MEASURING AND REMOTELY-ANALYZING GRIP PRESSURE FOR SWINGING OBJECTS IN SPORTS

Abstract

A grip pressure measurement device is embedded in a swing object used for sports, such as a golf club or a racquet. Embedding can occur during manufacturing or as an after-market modification. The grip measurement device comprises one or more pressure sensors, a local processor, and a network interface. One embodiment of the pressure sensors measures from two sides, a side of contact with a player's hand and a side of contact with the swinging object.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/385,951, filed on Sep. 9, 2016, by Jonathan Andrew Horner and Gregory John Bourke, the contents of which being hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally, to the mechanical and computer networking arts, and more specifically, to measuring and remotely-analyzing grip pressure for swinging objects in sports.

BACKGROUND

Many players of sports such as golf, tennis, baseball, and others, constantly seek to improve contact with the ball. For baseball and tennis, ball contact is an important part of the game because it initiates play, and for golf, ball contact is an even more critical component of play. Grip pressure, or the force imposed by a player's hand on a swinging object, has a significant impact on ball contact.

Conventional grip measurement devices are external to the swinging object. For example, a glove or watch worn by a player provides some feedback. Unfortunately, when a team is training, the conventional grip measurement devices are not easily transferred between players, needing to be unlatched and taken off of one player, and then put on and latched by another player. These conventional devices not only waste time but can be easily lost when shared between players.

Furthermore, the sensors are in contact with a player's hand rather than the object in receipt of the resulting hand force. This can lead to some inaccuracies.

Lastly, the feedback from these devices is limited. A mere number, or other simplistic analysis of the grip pressure can be displayed based on local processing power of the device.

What is needed is a grip measurement device embedded directly into a swinging object for sports. The embedded device should wirelessly connect to a remote network server or to a higher processing power device, in order to generate robust feedback that is more useful to players.

SUMMARY

These shortcomings are addressed by the present disclosure of methods, computer program products, and systems for measuring and analyzing grip pressure for swinging objects in sports.

In one embodiment, a grip pressure measurement device is embedded in a swing object used for sports, such as a golf club or a racquet. Embedding can occur during manufacturing or as an after-market modification. The grip measurement device comprises one or more pressure sensors, a local processor, and a network interface. One embodiment of the pressure sensors measures from two sides, a side of contact with a player's hand and a side of contact with the swinging object.

In another embodiment, a grip pressure analysis server receives real-time data concerning grip pressure during swings, and optionally other information such as grip coverage, swing trajectory, point of ball contact, and the like. In one case, the network interface communicates directly with the grip analysis server, and in another case, connects with a local smart phone or hot spot for assisted communication. Feedback from the grip pressure analysis server can be sent back in real-time with the swing for display on the grip pressure measurement device or for display on a connected smartphone application.

Advantageously, robust and real-time feedback is available for grip pressure on a swinging object without any external equipment such as a glove or watch.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following drawings, like reference numbers are used to refer to like elements. Although the following figures depict various examples of the invention, the invention is not limited to the examples depicted in the figures,

FIG. 1 is a high-level block diagram illustrating a system for grip measurement and analysis, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a more detailed block diagram illustrating a grip pressure and analysis server of FIG. 1, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective diagram illustrating a golf club with a grip measurement device, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a high-level chart illustrating a method for grip measurement and analysis, according to an embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a general computer system for implementing techniques described herein, according to one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure describes methods, computer program products, and systems for measuring and analyzing grip pressure in swinging objects used in sports.

The embodiments described herein is not limited to a single invention. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize, given the disclosure herein, many possible variations within the scope of the present inventions, although not described in detail for conciseness.

I. Grip Measurement and Analysis System (FIGS. 1-3)

FIG. 1 is a high-level perspective diagram illustrating a system 100 for grip measurement and analysis, according to an embodiment. The system 100 comprises a grip pressure measurement device 110, a swinging object for sports 120, a grip pressure analysis server 130, and a smartphone 140.

Other embodiments of the system 100 with more or less components are possible. A localized system can include just the grip pressure measurement device 110 operating in isolation. An enhanced localized system connects the smartphone 140 for more processing power and display. An example implementation of the system 100 at a batting cage facility includes a large screen television proximate to a batting cage. Each swing is analyzed and results are displayed in real-time on the large screen television. Another example implementation includes an audio device with a speaker that audibly coaches a player for adjustments after each swing.

The grip measurement device 110 can measure grip pressure while swinging the swinging object 120. The swinging object can be a golf club, a racquet, a bat, an ore, or any object grabbed by a player to impart force on a ball or other object (e.g., water or uneven bars). The resulting data is sent upstream for analysis. In some embodiments, the grip measurement device 110 receives and outputs feedback from external resources. For instance, a vibration or LED lights can give immediate indications to the measurement.

In one implementation, the grip measurement device 110 includes one or more pressure sensors (e.g., a piezo sensor or a heat sensor responsive to pressure), a processor, and a network interface. Optionally, a display, speaker, or vibration component provide feedback. In some embodiments, the grip measurement device 110 is embedded within the swinging object 120 during manufacture. In an after-market embodiment, embedding can occur after manufacture into a cavity to convert or modify a conventional swinging object device. A surface mounted embodiment can be placed under grip wrapping.

