CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims benefit from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 63/343,935, filed May 19, 2022, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to training bats, and more particularly to the wedge.

In general, a common goal for players of sports that involve hitting a ball with a bat, e.g., baseball, softball, and cricket, is to become proficient at hitting the ball with an optimal part of the bat during a swing. The optimal part of the bat is often referred to as the "sweet spot." The sweet spot of a baseball bat is a region of the bat located on the barrel of the bat, i.e., the widest portion of the bat. When a player hits a ball with the sweet spot of the bat, the ball will typically be hit with maximum power. To achieve optimal trajectory the bat must be held in the proper position at point of contact to achieve optimum results. When both are done the result is a ball hit with maximum power and accuracy.

There are many training devices and methods known for improving a player ' s proficiency for hitting a ball with proper form and/or hitting a ball with the sweet spot of a bat .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The following presents a simpli fied summary of the innovation in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention . This summary is not an extensive overview of the invention . It is intended to neither identi fy key or critical elements of the invention nor delineate the scope of the invention . Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later .

In general , in one aspect , the invention features a training bat including a barrel , a handle, and a knob, the barrel including a sweet spot visual indicator region and two hitting surfaces .

In another aspect, the invention features a training bat including a barrel , the barrel including a sweet spot visual indicator region, the sweet spot visual indicator region including one or more parallel visual markings positioned to indicate a relative distance from where a ball strikes a sweet spot of the barrel , the sweet spot representing a location on the barrel that results in maximum power .

These and other features and advantages will be apparent from a reading of the following detailed description and a review of the associated drawings .

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features , aspects , and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following description, appended claims , and accompanying drawings where :

FIGs . 1 - 8 illustrate exemplary palms up, palms down indicator training bats .

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The subj ect innovation is now described with reference to the drawings , wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout . In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous speci fic details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention . It may be evident , however, that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details . In other instances , well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to facilitate describing the present invention .

It is to be understood that the figures and descriptions of the present invention have been simplified to illustrate elements that are relevant for a clear understanding of the present invention, while eliminating, for the purpose of clarity, many other elements found in typical sports equipment and devices or methods for sports training those of ordinary skill in the art may recogni ze that other elements and/or steps are desirable and/or required in implementing the present invention. However, because such elements and steps are well known in the art, and because they do not facilitate a better understanding of the present invention, a discussion of such elements and steps is not provided herein. The disclosure herein is directed to all such variations and modifications to such elements and methods known to those skilled in the art.

The present invention relates to a device and method for training a player to hit a ball with a predetermined portion of a bat. In one embodiment, the predetermined portion of the bat is a "sweet spot," i.e., the optimal portion of a bat.

Referring now to FIGs. 1 - 8, an exemplary palms up, palms down training bat 10 (also referred to as "the wedge") includes at least a knob 15, a handle 25, and a barrel 30. The palms up, palms down training bat 10 includes two hitting surfaces in a sweet spot visual indicator region 40. By hitting either one of these surfaces properly, maintaining the hands in the proper palms up, palms down position, a player will realize maximum power. The sweet spot visual indicator region 40 is a portion of the barrel 30 were a so called "sweet spot" is located and is tapered as is the remainder of the palms up, palms down training bat 10. As described above, the sweet spot is the optimal part of the palms up, palms down training bat 10 that produces the least vibrational sensation (i.e., sting) in a batter's hands, maximum batted ball speed and maximum transference of energy to a ball. The sweet spot visual indicator region 40 is a visual aid to assist a batter in hitting a ball in the bat's sweet spot. When the player aligns their swing by hitting the ball in the palms up palms down position and aligning the bat to hit the ball on the center of the " sweet spot" they will attain maximum results .

