This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 10/908,017 filed April 25, 2005, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a basketball shooting aid and more particularly to a basketball shooting visor having a short bill.

BACKROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a basketball shooting aid that is economical and has a basketball shooting short-billed visor preferably having a moisture absorbing headband component. The present invention is a physiological and fashion friendly approach to shooting a basketball with higher arc, greater focus and quicker alignment at the basket while at practice or in actual competition.

Currently there are available strap fasteners to train users how to properly shoot a basketball. These fasteners are expensive and complex. Commonly, when a person shoots a basketball, they depend on their sight perception and range within given sight of a basket. Many people suffer from shooting a basketball flat or straight at the basket because of erroneous height and distance perception, and incorrect shooting form. However when upward vertical sight of a person shooting a basketball is blocked above the forehead, the reflex need of a person's eyes to follow the flight of the ball ceases and the shooter is able to focus much better on the basket without the distraction of watching the ball as it travels through the air towards the basket target. The user of the present invention is instructed to put on the invented visor with the short-billed visor worn right above the eyes and to picture in his or her mind the basketball shot being released from above their heads in a rainbow pattern while exclusively focusing on the basket and fully extending their arms and whipping their wrists at the basket target for proper release. In competition the sight of the basket can be blurred due to the movement of the ball and the pace of the game, although with timing and concentration on the basket, a player can score baskets with a quick stop. This is why a natural feel and alignment with the basket is necessary. The invented visor trains a person shooting the basketball to feel for the right amount of arc and applied force to shoot the ball at variable distances from the basket, helping the shooter to develop crucial hand-eye coordination. After repetitive use with the invented visor, arc, focus and alignment will

become more a part of the user's shooting memory and technique to score at will as the user learns how to shoot straight up instead of out at the basket, achieving arc not from sight but due to picturing the shot and the flight of the ball in their minds and memorizing how the shot felt each and every time a basket was made by only looking at the basket, not the ball.

Traditional length visors worn by basketball shooters will get in the way by getting knocked off the user's head as a result from coming in contact with either the basketball or the user's hands, interrupting the natural flow of the user's shooting technique. Most people wearing regular length visors or caps will turn the bill backwards so not to have interference while shooting a basketball. Not so with the present invention, particularly because its short bill is sufficiently short enough to accommodate without interruption, the correct shooting form of a user when shooting a basketball.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A basketball shooting visor comprising a headband and a bill attached to the headband. The bill has a central radial axis substantially in the center of the bill which intersects the outer perimeter of the bill at a first point. When the visor is worn on a person's head, the distance measured along the underside of the bill from the person's forehead along the central radial axis to the first point is 25-64 mm. The visor preferably has a stripe on the underside of the bill extending along the central radial axis. A method of shooting a basketball is provided wherein the shooter shoots a basketball while wearing the invented basketball shooting visor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a front-left-top perspective view of a basketball shooting visor according to the invention.

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the visor of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a right side elevational view of the visor of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the visor of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view of the visor of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view taken along line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

In the description that follows, when a preferred range, such as 5 to 25 (or 5-25) is given, this means preferably at least 5 and, separately and independently, preferably not more than 25. The same numerals illustrate the same elements in the different figures.

With reference to Figs. 1-6, there is shown a basketball shooting visor 10 having a headband 12 attached to a bill 14. The headband 12 is preferably stretchable, elastic and moisture-absorbing fabric, preferably knit fabric, preferably tubular (see Fig. 6 where the tube is shown in the cross section) as known in the art or formed as a toroid or doughnut- shaped. Headband 12 can be an elastic (so that one size can fit all) headband as known in the art made from fabric, such as knit fabric. Headband 12 is attached via stitching 16, 18, 20 to bill 14. Bill 14 is preferably made of a conventional plastic sheet or substrate covered by fabric. Bill 14 is preferably flexible and resilient in a conventional manner.

With reference to Fig. 5, on the underside of the bill, in the center or substantially in the center of the bill and extending along the bill along a central radial axis or radius or radial line 30 from the center of the substantially circular headband is a stripe 22, preferably 2-10, more preferably 4-9, more preferably 5-9, more preferably 6-8, more preferably about 7, mm wide, in a visually distinct or contrasting color (such as white stripe 22 when bill 14 is black or yellow stripe 22 when bill 14 is dark blue, etc.). Preferably stripe 22 is painted on or sewn on or applied or provided by other means known in the art. Stripe 22 on the underside 52 of the bill is an index finger alignment line which can be a brightly colored or white stripe which is centered and acts or identifies an imaginary vertical line corresponding to the center of the person's body for the purpose of aligning the index finger of the basketball shooter's shooting hand to the imaginary or visualized alignment line between the shooter and the basket when shooting a basketball. The shooter will peripherally see the stripe 22 and will align the index finger of his shooting hand with that stripe to more properly align his shot with the basket.