The swinging object 120 can transfer force from a player to a ball or another object. For example, the described techniques apply to ball contact sports such as golf, tennis and baseball which use golf clubs, tennis racquets and baseball bats, correspondingly. The swinging object 120 can be used in the context of an ongoing sporting event, a practice facility, or even in a virtual environment. The techniques can also apply to other sports in which grip pressure against an object is important, such as rowing (e.g., ore grip pressure), gymnastics (e.g., uneven bars grip pressure) or Judo (e.g., gi grip pressure).

The grip pressure analysis server 130 receives data from the grip measurement device 110, and uses internal processes to generate feedback (e.g., audio or video). One type of feedback is a pure grip pressure measurement. Other types of feedback enhance the current data with other data, such a historical grip pressure, ideal grip pressure, hand positioning, grip pressure at different times of a swing, multimedia generated based on the data, tables, graphs, and the like. Databases, internal algorithms, and other external servers (e.g., a search engine) can all be leveraged to generate feedback.

In an embodiment, the grip pressure analysis server 130 also manages user accounts. The individual grip measurement device 110 can be registered to a user account associated with one or more players. Data sent upstream can include an identifier (e.g., MAC address or username) of the grip pressure analysis server 130 and appropriate security information. In another embodiment, a player provides a voice command, fingerprint or other recognition corpus to the grip pressure measurement device 110 in order to identify a specific player for analysis.

The smartphone 140 can alternatively be a laptop computer, an Internet-enabled television, or another computerized network device. A downloaded application or network browser on the smartphone 140 displays a user interface to the system 100 so that users can manage accounts, shop, receive feedback, and the like. The smartphone 140 can also serve as a hot spot for access to external resources (e.g., the grip pressure analysis server 130).

FIG. 2 is a more detailed block diagram illustrating a grip pressure and analysis server of FIG. 1, according to an embodiment. A grip app communication module 210 communicates with the grip app 142 (of FIG. 1) for transferring back and forth regarding golf swings and resulting analysis. Certain protocols, such as XML, IEEE 802.11, custom protocols, or the like can be used to format data exchanges. A user account database 220 stores individualized information and settings for athletes and can be protected by log-in information. Also, historical swing information and golf swing sessions can be saved. The individualized information and settings can be accessed when analyzing a user's swing in real-time. The grip analysis module 230 implements algorithms, ideal swing information, actual swing information, historical swing information for a specific user, context conditions such as distance from the hole, angle of incline or decline, and wind speed, for analysis. The analysis results can be sent back to a mobile device for transfer to a grip measurement device and output to a user.

FIG. 3 is a perspective diagram illustrating a golf club 300 with a grip measurement device 310, according to an embodiment. The golf club can be, for example, a 2 iron or a 3 wood. The grip measurement device 310 measures pressure received from a hand. An array of sensors can provide even more detailed information about individual finger grip pressure, for example. Also, an array can provide both a grip measurement from the hand and a grip measurement to the golf club.

II. Grip Measurement and Analysis Methods (FIG. 4)

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating a method 400 for grip measurement and analysis, according to an embodiment. Many variations are possible, for example, there can be additional or fewer steps, steps can be performed in a different order, or functionalities of the steps can be alternatively grouped.

A grip measurement device is attached to a swinging object for sports (step 410). A network connection is made between a network interface of the grip measurement device and a remote resource (step 420). Optionally, a user account is configured, and/or a user identity is established for upcoming swings of a specific player (step 430). Grip pressure data is measured corresponding with a swing of the swinging object, and reported upstream to the remote resource (step 440). Analysis of the grip pressure data is performed (step 450), for example, by a wirelessly connected smartphone and/or a remote served available through a data network. Feedback is displayed to the player (step 460).

This description of the invention has been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form described, and many modifications and variations are possible in light of the teaching above. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical applications. This description will enable others skilled in the art to best utilize and practice the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to a particular use.

III. General Computing Devices (FIG. 5)

Many of the functionalities described herein can be implemented with computer software, computer hardware, or a combination, as shown in FIG. 5.

The computing device 500 is an exemplary device that is implementable for each of the components of the system 100, including the wireless networking device 130. The computing device 500 can be a mobile computing device, a laptop device, a smartphone, a tablet device, a phablet device, a video game console, a personal computing device, a stationary computing device, a server blade, an Internet appliance, a virtual computing device, a distributed computing device, a cloud-based computing device, or any appropriate processor-driven device.

The computing device 500, of the present embodiment, includes a memory 510, a processor 520, a storage drive 530, and an I/O port 540. Each of the components is coupled for electronic communication via a bus 599. Communication can be digital and/or analog, and use any suitable protocol.

The memory 510 further comprises network applications 512 and an operating system 514. The network applications 512 can include a web browser, a mobile application, an application that uses networking, a remote application executing locally, a network protocol application, a network management application, a network routing application, or the like.

