Background to the Invention The inventor is aware of training machines for ball games such as tennis wherein a machine projects balls towards a user. However, since the ball is moving towards the player, the player has to apply considerable force to the ball to hit the ball and has to run in the direction of the ball during training. This causes fatigue as well as ingraining mistakes by the player such as an incorrect grip or stance since the player does not have time to prepare for the approaching ball and experiment with different techniques.

Furthermore, such training machines are not suitable for persons that are unable to move fast such as persons confined to a wheelchair or players recovering from injury.

Summary of the Invention Thus, according to the invention there is provided a training apparatus for ball games including :- a housing having one or more air inlets ; one or more air outlets, a first air outlet being directed upwardly relative to a surface on which the housing rests in use; and a fan or compressor for drawing air into the one or more air inlets and forcing the air out at increased pressure via the first air outlet so that a ball when positioned on the stream of pressurised air exiting the first air outlet hovers above the housing under the influence of the pressurised air.

The housing may have a second air outlet directed at an angle of

between zero and ninety degrees, preferably forty five degrees, relative to the surface on which the housing rests in use.

The housing may be provided with a ball inlet.

A ball directing means may be provided to direct the ball entering the housing to the second air outlet.

The apparatus may include a ball capturing means for capturing a ball that has been hit by a user when the apparatus is in use. The ball capturing means is typically in the form of a net located within a frame. The frame may comprise several parts that may be taken apart for storage and reassembled when needed. The height of the frame may be ajustable due to some parts of the frame being telescoping conduits. The individual parts of the frame may consist of piping manufactured from aluminium or any suitable synthetic plastics material.

The net may be in the form of any suitable lightweight netting, canvas or the like.

The net may have an opening in the region of its end towards which the captured ball gravitates, the opening being dimensioned so as to allow the ball to pass through it. The opening may be connectable to the ball inlet of the housing so as to permit the captured ball to be fed to the ball inlet of the housing. A conduit connected at its one end to the opening and at its other end to the ball inlet of the housing may be provided.

The housing may have a third air outlet directed upwardly relative to a surface on which the housing rests in use, the third air outlet being located in line with and behind the first air outlet. The purpose of the third air outlet is to shield the stream of pressurised air that supports the hovering ball from wind and its use is therefore optional. Furthermore, the pressurised stream of air exiting the third air outlet aids in maintaining the ball balanced on the stream of pressurised air exiting the first air outlet.

The pressure of the pressurised air may be varied by changing the settings of the fan or compressor.

The height that the ball hovers above the housing may be varied by changing the settings on the fan or compressor or by blocking the third air outlet by means of a cap or the like.

A first tapered nozzle at least an upper portion of which may be of resiliently deformable material may form part of the first air outlet so as to maintain the ball in a balanced position whilst it hovers above the housing.

The nozzle may be detachable and a plurality of first tapered nozzles of varying lengths may be provided for use with the apparatus. Thus, different lengths of nozzles may be used according to the fan or compressor setting chosen by a user.

One or more stabilising nozzles that are substantially shorter than the first tapered nozzle may form part of the third air outlet. The stabilising nozzle may be detachable and a plurality of stabilising nozzles of varying lengths may be provided for use with the apparatus so as to match the plurality of first tapered nozzles.

A filament extending axially from the first tapered nozzle may form part of the first tapered nozzle. The filament may be made of a resiliently deformable material. The filament may be manufactured from metal and/or rubber or may be in the form of a string. The purpose of the filament is to add further stability to the ball hovering on the stream of pressurised air exiting the first air outlet, of especially in windy conditions, to inhibit it from falling off said stream.

A plurality of conduits connectable to the second air outlet and directed at varying angles relative to the surface on which the housing rests may provided for use with the apparatus so that the trajectory of a ball exiting the housing via the conduit may be preset.

