BASKETBALL SHOOTING AID

Abstract

A basketball shooting aid. The basketball shooting aid can include a forearm brace for enclosing a portion of a user's forearm, a hand brace for enclosing a portion of a user's hand; a pair of hinged connectors, each hinged connector further having a first end coupled to the forearm brace, a second end coupled to the hand brace, and a hinge disposed between the first end and the second end.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/405,508, filed Oct. 22, 2010 and entitled STR8SHOOTER & STRAIGHT SHOOTER, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

When shooting a basketball, it is important to maintain the hand of the shooting arm aligned with the forearm of the shooting arm. This can increase the likelihood that the basketball flies along a straight trajectory towards the target. If the hand is not aligned with the forearm, it is likely that the trajectory of the ball will deviate to the right or the left, missing the intended target.

SUMMARY

According to at least one exemplary embodiment, a basketball shooting aid may be disclosed. The basketball shooting aid can include a forearm brace for enclosing a portion of a user's forearm, a hand brace for enclosing a portion of a user's hand; a pair of hinged connectors, each hinged connector further having a first end coupled to the forearm brace, a second end coupled to the hand brace, and a hinge disposed between the first end and the second end.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Advantages of embodiments of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the exemplary embodiments. The following detailed description should be considered in conjunction with the accompanying figures in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of an exemplary embodiment of a basketball shooting aid.

FIG. 2 is a top view of an exemplary embodiment of a basketball shooting aid.

FIG. 3 is a side view of an exemplary embodiment of a basketball shooting aid in use.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of the invention are disclosed in the following description and related drawings directed to specific embodiments of the invention. Alternate embodiments may be devised without departing from the spirit or the scope of the invention. Additionally, well-known elements of exemplary embodiments of the invention will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the invention. Further, to facilitate an understanding of the description discussion of several terms used herein follows.

As used herein, the word “exemplary” means “serving as an example, instance or illustration.” The embodiments described herein are not limiting, but rather are exemplary only. It should be understood that the described embodiment are not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. Moreover, the terms “embodiments of the invention”, “embodiments” or “invention” do not require that all embodiments of the invention include the discussed feature, advantage or mode of operation.

According to at least one exemplary embodiment, a basketball shooting aid 100 may be disclosed. Basketball shooting aid 100 may include a forearm brace 102 hingedly coupled to a hand brace 110. Braces 102, 110 can be formed from any suitable material, for example neoprene. Forearm brace 102 may be sized and shaped to snugly enclose a portion of a user's forearm, substantially proximate the wrist of the user. To that end, forearm brace 102 may have a generally tubular shape and may include closure straps 104 for tightening the forearm brace around the user's wrist. Closure straps 104 can further facilitate adjusting the diameter of forearm brace 102 such that forearm brace 102 may be used with diverse forearm sizes. Closure straps 104 may include hook-and-loop fasteners, or any other fastener known in the art that enables basketball shooting aid 100 to function as described herein.

Hand brace 110 may be sized and shaped to snugly enclose a portion of the user's hand. In some exemplary embodiments, hand brace 110 may encircle the users hand approximately between the wrist and below the knuckles. Hand brace 110 may further enclose the thumb of the user and can include a thumb opening 112 for receiving the thumb, while the remaining fingers can be received through a finger opening 114. However, in some exemplary embodiments, separate finger openings may be provided for each finger of the user's hand. Hand brace 110 may further include closures 116 for tightening the hand brace around the user's hand. Closures 116 can further facilitate adjusting the diameter of hand brace 110 such that hand brace 110 may be used with diverse hand sizes. Closures 116 may include hook-and-loop fasteners, or any other fastener known in the art that enables basketball shooting aid 100 to function as described herein.