The operating system 514 can be one of the Microsoft Windows® family of operating systems (e.g., Windows 7, 8, 10, Me, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows XP x64 Edition, Windows Vista, Windows CE, or Windows Mobile), Linux, HP-UX, UNIX, Sun OS, Solaris, Mac OS X, Alpha OS, AIX, IRIX32, or IRIX64. Other operating systems may be used. Microsoft Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.

The processor 520 can be a network processor (e.g., optimized for IEEE 802.11), a general purpose processor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a reduced instruction set controller (RISC) processor, an integrated circuit, or the like. Qualcomm Atheros, Broadcom Corporation, and Marvell Semiconductors manufacture processors that are optimized for IEEE 802.11 devices. The processor 520 can be single core, multiple core, or include more than one processing elements. The processor 520 can be disposed on silicon or any other suitable material. The processor 520 can receive and execute instructions and data stored in the memory 510 or the storage drive 530

The storage drive 530 can be any non-volatile type of storage such as a magnetic disc, EEPROM, Flash, or the like. The storage drive 530 stores code and data for applications.

The I/O port 540 further comprises a user interface 542 and a network interface 544. The user interface 542 can output to a display device and receive input from, for example, a keyboard. The network interface 544 (e.g. RF antennae) connects to a medium such as Ethernet or Wi-Fi for data input and output.

Many of the functionalities described herein can be implemented with computer software, computer hardware, or a combination.

Computer software products (e.g., non-transitory computer products storing source code) may be written in any of various suitable programming languages, such as C, C++, C#, Oracle® Java, JavaScript, PHP, Python, Perl, Ruby, AJAX, and Adobe® Flash®. The computer software product may be an independent application with data input and data display modules. Alternatively, the computer software products may be classes that are instantiated as distributed objects. The computer software products may also be component software such as Java Beans (from Sun Microsystems) or Enterprise Java Beans (EJB from Sun Microsystems).

Furthermore, the computer that is running the previously mentioned computer software may be connected to a network and may interface to other computers using this network. The network may be on an intranet or the Internet, among others. The network may be a wired network (e.g., using copper), telephone network, packet network, an optical network (e.g., using optical fiber), or a wireless network, or any combination of these. For example, data and other information may be passed between the computer and components (or steps) of a system of the invention using a wireless network using a protocol such as Wi-Fi (IEEE standards 802.11, 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11e, 802.11g, 802.11i, 802.11n, and 802.11ac, just to name a few examples). For example, signals from a computer may be transferred, at least in part, wirelessly to components or other computers.

In an embodiment, with a Web browser executing on a computer workstation system, a user accesses a system on the World Wide Web (WWW) through a network such as the Internet. The Web browser is used to download web pages or other content in various formats including HTML, XML, text, PDF, and postscript, and may be used to upload information to other parts of the system. The Web browser may use uniform resource identifiers (URLs) to identify resources on the Web and hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) in transferring files on the Web.

This description of the invention has been presented for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form described, and many modifications and variations are possible in light of the teaching above. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical applications. This description will enable others skilled in the art to best utilize and practice the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to a particular use. The scope of the invention is defined by the following claims.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for, dynamically providing real-time feedback based on remote analysis for grip pressure on a golf club while swinging, in a mobile device comprising at least a first type of transceiver and a second type of transceiver different from the first type of transceiver and a processor, the method comprising the steps of:

responsive to a specific swing of the golf club by the specific athlete, receiving swing information from the grip measurement device in real-time with the specific swing, over a first type of wireless data communication network;

identifying a portion of the swing information necessary for remote analysis at the grip at the grip pressure analysis server;

transmitting the identified swing information portion along with account information for the specific athlete to a grip analysis server, over a second type of wireless data communication network;

receiving swing analysis information from the grip pressure analysis server based at least upon previously received configuration information for the specific athlete and previously received golf club information for the golf club, over the second type of wireless data communication network;

determining swing feedback on the specific swing for the specific user based at least in part on the received swing analysis information; and

sending swing feedback information to the grip measurement device for output to the specific athlete in real-time with the specific swing, over the first type of wireless data communication network.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the step of sending swing feedback information over to the grip measurement device for output to the specific athlete comprises at least one of:

providing a visual output based on the swing feedback information to the specific athlete;

providing an audible output based on the swing feedback information to the specific athlete; and

providing a tactile output based on the swing feedback information to the specific athlete.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining swing feedback on the specific swing for the specific user based at least in part on the received swing analysis information comprises:

determining a degree of deviation between the specific swing and an ideal swing.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving swing context information for the specific swing comprising at least one of: distance to a hole, degree of incline or decline, and wind speed.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving golf club information from the specific athlete, the golf club information comprising at least one of: length of a shaft of the golf club, weight of the golf club, and dimensions of the golf club, wherein the golf club information affects the swing feedback.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an identifier for the grip measurement device; and

automatically retrieving golf club information, the golf club information comprising at least one of: length of a shaft of the golf club, weight of the golf club, and dimensions of the golf club, wherein the golf club information affects the swing feedback.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the swing information comprises a grip pressure.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the swing information comprises a grip pressure to the golf club and a grip pressure from the hand.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the swing information comprises a grip pressure for individual fingers.