In addition, when a ball is hit properly by the palms up, palms down training bat 10 , the sweet spot visual indicator region 40 will face towards the user, commonly known as holding the label up . By holding the flat side up at point of contact when striking the ball it prevents the user from rolling their wrists . When the wrists do not roll during a swing and ball contact , the user' s hands are palms up, palms down . So the flat areas in region 40 train the user in proper form and proper contact . I f the player rolls their wrists before making contact or at the point of contact they will hit the flat surface and this will immediately tell the player that they did not maintain proper hand position at point of contact . By hitting the flat surface, the ball will come of f the bat at an angle that will feel di f ferent and result in the ball being hit with poor results .

In an embodiment , the sweet spot visual indicator region 40 includes a number of parallel visual markings . A central visual marking indicates a center of the sweet spot visual indicator region 40 and correspondingly, a center of the sweet spot of the palms up, palms down training bat 10 . Thus , the parallel visual markings of the sweet spot visual indicator region 40 act as a visual indicator of sweet spot on the palms up, palms down training bat 10 and where a ball strikes the palms up, palms down training bat 10 in reference to the visual markings on the sweet spot visual indicator region 40 .

In use, a ball strikes the bat on the same plane as the approaching palms up, palms down training bat 10 . By keeping the hands in the palms up, palms down position and striking the ball at the center of the "sweet spot , " a player will be able to tell i f they hit the ball properly .

By way of example, in FIG . 2 , three exemplary balls 100 , 102 , 104 are shown in relation to where they strike the palms up, palms down training bat 10 , and thus which visual marking their impact aligns with on the sweet spot visual indicator region 40 . More speci fically, ball 102 is shown to strike the bat at the central visual marking of the sweet spot visual indicator region 40 . This indicates to a user that he/ she has stuck the ball 102 in the sweet spot of the palms up, palms down training bat 10 , achieving a maximum hitting ef ficiency result as it relates the area of the barrel that should be used to hit the ball .

In FIG . 2 , ball 100 is shown striking the palms up, palms down training bat 10 at a visual marking above the central visual marking while ball 104 is shown striking the palms up, palms down training bat 10 at a visual marking below the central visual marking . These indicate to the user that he/ she has missed the central visual marking of the sweet spot visual indicator region 40 , and thus the sweet spot of the palms up, palms down training bat 10 . This knowledge can lead to corrective action in future ball strikes .

In an embodiment , the sweet spot visual indicator region 40 is clear coated to show the " sweet spot area of the bat .

The name "Wedge" is derived from the design whereby one hitting surface in the sweet spot area is slightly larger than the other . Upon initial use or depending on a player' s level of skill they have the option of hitting either a smaller hitting surface or a larger hitting surface . A player who is training can start with the larger area and advance to the smaller hitting surface as they become more proficient at keeping their hands in the palms up, palms down" position .

The wedge is designed to prevent a player from rolling their wrists at point of contact with the baseball . That is the reason for the indentations on either side of the wedge . While the unpainted, "blonde" area of the wedge is to help a player identi fy a sweet spot, its main purpose is to prevent rolling of the wrists at point of contact and keep a player ' s hands in the palms up, palms down, position at point of contact .

In addition, a bar type designator on the wedge is an aide to show a player where an optimum place is to hit the ball traveling along the length of the barrel of the palms up, palms down training bat 10 .

As shown in FIG . 5 , the palms up, palms down training bat 10 has a wider hitting surface for beginners , and a narrower surface for advanced hitters as they gain experience .

As shown in FIG . 6 , the palms up, palms down training bat is he first baseball training tool to teach the hitter the X-Y-Z axis of hitting . The sweet spot visual indicator region shows the correct position to hit the ball along the length of the palms up, palms down training bat (X) .

As shown in FIG . 7 , a small hitting surface indicates the correct position to hit the ball on the width of the palms up, palms down training bat, top to bottom (Y) . And as shown in FIG . 8 , the resected superior and inferior surfaces dictate that the swing path be true on the flight path ( Z ) .

It would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes and modi fications can be made to the illustrated embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present invention . All such modi fications and changes are intended to be within the scope of the present invention except as limited by the scope of the appended claims .