A pair of hinged connectors 120 can be coupled to both forearm brace 102 and hand brace 110, so as to allow hand brace 110 to pivot in relation to forearm brace 102. Each hinged connector 120 can have a first end 122 coupled to forearm brace 102, a second end 124 coupled to hand brace 110, and a hinge 126 disposed between the first end and the second end. Hinge 126 may be any type of hinge known in the art that allows hand brace 110 to pivot in relation to forearm brace 102 about an axis of rotation 132. Axis of rotation 132 may be oriented substantially perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the user's forearm. Hinge 126 may be located such that, when basketball shooting aid 100 is worn by the user, hinge 126 is disposed proximate the wrist of the user.

Hinged connectors 120 may be formed from a rigid material, for example metal, plastic, or the like. Hinged connectors 120 can therefore function to restrict lateral movement of the hand of the user in relation to the forearm of the user. This can aid the user in maintaining the longitudinal axis of the hand substantially coplanar with the longitudinal axis of the arm while executing the motion of shooting a basketball.

Coupling between each hinged connector and braces 102, 110 can be facilitated by fasteners 130, which may be, for example, screws or bolts coupled to each of braces 102, 110. Fasteners 130 can be received within apertures defined in braces 102, 110, and may threadably couple to the apertures. Fasteners 130 can be received within elongated slits 128 defined in the hinged connectors 120. Elongated slits 128 can provide for slidably adjusting hinged connectors 120 relative to either or both of forearm brace 102 and hand brace 110. This can allow basketball shooting aid 100 to be adapted for users having diverse arm lengths while keeping hinge 126 disposed proximate the wrist of the user.

In operation, the user can don basketball shooting aid 100 by placing forearm brace 102 around the forearm and proximate to the wrist, and then tightening closures 104 so that forearm brace 102 snugly encloses a portion of the forearm. The user can then place hand brace 110 around a portion of the hand while the thumb and fingers through the corresponding openings 112, 114. The user can then tighten closures 116 so that hand brace 110 snugly encloses a portion of the hand.

If necessary, the user can adjust the length of basketball shooting aid 100 to an appropriate length relative to the user's arm. To that end, the user can loosen fasteners 130 so as to slidably adjust hinged connectors 120 relative to forearm brace 102 and hand brace 110. When the desired length is obtained, the user can tighten fasteners 130.

As the user executes the basketball shooting motion while wearing basketball shooting aid 100, the basketball shooting aid can reduce the likelihood of ulnar and radial deviation of the user's wrist. Consequently, the user's wrist does not move to the outside or inside of the longitudinal axis of the user's forearm, facilitating a straight shot.

The foregoing description and accompanying figures illustrate the principles, preferred embodiments and modes of operation of the invention. However, the invention should not be construed as being limited to the particular embodiments discussed above. Additional variations of the embodiments discussed above will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

Therefore, the above-described embodiments should be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive. Accordingly, it should be appreciated that variations to those embodiments can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

Claims

1. A basketball shooting aid, comprising:

a forearm brace for enclosing a portion of a user's forearm;

a hand brace for enclosing a portion of a user's hand;

a pair of hinged connectors, each hinged connector further having a first end coupled to the forearm brace, a second end coupled to the hand brace, and a hinge disposed between the first end and the second end.

2. The basketball shooting aid of claim 1, wherein the hinge pivots about an axis of rotation, the axis of rotation being substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the user's forearm.

3. The basketball shooting aid of claim 1, wherein the hinged connectors are slidably adjustable with respect to the forearm brace.

4. The basketball shooting aid of claim 1, wherein the hinged connectors are slidably adjustable with respect to the hand brace.

5. The basketball shooting aid of claim 1, wherein the diameter of the forearm brace is adjustable.

6. The basketball shooting aid of claim 1, wherein the diameter of the hand brace is adjustable.

7. The basketball shooting aid of claim 1, wherein the hand brace includes a thumb opening and a single finger opening for receiving the user's fingers.

8. The basketball shooting aid of claim 1, wherein the hand brace includes a thumb opening and four finger openings for receiving the user's fingers.