CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is based on and claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62,671,60 filed on May 15, 2019 and entitled A Batting Practice Mat, by Bre Shon Kimbrell, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Hitting a pitched baseball is both physically difficult and emotionally rewarding. There are numerous systems and method for helping and training a batter to hit a baseball.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to baseball hitting training aids.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a system and method for training a batter to keep their head and vision in a restricted area to improve power and efficiency for hitting a baseball depending on the location of the baseball with respect of home plate. A batting training system is disclosed, the system including but not limited to a baseball plate having visible color-coded pitch location indicators thereon; and a matt adjacent the baseball plate, the matt having colored zones that match a pitch location indicator color, wherein a batter is trained to look to the zone that matches the pitch location indicator for a ball. A method is disclosed for using the system to train a batter.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top view schematic depiction of an illustrative embodiment of the invention depicting a batting mat with colored regions to facilitate developing muscle memory to maintain the head and eye stability and improve efficiency while hitting a baseball off of a baseball hitting tee;
FIG. 2 is a top view schematic depiction of an illustrative embodiment of the invention depicting a batting mat with colored regions to facilitate head and eye stability and efficiency while hitting a baseball off of a baseball hitting tee showing a batter's box, home plate and a first marker circle for placement of a batter's back foot on the right side of the home plate for a left handed batter and a second marker circle for placement of a batter's back foot on the left side of the home plate for a right handed batter;
FIG. 3 is a top view schematic depiction an illustrative embodiment of the present invention showing placement of a baseball on a baseball hitting tee on the outside portion of home plate for a righthanded batter;
FIG. 4 is a top view schematic depiction an illustrative embodiment of the present invention showing placement of a baseball on a baseball hitting tee on the center portion of home plate for a righthanded batter;
FIG. 5 is a top view schematic depiction an illustrative embodiment of the present invention showing placement of a baseball on a baseball hitting tee on the inside portion of home plate for a righthanded batter; and
FIG. 6 is a top view schematic depiction an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a top view schematic depiction an illustrative embodiment of the present invention
FIG. 8 is a top view schematic depiction an illustrative embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 9 is a top view schematic depiction an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In a particular illustrative embodiment of the invention, a batting training system is provided, the system including but not limited to a baseball plate having visible color-coded pitch location indicators thereon; and a matt adjacent the baseball plate, the matt having colored zones that match a pitch location indicator color, wherein a batter is trained to look to the zone that matches the pitch location indicator for a ball. In another particular illustrative embodiment of the invention, the system further includes but is not limited to a tee for holding a ball at a location of one of the pitch location indicators for hitting by batter in training.
In another particular illustrative embodiment of the invention, a method is disclosed for training a batter, is disclosed, the method including but not limited to placing a ball on a tee located on a home plate having color-coded pitch location indicators; and placing a matt adjacent the baseball plate, the matt having colored zones that match a pitch location indicator color, wherein a batter is trained to look to the zone that matches the pitch location indicator for the ball. In another particular illustrative embodiment of the invention, the ball is the same color as the pitch location indicator.
FIG. 1 is a schematic depiction of an illustrative embodiment of the invention depicting a batting mat 100 with colored regions to facilitate head and eye stability and efficiency while hitting a baseball off of a baseball hitting tee. The “20 20 Matt™” as a particular embodiment is called is rounded on the field end of the matt to blend with the field 109. Different colored regions are provided 101, 102, 103, 104 and 105 on the batting mat. In a particular illustrative embodiment, region 101 is yellow, region 102 is red, region 103 is blue and region 104 is orange. A batter typically uses only three or less of the colored regions at a time depending on the placement of the batting tee 107 and baseball 106 on home plate.
FIG. 2 is a schematic depiction of an illustrative embodiment of the invention depicting the batting mat 100 (as depicted in FIG. 1) with colored regions to facilitate a heater's head and eye stability and efficiency while hitting a baseball off of the baseball hitting tee 107. As shown in FIG. 2, a batter's box 108 comprising regions 204,205 201206 and 207, home plate 202 and a first marker circle 203 for placement of a righthanded batter's back foot on the right side of the home plate for a lefthanded batter and a second marker circle 208 for placement of a batter's back foot on the left side of the home plate for a righthanded batter. In particular illustrative embodiment of the invention the mat 100 and batter's box 108 is made from a single piece of synthetic turf like material.
For example, a righthanded hitter would only use three colored regions 101, 102 and 103. The righthanded batter places his or hers back foot on foot placement dot 203. The mat and batter's box and mat are one piece. The ball being placed an outside pitch 106 as shown in FIG. 3. The eyes stay on region 101 for outside pitch through contact and extension. The batter sees the ball at 5 feet from the plate when pitched from a pitching mound. Keeping the eyes and head down on region 101 through extension trains the batter to keep the head down looking at region 101 through extension of hitting the ball rather than raising the head and missing the pitched baseball. When the back shoulder meets the chin on the swing follow through is complete through extension. For center pitches as shown in FIG. 4, the head and eyes stay down on region 102 through extension. For inside pitches as shown in FIG. 5, the head and eyes stay down on region 103 through extension. The colored mat is superior to cones for training hitting of a baseball as the colors allow the hitter more leeway and a natural swing.
