US20250229155A1

US20250229155A1 - Armbands and related devices for golf skill training

Info

Publication number: US20250229155A1
Application number: US18/583,794
Authority: US
Inventors: Dan Huang
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2024-01-14
Filing date: 2024-02-21
Publication date: 2025-07-17
Also published as: WO2025151719A1

Abstract

A golf skill training system includes two armbands to be securely wrapped around the upper arms of the golf player, where the two armbands are either linked to each other by an elastic band, or separately linked by two elastic bands to the player's torso at chest height. Sensors are provided on the elastic band or bands to measure the amount of stretch in each band. During a golf swing, the elastic band or bands may become stretched, and the amounts of stretch measured by the sensors serve to indicate whether the two arms are too far apart from each other or one or both arms are too far from the torso during the swing. Additional elastic bands with sensors may be provided. The golf skill training system further includes movement sensors attached to the player's waist and knees to measure the rotation and movement speed of these parts of the body. The data sensed by the armband sensors, the waist sensors and/or the knee sensors during a swing are synchronized and analyzed to determine the quality of the movements. The analyses may be performed in real time to provide feedback to the player. Wearable vibration devices may be integrated with the movement sensors or separately provided to communicate the feedback information to the player.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention is a system and method for golf skill training, and in particular, it is a golf skill training system using armbands and sensors, and related training methods.
Golf is a difficult sport. Playing golf well requires mastering the movements of the body, including numerous parts of the body (suggest deleting). Many systems are known for facilitating athletic training using sensors worn or attached to the player's body or embedded in garment worn by the player, and analyzing the sensed data by a data processing system. Some examples include U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,602,301 and 8,593,286, and U.S. Pat. Appl. Pub. Nos. 2020/0188732, 2016/0175646, 2021/0069548, 2022/0379166, and 2018/0369637. Golf skill training systems employing various bands and cords worn on the player's body are also known. Some examples include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,586,943, 4,890,841, 5,397,122, 5,295,690, and 10675507.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a golf training assisting system which includes an armband assembly configured to be worn by a golf player, the armband assembly including a first armband and a second armband each configured to be wrapped around an arm of the player, one or more elastic bands affixed to the first and second armbands and configured to be located in front of the player, and at least one sensor integrated in each of the one or more elastic bands and configured to measure an amount of stretch of the elastic band.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate an armband system for golf skill training according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates an armband system for golf skill training according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention provide a system that facilitates golf skill training, in particular, training for well-coordinated arm movements and the coordination of movements of the arm and other parts of the body when swinging a golf club.
The training system includes two armbands to be securely wrapped around the upper arms of the golf player; the two armbands are either linked to each other by an elastic band, or separately linked by two elastic bands to the player's torso at chest height, e.g., via a body harness or a vest. Sensors are provided on the elastic band or bands to measure the amount of stretch (change in length) in each band. During a swing, the elastic band or bands may become stretched, and the amounts of stretch measured by the sensors serve to indicate whether the two arms are too far apart from each other or one or both arms are too far from the torso during the swing. Additional elastic bands with sensors may be provided. The training system further includes movement sensors attached to the player's waist and knees to measure the rotation and movement speed of these parts of the body. The data sensed by the armband sensors, the waist sensors and/or the knee sensors during a swing are synchronized and analyzed to determine the quality of the movements. The analyses may be performed in real time to provide feedback to the player.
FIGS. 1 (front view) and 2 (top view) schematically illustrate an armband assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention. The armband assembly includes two armbands 11A and 11B, respectively wrapped around and secured to the upper arms of the golf player. Two clastic bands 12A and 12B are respectively affixed to the armbands 11A and 11B; each elastic band is also affixed to a body harness 13 worn on the torso of the player, at a location in front of the player's chest. The body harness may be, for example, a tight fitting vest, a chest strap, etc. The two elastic bands 12A and 12B may be two separate pieces, separately affixed to the body harness by suitable affixing means. Alternatively, the two elastic bands 12A and 12B may be formed of a one piece structure, affixed near its center to the body harness by suitable affixing means. In preferred embodiments, the elastic bands 12A and 12B are detachably affixed to the body harness 13. The affixing means may include snaps, hooks, buckles, buttons, hook-and-loop fasteners, stitches, etc.
