BATTING GLOVE SYSTEM FOR PROPER BATTING GRIP

Abstract

A system of batting gloves enables a batter to position his or her hands on a bat in a manner such that the batter has a proper grip of the bat. A pair of batting gloves contains markings in the middle of the fingers at locations that are approximately where a batter's middle or knocking knuckles will be positioned in the glove. When a batter wears the gloves and holds a bat, the batter will position his or her hands such that the markings on the glove fingers of the two gloves will align and form a line. When the markings are aligned and form a line, the batters' hands are positioned in a proper or preferred grip of the bat.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a batting glove system that facilitates a proper batting grip when attempting to hit a baseball or softball. In particular, this invention relates to a system of batting gloves that when worn by a batter will enable the batter to align his or her hands in a manner to produce a proper positioning of the batter's hands which will result in a proper grip on the bat.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Baseball and softball are popular ball and bat sports played between two teams of nine or ten players. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at 90 feet corners of a diamond. Players on the batting team take turns hitting against the pitcher of the fielding team. The fielding team tries to stop them from scoring runs by getting hitters out in any of several ways.

Batting a baseball is often described as one of the most difficult activities in sports. Batting consists of hitting a small round ball with a thin round bat. The act of batting/hitting a baseball is so difficult that if a batter gets a hit in 3 out of 10 times at bat (30 percent of the time) that player is considered to be an exceptional batter. In fact, it has been more than 70 years since a major league professional baseball player has had a batting average of at least 0.400 (4 hits out of every 10 at bats).

A key element of success in batting a baseball is to generate as much bat speed as possible when swinging the bat through the hitting zone (the area over the home plate through which the ball passes). The more bat speed the batter can generate will increase the chances of the batter hitting the ball. Several components contribute to having a successful at bat. The batter needs to have a proper batting stance. The proper batting stance will enable the batter to better use his/her lower body generate torque and power. Another important element of the batting stance is the position of the batter's arms. A batter needs to be able to extend his/her arms to generate power from his/her upper body. A batter's upper body and lower body should work together as a unit to generate the power a batter needs for increased bat speed in order to hit the thrown ball.

In addition to the batting stance, another key element to enable a batter to generate bat speed is the batter's hand grip on the bat. A proper grip of the bat is essential for a successful at bat. The purpose of the grip is to enable the batter to control the bat while allowing the batter to generate maximum bat speed with minimum effort. The variables with regards to the batter's grip are how far out on the bat are the fingers or how deep in the palm a player will hold the bat. Other variables include how the upper and lower hands align on the bat, how tight to hold the bat, and whether to choke up or not on the bat.

Two important aspects of the batter's grip are the hand positions and the tension of the hands during the grip. Extreme hand tension in the grip is the worst enemy for a batter with regards to swinging a bat. In addition, tension throughout the body is often the direct result of a batter's improper grip of a baseball bat. For proper batting success, a player with a relaxed grip on the bat is able to react faster and wait longer on pitches than players with a death grip on the bat. A relaxed player in the batter's box starts with a relaxed grip of the bat.

The other important aspect of the batter's grip is the position of the batter's hands. The batter's grip involves the position of the fingers of both hands. Opinions will vary on the proper position of the fingers. There is more than one main position for gripping a bat. However, with regards to younger players, there is always a lot of discussion about the “knocking” or middle knuckles of the hands. A player is coached to line up his middle knuckles or knocking knuckles from both hands. For some younger players, this position may be uncomfortable or unnatural because of their small hands. Some batting instructors recommend that the knuckles should be slightly ‘misaligned’ with the top hand ‘knocker’ knuckles between the middle and top knuckles of the bottom hand.

Today, many players wear batting gloves to improve their grip on the bat. Developments in batting glove designs have resulted in a variety of batting gloves used by baseball and softball players from the professional level down to little league. U.S. design Pat. D506,794 to Hunt et al., illustrates a youth bat and batting glove having grip-enhancing interacting hook-and-loop fastener elements.