For example, a lefthanded hitter would only use three colored regions 102, 103 and 104. The lefthanded batter places his or hers back foot on foot placement dot 208. The mat and batter's box and mat are one piece. The ball being placed an outside pitch 106 as shown in FIG. 5. For outside pitches, the eyes stay on region 104 for outside pitch through contact and extension. The batter sees the ball at 5 feet from the plate when pitched from a pitching mound. Keeping the eyes and head down on region 104 through extension trains the batter to keep the head down looking at region 104 through extension of hitting the ball rather than raising the head and missing the pitched baseball. When the back shoulder meets the chin on the swing follow through is complete through extension. For center pitches as shown in FIG. 4, the head and eyes stay down on region 103 through extension. For inside pitches as shown in FIG. 5, the head and eyes stay down on region 102 through extension. The colored mat is superior to cones for training hitting of a baseball as the colors allow the hitter more leeway and a natural swing. For a high fast ball down the middle of the plate, which is simulated by raising the ball and tee and placing them on the center of the plate, the hitter focuses on region 105, which is colored white in a particular illustrative embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a schematic depiction of the present invention showing placement of a baseball on a baseball hitting tee on the outside portion of home plate for a righthanded batter.
FIG. 4 is a schematic depiction of the present invention showing placement of a baseball on a baseball hitting tee on the center portion of home plate for a righthanded batter.
FIG. 5 is a schematic depiction of the present invention showing placement of a baseball on a baseball hitting tee on the inside portion of home plate for a righthanded batter.
FIG. 6 is a top view schematic depiction an illustrative embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 6, in a particular illustrative embodiment of the invention, the present invention provides a hitting tool to help keep the hitter's head and eyes down through contact of the baseball to create a more flush/consistent contact of the hitter's bat with a baseball. Each pitch location is colored with the matching extension color. This gives the hitter instant feed if they pull their eyes and head off of the ball, if the color doesn't match then maybe the hitter got around the baseball or were late. In the particular illustrative embodiment, the system and method create muscle memory for more successful contact transferred from the batting cage using the present invention to a game with a live pitched baseball. The present invention trains the to create muscle memory and focus on execution of the swing rather than the hitter's swing result. Hitter's tend to look up to see where the hit baseball is going instead of keeping their head down through the swing. The present invention enables and trains a hitter to keep their head down and eyes on a particular color or region of the mat depending on pitch location.
Turning now to FIG. 7, there are 7 baseball positions (pitch locations) that should be hit as they travel from the pitcher's mound and across the plate (Black to Black) and 2 baseball positions that are just off of the plate. The inventor likes to teach hitters to hit the 2 pitch locations off because umps aren't perfect, neither are hitter, so teaching the right limits to hitting that off the plate pitch is key for hitters trying to get to the next level. The 20/20 mat will help hitters identify depth of pitches, contact points, eyes at contact through extension. All while having instant feedback if the hitter is late, rolling over, pulling off, or having a hard time controlling the head through the zone with precision.
For hitters using the Mat will see 5 colored zones, but will only actually use 4 of the 5 zone. One of the zones is a “No Zone”, which the hitters will attempt to keep their heads away from. The “land”, the batter should be in in-line with the line in the batter's box for the 5 colored zones to match with the contact points. The Zone 1 will be for away pitches closer to the black, hitting the ball to the opposite field to the line (yellow). Zone 2 is for hitters hitting the ball on the middle to outer third of the plate driving the ball to the gap (Red). Zone 3 is for pitches over the middle of the dish. Hitters should keep their heads down through extension on these pitches and should produce gap to gap results if executed correctly (Black). Zone 4 are for the balls on the inner third of the plate and it will help hitters from pulling off on these pitches (Blue). Hitters will catch more barrels because they are forced to keep their head in the zone and now the pitch players regret missing . . . now they are rockets off the bat. The black line outlining the mat represents the top of the Zone. If you drive a ball at the top of the strike zone you should see the zone/closer to or combined with the black line. Its significance is more of the limitation of the eye contact. It allows hitters to visualize an end point for hitters to understand not to raise above it.
The 20/20 mat is hitter's tool for Tee work, side toss, and front toss training the body to remember contact zones. From tee ball to professional baseball this is a practiced, acquired skill, keeping the eyes on the ball through extension, and this mat gives hitters more of a visualization gaining muscle memory for a lifetime of success at the home plate.
FIG. 8 is a top view schematic depiction an illustrative embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a side view schematic depiction an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.