The ball to be used in conjunction with the apparatus may be selected from the group including : a tennis ball, a baseball ball, a squash ball, a golf ball, a hockey ball or a cricket ball. The apparatus may therefore be used to improve the skill of a player of a variety of ball games such as the games of tennis, squash, golf, hockey or cricket.

According to a further aspect of the invention, there is provided a training apparatus for ball games including :- a conduit located in or on the ground having at least two air outlets directed upwardly relative to the ground; a fan or compressor for supplying pressurised air to the conduit and forcing the air out at increased pressure via the air outlets so that when a ball is positioned on the stream of pressurised air exiting each air outlet it hovers above the ground under the influence of the pressurised air.

According to yet a further aspect of the invention there is provided a tennis training apparatus including :- a housing having one or more air inlets ; one or more air outlets, a first air outlet being directed upwardly relative to a surface on which the housing rests in use; and a fan or compressor for drawing air into the one or more air inlets and forcing the air out at increased pressure via the first air outlet so that when a tennis ball is positioned on the stream of pressurised air exiting the first air outlet it hovers above the housing under the influence of the pressurised air where it may be struck by a tennis racket.

The housing of the tennis training apparatus may have a carrying handle and may be portable.

According to yet a further aspect of the invention there is provided a training apparatus for ball games including :- a housing having one or more air inlets ; one or more air outlets, a first air outlet being directed upwardly relative to a surface on which the housing rests in use; and

a fan or compressor for drawing air into the one or more air inlets and forcing the air out at increased pressure via the first air outlet ; and an automatic ball return mechanism so that a ball that has been struck by a user is automatically returned to the housing and enters it via a ball inlet after which the ball is fed to an air outlet and comes to rest on the stream of pressurised air exiting the first air outlet by a user and hovers above the housing under the influence of the pressurised air.

Detailed Description of the Invention The invention will now be described by way of the following non-limiting example with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings :- Figure 1 shows a sectioned side view of a training apparatus for ball games in accordance with the present invention in a first operative condition; Figure 2 shows a sectioned side view of a training apparatus for ball games in accordance with the present invention in a second operative condition; and Figure 3 shows a three dimensional view of a ball capturing means in accordance with the present invention.

In the drawings, reference numeral 10 generally indicates a training apparatus for ball games in accordance with the present invention.

A training apparatus 10 for ball games includes a housing 12 having an air inlet 14, a plurality of air outlets 16, a first air outlet 18 being directed upwardly relative to a surface 20 on which the housing 12 rests in use and compressor 22 for drawing air into the air inlet 14 and forcing the air out at increased pressure via the first air outlet 18 so that a ball 24 positioned on the stream of pressurised air 25 exiting the first air outlet 18 hovers above the housing 12 under the influence of the pressurised air as shown in Figure 1.

A second air outlet 28 is directed at an angle of forty-five degrees,

relative to the surface 20 on which the housing 12 rests in use.

The housing is provided with a ball inlet 26 that can be closed off by closure member 27 by the pressurised air supplied by compressor 22. Once the ball 24 has entered the ball inlet 26, the weight of the ball 24 causes closure member 27 to open fully as indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 2.

Thereafter the pressurised air supplied by the compressor 22 causes the closure member 27 to close and the ball 24 to exit the housing 12 via the second air outlet 28 to which it is directed by a ball directing means in the form of conduit 30. Typically, the ball 24 is placed into the ball inlet 26 manually by a user.

The apparatus 10 includes a ball capturing means in the form of a net 32 located within a frame 34 as shown in Figure 3 for capturing the ball 24 that has been hit by a user (not shown) when the apparatus 10 is in use. The frame 34 comprises several parts that can be taken apart for storage and reassembled when needed. The height of the frame may be ajustable due to some parts 36 and 37 of the frame 34 being telescoping conduits. The individual parts of the frame 34 are typically piping manufactured from aluminium or any suitable synthetic plastics material.