Many of the patents regarding battling gloves, however, are in the area of providing protection for the batter's hands. U.S. Pat. No. 7,895,669 to Kleinert describes a batting glove particularly for baseball and softball that includes padding along the palm side of at least the proximal ends of the metacarpals of the ring finger and the small finger. Padding is absent over the hook of the hamate and preferably the carpometacarpal joints of the ring finger and the small finger.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,389,601 to Kleinert describes a batting glove that includes a plurality of finger elements, a thumb element, a top portion, and a lower portion. The finger elements cover fingers, the thumb element covers a thumb, the top portion covers a back side of the hand, and the lower portion covers a palm of the hand. Preselected thicknesses of preselected materials are included in order to protect the bones, ligaments, pulleys, tendons, etc. of a wearer from direct shock, and to distribute stress along the hand.

Most of the batting glove developments also focus on a single batting glove. Some developments involve gloves for both hands. U.S. Pat. No. 8,132,269 to Ibon, et al., describes a novel protective batting glove which is used specifically for protecting the most vulnerable parts of a batter's hands and wrists when the batter is standing at home plate and is gripping the end of a baseball bat and awaiting the arrival of a baseball which is thrown by the pitcher. The invention comprises a unique protective system of a design of a matched pair of batting gloves with one matched pair designed for a right handed batter and one matched pair designed for a left handed batter. For each matched pair of batting gloves, impact and shock absorbing material is incorporated onto selected portions of the exterior of the glove where the grip on the bat causes the hand to be most exposed to a pitch thrown at the batter. Alternatively, the glove has a cuff with an affixed interior impact and shock absorbing material to provide double protection for the ulna bone of an arm.

U.S. Pat. D661,842 to Ibon describes pairs of baseball batting gloves with protective shock absorbing members on the exterior of each glove with one pair to be worn on the right hand and left hand of a right handed batter and one pair to be worn on the left and right hand of a left handed batter.

As players develop they will often adjust their batting grip. The grip needs to be comfortable and it must provide the player with the ability to relax while batting. In the end, players want their hands to align somewhere from the middle knuckles lining up to the middle knuckles of the lower hand lining up with the top knuckles on the upper hand. Anywhere in that zone that is comfortable for the player should work as long as they don't get the bat too far in the palms of their hands.

Although players are instructed on how to align their hands to achieve a proper and comfortable batting grip, the actual batting gloves do not provide much assistance to the player. Further, the batting gloves could be used as a unit to help a better properly align both hands.

There remains a need for a batting glove system comprising two gloves to assist a batter in the proper alignment of both hands on a bat.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention comprises a pair of batting gloves (one left-handed glove and one right-handed glove). Each glove contains markings on the middle or knocking knuckles on some or all of the fingers of each glove. When a batter wears the gloves and grabs bat, the batter will position his/her fingers in order to align the markings of the knocking knuckles of one glove with the markings of the knocking knuckles of the other glove. When the markings of the knuckles of the two gloves are aligned, the markings will generally form a line. This formed line indicates a proper positioning of the batter's hands and a proper gripping of a batter's hands on the bat.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a topside view of the left hand batting glove of the present invention showing the finger markings positioned on the fingers of the glove.

FIG. 2 is a topside view of the right hand batting glove of the present invention showing the finger markings positioned on the fingers of the glove.

