand assembly having an upright support post;a ball attachment assembly which includes a target ball adapted to being struck by a racquet; anda stand attachment assembly which operatively attaches the ball attachment assembly to the upright support post of the stand assembly to allow for reciprocal selective height and angular orientation adjustments of the target ball relative to the upright support post of the stand assembly.

2. The racquet sports training aid according to claim 1, wherein the ball attachment assembly comprises:a housing; anda drum assembly operatively connected to the housing to mount the target ball for reciprocal pivotally movements about a drum axis between a first position which presents the target ball at an extended location where the target ball is adapted to being struck by a racquet, and a second position where the target ball is pivotally displaced to a retracted location relative to the extended location.

3. The racquet sports training aid according to claim 2, wherein the ball attachment assembly comprises a tensioning element which exerts a rotational bias force on the drum assembly to thereby cause the target ball to return to the extended location from the retracted location thereof.

4. The racquet sports training aid according to claim 1, wherein the ball attachment assembly comprises a support rod extending outwardly from the upright support post and connecting the ball attachment assembly to the stand attachment assembly to allow reciprocal rotations of the ball attachment assembly about an elongated axis of the support rod and to present the target ball at selected different angular orientations.

5. The racquet sports training aid according to claim 3, wherein the ball attachment assembly a ball support rod connected to and outwardly projecting from the drum assembly, the ball support rod having a terminal spindle defining a spindle axis parallel to the drum axis, the target ball being mounted to the terminal spindle to allow the target ball to spin about the spindle axis.

6. The racquet sports training aid according to claim 5, whereinthe stand attachment assembly includes an indicator disc having indicia corresponding to angular orientations of the target ball; and whereinthe support rod includes a radially projecting indicator sight in cooperative registry with the indicia of the indicator disc, the indicator sight thereby visually indicating a selected angular orientation of the target ball when the support rod and the ball attachment assembly are rotationally adjusted.

7. The racquet sports training aid according to claim 6, wherein the support rod includes a radially projecting tab opposite to the radially projecting indicator sight to facilitate manual rotational adjustments of the support rod and the ball attachment assembly.

8. The racquet sports training aid according to claim 1, wherein the stand attachment assembly includes first and second friction locks to releasably lock the stand attachment assembly and the support rod at the selective height and angular orientation adjustments.

9. The racquet sports training aid according to claim 2, wherein the drum assembly comprises:a generally cylindrical drum component attached to the ball support rod,a generally cylindrical drum reel component that is coaxially joined to the drum component, wherein the drum and drum reel components are mounted to the housing for rotation as a unit about the drum axis between the first and second positions of the drum assembly, anda tensioned rebound cord having opposite ends respectively fixed to the drum reel component and the support rod, and an intermediate segment between the opposite ends having a portion thereof that is partially wrapped around the drum reel component, the rebound cord exerting a rotational bias force on the drum and drum reel components in a rotational direction toward the first position of the drum assembly, whereinrotation of the drum and drum reel components from the first to the second positions responsively increases the rotational bias force on the drum and drum reel components due to increased tension of the rebound cord.

10. The racquet sports training aid according to claim 9, wherein the support rod includes a plurality of attachment posts positioned along and radially projecting from the support arm, the attachment posts being adapted for connection with one end of the rebound cord to allow selective tensioning of the rebound cord.

11. The racquet sports training aid according to claim 9, wherein the drum reel component includes a cam element, the cam element being positioned so as to engage the intermediate segment of the rebound cord at a predetermined portion of the rotational travel of the drum assembly between the first and second positions thereof to thereby further increase tension of the rebound cord and the rotational bias force exerted thereby on the drum and drum reel components.

12. The racquet sports training aid according to claim 4, wherein the stand attachment assembly comprises a T-shaped stand attachment which includes a mounting sleeve moveably sleeved over the upright support post, and a forwardly projecting socket which rotationally receives a proximal end of the support rod.