As shown in Fig. 5, bill 14 has a central radial axis indicated by line 30 substantially in the center of bill 14 which intersects the outer perimeter of bill 14 at point 31.

As shown in Fig. 5, the bill projects 25-64, more preferably 27-62, more preferably 30-60, more preferably 32-59, more preferably 34-58, more preferably 36-57, more preferably 38-56, more preferably 40-55, more preferably 41-55, more preferably 42-54, more preferably 43-54, more preferably 44-53, more preferably 45-52, more preferably 46- 52, more preferably 47-52, more preferably 48-51, more preferably 49-51 , more preferably 50-51 , mm, from the wearer's forehead (a) when measured on the underside of the bill along radial line 30 from the wearer's forehead to the outer perimeter of the bill indicated at point 31 , and (b) when measured on the underside of the bill along radial line 32 from the wearer's

forehead to the outer perimeter of the bill indicated at point 33, and (c) when measured on the underside of the bill along radial line 34 from the wearer's forehead to the outer perimeter of the bill indicated at point 35, and (d) when measured on the underside of the bill along radial line 36 from the wearer's forehead to the outer perimeter of the bill indicated at point 37. When measured on the underside of the bill along radial line 38 from the wearer's forehead to the outer perimeter of the bill indicated at point 39, the distances are 93% of the distances set forth above for radial line 30, rounded to the nearest whole mm. When measured on the underside of the bill along radial line 40 from the wearer's forehead to the outer perimeter of the bill indicated at point 41 , the distances are 80% of the distances set forth above for radial line 30, rounded to the nearest whole mm.

The distance along the curve or outer perimeter of the bill from point 31 to point 33 is 25 mm; the distance along the curve or outer perimeter of the bill from point 31 to point 35 is 38 mm; the distance along the curve or outer perimeter of the bill from point 31 to point 37 is 51 mm; the distance along the curve or outer perimeter of the bill from point 31 to point 39 is 64 mm; and the distance along the curve or outer perimeter of the bill from point 31 to point 41 is 76 mm. Radial lines 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40 are radial lines from the center of the circular headband as shown in Fig. 5 and are substantially in the plane defined by the underside 52 of the bill and by the bottom edge 50 of headband 12 (see Figs. 3 and 6).

With reference to Fig. 6, the wearer's forehead is shown schematically at 28 and the distance from the wearer's forehead to the outer perimeter of the bill is the distance from point 29 to point 31. This may be influenced by how tight the headband is on the head. Fig. 6 also illustrates the distance measured along the underside of the bill from the person's forehead along the central radial axis to the outer perimeter of the bill; this distance is from point 29 to point 31. Distances along other radial lines are measured in a corresponding fashion.

The purpose of the short bill 14 is to prevent the basketball shooter from seeing the flight of the basketball during the period of time after he releases the ball and while it traverses almost all of its arc to the basket. Preferably he will only regain sight of the basketball when it is about 0.3-0.5 m above the rim or about to hit the rim at the end of its downward arc. The purpose is to force the basketball shooter to look at the basket and concentrate on the basket while he is shooting and not be distracted by watching the flight or arc of the basketball. Preferably the shooter will feel the shot and not watch the shot. The invented visor is worn in the normal way with the bill over the eyes, but preferably worn a little lower over the eyes than might otherwise be the case, to help obscure the flight of the basketball. The preferred lengths of the bill have been selected because, as the bill exceeds the preferred lengths, there is more of a tendency for the shooter to hit the bill with his hand or arm or the basketball as he shoots; as the bill is shorter than the preferred lengths, there

is more likelihood that insufficient blocking of the visual flight path of the basketball will be provided.

Another benefit of the invented visor is that, during an actual basketball game, the player can turn the visor around on his head so the bill is in the back; then it can function as a conventional sweatband.

The visor is used by a basketball shooter by being worn on his head somewhat low over his eyes while he practices shooting a basketball at a basketball basket. The benefits are as described above.

Although the preferred embodiments have been described, various modifications may be resorted to without departing from the scope of the invention as disclosed and claimed herein.