FIG. 3 is a palm side view of the left hand batting glove showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a palm side view of the right hand batting glove showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 shows a batter's hands positioned on a bat with the markings of the batting gloves aligned to achieve a desire grip of the bat.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a batting glove system used by a batter particularly during baseball and softball batting activities. The objective of the batting glove system of the present invention is to enable a batter to properly align his or her hands in order to achieve an optimum grip of the bat. A proper hand alignment for gripping a bat is for the batter's middle knuckles (knocking knuckles) on one hand to align with each other and with the middle knuckles on the other hand. The present invention comprises a pair of batting gloves having markings on middle (knocking) knuckles that provide a guide to the batter. When the markings from gloves are aligned, a generally straight line is formed by the marks. From the formed line, the batter can tell whether their grip is proper. A generally straight line indicates proper hand positions and a proper batting grip.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show the topside views of the left hand and right hand batting gloves respectively in the system of the present invention. Shown are the finger markings positioned on the fingers of the gloves. Referring to FIG. 1, the batting glove 100 has four fingers 102, 104, 106, and 108 and a thumb 110, a back (top) hand section 112 and a wrist wrap 114. A finger marking 116, 118, 120 and 122 is on each of the glove fingers. The markings are positioned such that when a batter wears a glove, a batter's knocking (middle) knuckles will be at the approximate position as the markings on the fingers of the glove. The material for the batting glove can contain leather material. The leather material can actually comprise various leather materials. The leather material is flexible and can also enhance ventilation. The hand section 112 can comprise a smooth leather material 124, with alternating plain leather panels 126 of different colors. As shown, the thumb 110 and fingers can also comprise combinations of leather materials. For example, the fingers can comprise a textured top section. Next, there is a plain leather section. The third section contains the alignment markers 116, 118, 120 and 122. This marker section can be a plain white leather section to serve as a background for a bright colored or dark colored alignment mark. The bottom of the finger section can also be of a plain leather material having a different color from the marker section. With reference to the thumb, there can be a textured leather section 128 and a plain or smooth leather section 130.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show the palm side 300 of the left hand and right hand batting gloves for the present invention. The fingers of the gloves are identified as 302, 304, 306 and 308. The thumb is identified as 310. As shown, in this view, the palm side has multiple sections 312, 316 and 318 that can be comprised of a leather material. Section 312 covers the lower ends of the fingers. Sections 316 and 318 cover a batter's palms. These sections are padded sections that protect a batter's hands. All three sections 312, 316 and 318 can also serve as a vibration protector. The vibration protector functions similar to a shock absorber to reduce any shock (vibration) from the resulting from a batter striking a ball. A batter secures the glove with the wrist wrap 314. As with the topside of the glove, the palm side can comprise multiple material sections. Section 312 can comprise a plain leather material.

FIG. 5 shows a batter's hands positioned on a bat with the markings of the batting gloves are aligned to achieve a desired grip of the bat. This view 500 shows the batter holding a bat 502. The batter holds the bat with a bottom hand 504 and top hand 506. In this illustration, the batter wears the gloves of the present invention. The batter aligns the markers 508 and 510 on each glove in order to achieve a desired grip.

As shown, when the markers from the two batting gloves 508 and 510 are aligned, the alignment forces a change in the position of the batter's arms. When the knocking (middle) knuckles from the batter's hands are aligned (via the markers 508 and 510) the wrist position 514 of the top arm will bend as shown. This bent position of the top wrist gives the batter more flexibility during a swing. When the wrists are straight, the batter has less flexibility and control of the bat during a swing. When a batter's wrists are straight, the batter also does not have the flexibility to roll over his/her top hand and turn over the bat during a swing. In addition, a bent wrist enables the batter to store up energy in the hands and forearm, then release the energy during the swing. Lining up the knocking (middle) knuckles from both hands also forces the batter to hold and grip the bat higher in the batter's hand (closer to the batter's fingers and further away from the batter's thumb). Holding the bat higher in the hand gives the batter more hand action and a faster bat. When the bat is positioned deep in the batter's hand and palm (closer to the thumb), the batter has a tendency to squeeze the bat. Squeezing the bat can result in slower bat speed.

A natural, but undesired position is for the knocking knuckles of the batter's top hand to align with the bottom knuckles of the bottom hand. This position is shown in many illustrations of a batter gripping a bat. Usually, in this position, the batter is holding the bat deep in the batter's hand. When the bat is held deep in the batter's hand, it becomes more difficult to naturally align the knocking knuckles.