13. The racquet sports training aid according to claim 12, whereinthe upright support post is a square tubular post which defines opposed pairs of recessed guide tracks; and whereinthe T-shaped stand attachment includes opposed guide rollers each received within a respective one of the recessed guide tracks of the upright support post to allow the T-shaped stand to be moveable along the respective recessed guide tracks and thereby permit height adjustment of the ball mounting assembly.

14. The racquet sports training aid according to claim 1, wherein the ball attachment assembly comprises:a housing;a drum assembly having upper and lower stop members, the drum assembly being mounted to the housing for rotational movement about a drum axis to allow the drum assembly to be rotationally moved between the first and second positions to thereby present the target ball at the extended and retracted locations, respectively; andan elastomeric force dampener fixed to the housing, the force dampener including upper and lower bumper stops that are positioned to contact the upper and lower stop members of the drum assembly and thereby establish the first and second positions thereof.

15. The racquet sports training aid according to claim 14, whereinthe drum assembly defines an arcuate convex trough between the upper and lower stop members thereof, and whereinthe force dampener defines an arcuate concave surface between the upper and lower bumper stops thereof, the arcuate concave surface being conformably configured to and received within the arcuate convex trough of the drum assembly.

16. The racquet sports training aid according to claim 14, wherein the housing includes:a pair of opposed upright wall mounts, andan L-shaped mounting arm projecting from one of the upright wall mounts and being connected to the force dampener.

17. The racquet sports training aid according to claim 14, wherein the force dampener includes a through hole adjacent to the lower bumper stop.

18. The racquet sports training aid according to claim 14, whereinthe drum assembly defines an arcuate convex trough between the upper and lower stop members thereof, and a recessed seat located in the trough adjacent the upper stop member, and whereinthe force dampener includes a protuberance that is positioned in the recessed seat 64c of the trough 64 when the drum assembly is in its first position.

19. The racquet sports training aid according to claim 14, wherein the force dampener includes a tail member extending below the lower bumper stop, wherein the tail member is adapted to curl inwardly in response to impact with the lower stop member of the drum assembly thereby exerting increasingly greater force dampening against the drum assembly to slow rotational movement thereof.

20. The racquet sports training aid according to claim 1, wherein the upright support post includes lower and upper tubular post members coaxially connected together.

21. The racquet sports training aid according to claim 20, whereinthe lower support post member includes an open upper end and an opposed pair of apertures, and whereinthe upper support post member comprises (i) a connection rod which coaxially extends outwardly from a lower end thereof and is cross-sectionally adapted to being received with an open upper end of the lower support post member, and (ii) an opposed pair of fin spring clips which include pins sized and configured to be received within a respective one of the apertures of the lower support post member.

22. The racquet sports training aid according to claim 21, whereineach of the upper and lower support post members are square tubular elements that define opposed pairs of essentially continuous recessed guide tracks along the lengthwise extents thereof, and whereineach of the fin spring clips is sized and configured to be slidably received within a respective recessed guide track of the lower support post member.

23. The racquet sports training aid according to claim 1, wherein the upright support post comprises a lower end section which includes:a foldable tripod assembly having a slide collar that is moveable along the lower end section of the upright support post so as to move the tripod assembly between deployed and stowed conditions thereof,an elastic toggle cord attached at one end to the slide collar and having an opposed end which includes a locking tab, anda receiver fixed to the lower end section of the upright support post, the receiver being spaced from the slide collar and adapted to receive the locking tab of the elastic toggle cord to thereby tension the toggle cord so as to maintain the tripod assembly in the deployed condition thereof.

24. The racquet sports training aid according to claim 2, wherein the ball attachment assembly comprises:a screen holder having a Y-shaped head portion and a lower stem base removably connected to the housing; anda plurality of differently configured guide screens, each of the guide screens being adapted for removable attachment to the Y-shaped head portion.

25. The racquet sports training aid according to claim 24, whereinthe guide screens include a series of spaced apart mounting holes, and whereinthe Y-shaped head portion has a series of spaced apart mounting studs adapted to be accepted within a respective one of the mounting holes of the guide screens to thereby removably attach a selected one of the guide screens to the screen holder.

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