The net 32 is typically a suitable lightweight netting. The net 32 has an opening 38 in the region of its end towards which the captured ball gravitates 40, the opening 38 being dimensioned so as to allow the ball 24 to pass through it. The opening 38 can be connected to the ball inlet 26 of the housing 12 so as to permit the ball 24 captured in the net 32 to be fed to the ball inlet 26 of the housing 12. The opening 38 is typically connected to the ball inlet 26 of the housing 12 by means of a snap fit or screw thread arrangement.

The housing 12 has a third air outlet 42 directed upwardly relative to the surface 20 on which the housing 12 rests in use, the third air outlet 42 being located in line with and behind the first air outlet 18 as shown in Figure 3.

The purpose of the third air outlet 42 is to shield the stream of pressurised air 25 that supports the hovering ball 24 from wind and its use is therefore optional. Furthermore, the pressurised stream of air exiting the third air outlet 42 aids in maintaining the ball 24 balanced on the stream of pressurised air exiting the first air outlet 18.

The pressure of the pressurised air may be varied by changing the settings of the compressor 22 using buttons 44.

The height that a ball 24 hovers above the housing 12 can be varied by changing the settings on the compressor or by blocking the third air outlet 42 by means of a cap 46.

A first tapered nozzle 48 at least an upper portion 49 of which is of resiliently deformable material, forms part of the first air outlet 18 so as to maintain the ball 24 in a balanced position whilst it hovers above the housing 12. The nozzle 48 is typically detachable and a plurality of nozzles 48 of varying lengths are provided for use with the apparatus 10. Thus, different lengths of nozzles 48 can be used according to the compressor setting chosen by a user.

The third air outlet 42 is provided with a stabilising nozzle 50 that is substantially shorter than the first tapered nozzle 48. The stabilising nozzle 50 is typically detachable and a plurality of stabilising nozzles 50 of varying lengths are provided for use with the apparatus 10 to match the different lengths of first tapered nozzles 48 provided.

A filament 51 extending axially from the first tapered nozzle 51 may be provided for use with the apparatus 10. The filament 51 is manufactured from resiliently deformable material. The purpose of the filament 51 is to add further stability to the ball 24, especially in windy conditions, to inhibit it from falling off the stream of pressurised air exiting the first air outlet 18. The filament 51 is typically manufactured from metal and/or rubber.

Referring now to Figure 2, a plurality of conduits 52 connectable to the second air outlet 28 and directed at varying angles relative to the surface 20 on which the housing rests 12 are typically provided for use with the apparatus 10 so that the trajectory of a ball 24 exiting the housing 12 via the conduit 52 can be preset.

The ball 24 to be used in conjunction with the apparatus 10 is typically selected from the group including : a tennis ball, a baseball ball, a squash ball, a golf ball, a hockey ball or a cricket ball. The apparatus 10 can therefore be used to improve the skill of a player of a variety of ball games such as the games of tennis, squash, golf, hockey or cricket.

The housing 12 is typically manufactured from a suitable synthetic plastics material by moulding which results in the housing 12 being lightweight and portable. The housing 12 has a handle 53 to enable a user (not shown) to transport the housing 12 manually.

In use, the apparatus 10 can be used in either a first operative condition as shown in Figure 1 wherein the second air outlet 28 is blocked by means of a cap 54 so that the ball 24 may be positioned on the pressurised stream of air 25 after which the ball 24 may be struck by a suitable racket or bat or in a second operative condition as shown in Figure 2 wherein the nozzles 48 and 50 are removed and the first 18 and third 42 air outlets are blocked (they may however also be left open) by means of a caps 56 and 46 and wherein a user places the ball 24 into the ball inlet 26 whereafter the ball 24 is ejected from the housing 12 via the second outlet 28 under the influence of pressurised air supplied by the compressor 22.

It is to be appreciated, that the invention is not limited to any specific embodiment or configuration as hereinbefore generally described or illustrated, for example, the apparatus may be constructed in such a way as to include an automatic ball return so that a user does not have to either place the ball onto the stream of pressurised air or place it into the ball inlet after each time he or she has struck the ball.