Stickhandling Visual Barrier for Head-Up Puck Control Training
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Solution Overview
Problem
Hockey players often look down at their stick and puck during play, which hinders hand-eye coordination and situational awareness, necessitating improved training devices to enhance vision and control.
Innovation Solution
A stickhandling training device with a body portion that obstructs or obfuscates the downward view, attached to hockey gear via fasteners, ensuring the user maintains focus on the puck without looking down, featuring concave and convex shapes, structural ribs, and transparent or translucent materials for partial obstruction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If players look down at their stick and puck during play, then they can see the position and control the equipment better, but their hand-eye coordination and situational awareness deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The training device proactively blocks the player's view of the puck and stick before the harmful action of looking down can occur. By placing an opaque barrier in the player's field of view, the device prevents the development of bad habits and forces the player to maintain proper head-up positioning, thereby preserving hand-eye coordination while still allowing puck control practice
2Ease of operation
If a stickhandling training device obstructs the player's view to prevent looking down, then hand-eye coordination is improved, but the player's ability to see the puck deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The training device incorporates movable or adjustable components that allow dynamic modification of the visual barrier. The barrier can be raised, lowered, or adjusted in opacity to dynamically control the amount of puck visibility while maintaining the primary function of preventing downward gazing, allowing players to progress from complete obstruction to partial visibility as skills improve
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the training device uses opaque materials to block vision, then prevention of looking down is effective, but adaptability of the training device deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The training device is divided into multiple independent visual barrier segments that can be individually adjusted or removed. This segmentation allows the device to adapt to different skill levels and training requirements, enabling coaches to modify the degree of obstruction based on player progress while maintaining effective prevention of looking down when needed
Data Source
AI summary
A number of variations may include a stickhandling training device that may include a body portion that may include a generally concave first face opposite a generally convex second face and having an outer perimeter edge such that the body portion may be generally shell shaped. A plurality of ribs may be disposed on the body portion and arranged in a crossing pattern, the plurality of ribs being constructed and arranged to provide structural support to the body portion. At least one fastener may be mechanically connected to the body portion and constructed and arranged to facilitate attachment of the stickhandling training device to sports equipment. The stickhandling training device may be constructed and arranged to at least partially obstruct the line-of-sight of a wearer thereby training hand-eye coordination and awareness.