The present is a system of two batting gloves. Baseball batting gloves are sold as pairs, but the gloves are usually independent in function. The functioning of one glove is not dependent on the other glove. The present invention requires the use of both gloves. As mentioned, the markings of the two gloves align to ensure a desired grip of the bat. In the present invention, the use of a single glove will not enable a batter to get a proper hand alignment for a batting grip. As also mentioned, use of the present invention will ensure a desired batting grip by enabling a batter to align knocking knuckles from each hand on the bat. To more easily align the knocking knuckles, the batter has to position the bat in the in the palm of the hand closer to the fingers and away from the batter's thumb. This positioning of the bat provides for more flexibility of the bat, reduces squeezing of the bat by the batter and enables the batter to better turn over the batter's wrists during a swing. These benefits are reduced when a batter does not align knocking (middle) knuckles from both hands.

The system of this invention provides significant advantages over the current art. The invention has been described in connection with its preferred embodiments. However, it is not limited thereto. Changes, variations and modifications to the basic design may be made without departing from the inventive concepts in this invention. In addition, these changes, variations and modifications would be obvious to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the foregoing teachings. All such changes, variations and modifications are intended to be within the scope of this invention.

Claims

1. A batting glove system for an improved grip of a baseball bat comprising:

a first batting glove to be worn on one of a batter's hand, said first batting glove having a top side and a palm side and including finger sections for each of a batter's fingers and a thumb section, said first batting glove at least partially covering the batter's finger sections and thumb section and the palm side of said first batting glove having a palm portion that covers a batter's palm;

a second batting glove to be worn on a second hand of a batter, said second batting glove having a top side and a palm side and including finger sections for each of a batter's fingers and a thumb section, the second batting glove at least partially covering the batter's finger sections and thumb section and the palm side of said second batting glove having a palm portion that covers a batter's palm;

markers positioned on the top side of the fingers of said first batting glove, the markers being positioned on the fingers of said first batting glove such that when a batter wears said first batting glove, the markers will approximately align with middle knuckles of a batter's hand; and

markers positioned on the top side of the fingers of said second batting glove, the markers being positioned on the fingers of said second batting glove such that when a batter wears said second batting glove, the markers will approximately align with middle knuckles of a batter's hand and the markers being positioned on the fingers of said second batting glove such that when a batter grips a bat, markers positioned on said first batting glove will align with markers positioned on said second batting glove and thereby forming a line with the markers of both said first and said second batting gloves and thereby ensuring a desired alignment of a batter's hands when gripping a bat.

2. The batting glove system as described in claim 1 wherein said first batting glove and said second batting gloves have one said marker on each of three middle fingers of said first and second batting gloves.

3. The batting glove system as described in claim 1 further comprising a wrist wrap section adjacent said palm section and opposite said finger sections for securing said first or said second batting glove when a batter is wearing a glove.

4. The batting glove system as described in claim 1 wherein the top side and the palm side of said first or said second batting glove comprises different materials including materials that can facilitate ventilation for a batter's hand.

5. A method for obtaining a preferred grip of a baseball bat when attempting to hit a baseball using a batting glove system, the method comprising the steps of:

inserting a first hand of a batter into an appropriate batting glove of the batting glove system, the batting glove having markers on fingers of the batting;

inserting a second hand of the batter into an appropriate batting glove of the batting glove system, the batting glove having markers on fingers of the batting;

securing a baseball bat for hitting; and

positioning the first and second hands on the baseball bat such the markers on the fingers of the batter's first hand and fingers on the batter's second hand generally form a line that is visible to the batter.

6. The method as described in claim 5 further comprising aligning middle knuckles of the batter's first hand with middle knuckles of the batter's second hand by aligning the markers on the finger sections of the appropriate batting gloves.

7. The method as described in claim 5 wherein said both inserting steps further comprise inserting first and second hands into said appropriate batting such that middle knuckles on the batter's fingers align with markers on finger sections of the batting gloves.