Two sensors 14A and 14B are respectively provided on the two elastic bands 12A and 12B to sense the amount of stretch of each elastic band. The measured amounts of stretch serve to indicate whether one or both arms are too far from the torso.
FIG. 3 (top view) schematically illustrates an armband assembly according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the two armbands 11A and 11B are linked together by an elastic band 15 that is not affixed to a body harness. A sensor is provided on the elastic band to measure its amount of stretch. The measured amount of stretch serves to indicate whether the two arms are too far from each other.
In an alternative embodiment, the armband assembly includes both the two elastic bands 12A and 12B affixed to the body harness, and the single elastic band 15 not affixed to the body harness. Each elastic band is provided with a sensor to measure its amount of stretch.
In another alternative embodiment, in addition to the elastic bands 12A/12B and/or 15 near the chest of the player, the armband assembly further includes a rear elastic band affixed to the two armbands 11A and 11B and wrapped around the back of the player when the armband assembly is worn on the player. A sensor is provided on the rear elastic band to measure its amount of stretch. The measured amount of stretch may serve to indicate whether the players arms are too far forward. The rear band may be affixed to the body harness or not affixed to the body harness.
In the above embodiments, preferably, the various elastic bands are of appropriate lengths such that each band is taut or slightly stretched when the player is ready to make a swing. This is preferable because it allows the amount of stretch to be measured, while avoiding undue restraint of the arm movements during the swing. For the same reasons, the various elastic bands should have appropriate elasticities such that they do not unduly restrain the movements of the arms. Each elastic bands may be formed as one continuous piece of elastic material, or formed by elastic segments and non-elastic segments joined together along their lengths.
Any appropriate type of sensors may be used to measure the stretch of the elastic bands. Each sensor may be located along the corresponding elastic band and/or at locations where the elastic band is joined to the armband or the body harness. One or multiple sensors may be provided on each elastic band. Each sensor may directly measure the amount of stretch of the elastic band, or it may measure the tension in the elastic band which serves as a measure of the amount of stretch.
In preferred embodiments, in addition to the armband assembly, one or more sensors 21 are attached to the player's waist, and one or more sensors 22 are attached to each knee of the player, as schematically illustrated in FIG. 1 . The waist sensors 21 are configured to measure the rotation direction and speed of the player's waist; the knee sensors 22 are configured to measure the movement speed of the respective knee.
The various sensors, including the sensors on the elastic bands and the waist and knee sensors, may transmit the sensed data by wired or wireless means to an external data processing system 30, such as a mobile phone or a wearable data processing device. The data processing system analyzes the sensed data to evaluate the player's movements and to generate suggestions for the players to fine tune their movements. Alternatively, the sensors may have processing capabilities integrated in them (i.e., the data processing system is integrated with one or more of the sensors); the multiple sensors may transmit the measured data to each other, and one or more of the sensors may carry out the data processing functions. In some embodiments, the information obtained from the various sensors may be combined and synchronized with other measured data during the play, for example, video images recording the player's movements, etc., to facilitate further data analyses.
More specifically, the data collected by the various armband sensors and the waist and knee sensors are analyzed using algorithms developed based on various descriptions of optimal golf play techniques, as follows.
At the start of the golf swing, the golfer sets up to the ball at an appropriate distance; this distance changes from person to person. Overall, the body position at setup will have some slight variations depending on person to person; however, mechanically, it should all be relatively similar.
During the swing, the entire body, including the knees, legs, waist, and arms, should be moving around a vertical axis that is parallel with the spine. On the takeaway, everything rotates at the same time. Once the individual reaches the top, the downswing sequence begins and once again everything rotates around the vertical axis parallel to the spine at the same time. Moments before contact with the ball, the legs extend, and the waist pauses in order for the arms, chest, and hands to reach the ball. For a beginner, common problems are rotating around an axis that is not parallel to the spine, not being able to identify when a certain part of the body is moving out of sync with the other parts of the body, and where the majority of their weight is during the golf swing.
The data measured by the various sensors are analyzed based on the following rules:

- 1. The lengths of the arm links (elastic bands 12A/12B) should not exceed a pre-set length.
- 2. For takeaway: the following three events should occur at the same moment, namely, when the player reaches the top: the waist rotation (measured by waist sensor 21) stops, the knee movement (measured by knee sensors 22) stops, and the arm link lengths (measured by link sensors 14A, 14B) are at the maximum. If they do not occur at the same time, it means the movements of body parts are out of sync. The waist rotation changes direction after this moment.
- 3. At the moment before contact with the ball, the waist rotation pauses, but the arms continue to move so the arm link lengths (sensors 14A, 14B) continue to change.
- 4. When the swing is done: the following three events should occur at the same time: the waist rotation stops, the knee movements stop, and the arm movements stop. If they do not occur at the same time, it means the movements of body parts are out of sync.

If the data measured by the sensors does not meet the above rules, warnings or tips may be generated to provide feedback to the player. In some embodiments, wearable vibration devices 23 are provided in conjunction with the sensors, to indicate motion timing to the player for reference, such as which parts of the body should start to move at a given time, which parts of the body should follow, etc., as well as the suggested moving speed of the parts of the body. The timing of the vibration is generated based on the motion data sensed by the sensors and analyzed by the data processing system. Any suitable wearable vibration devices may be used, many of which are known in the art. The wearable vibration devices 23 may be physically integrated with the sensors worn on the waist and knees of the player, in which case the share the communication means with the sensors in order to receive timing commands from the data processing system; or they may be provided as physically separate devices (e.g., ones worn in the upper or lower arms), in which case they are provided with wired or wireless communication means to communicate with the data processing system to receive commands.
In further embodiments, mechanical structure may be constructed and worn on the player's body, which can apply forces to the player to help the chest, waist and knees to move in a certain direction and speed at certain times.
It will be apparent to those skilled in golf that various modifications and variations can be made in the golf skill training devices and related methods of the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations that come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A golf skill training system, comprising:

an armband assembly configured to be worn by a golf player, the armband assembly including a first armband and a second armband each configured to be wrapped around an arm of the player, one or more elastic bands affixed to the first and second armbands and configured to be located in front of the player, and at least one sensor integrated in each of the one or more elastic bands and configured to measure an amount of stretch of the elastic band.

2. The golf skill training system of claim 1, wherein the one or more elastic bands include a first elastic band affixed to the first armband and configured to be affixed to a body harness, and a second elastic band affixed to the second armband and configured to be affixed to the body harness.

3. The golf skill training system of claim 2, further including the body harness.

4. The golf skill training system of claim 2, wherein the one or more elastic bands further include a rear elastic band affixed to the first and second armbands, configured to be wrapped around a back of the player.

5. The golf skill training system of claim 1, wherein the one or more elastic bands include a single elastic band affixed to both the first and second armbands.

6. The golf skill training system of claim 5, wherein the one or more elastic bands further include a rear elastic band affixed to the first and second armbands, configured to be wrapped around a back of the player.

7. The golf skill training system of claim 1, further comprising one or more movement sensors configured to be attached to a waist of the player, and one or more movement sensors configured to be attached to each knee of the player.

8. The golf skill training system of claim 7, wherein the sensors of the armband assembly and the movement sensors attached to the player's waist and knees are configured to transmit measurement data to a data processing system.

9. The golf skill training system of claim 8, further comprising the data processing system, wherein the data processing system is programmed to analyze the measurement data received from the sensors to evaluate movements of the player and to generate suggestions for the player.

10. The golf skill training system of claim 9, wherein the data processing system is integrated in one of the sensors of the armband assembly or one of the movement sensors.

11. The golf skill training system of claim 9, further comprising one or more wearable vibration devices, communicatively coupled to the data processing system, and configured to generate vibrations to provide suggestions for the player.

12. The golf skill training system of claim 11, wherein the wearable vibration devices are integrated with the movement sensors.

13. The golf skill training system of claim 1, wherein the sensors of the armband assembly are configured to transmit measurement data to a data processing system.

14. The golf skill training system of claim 13, further comprising the data processing system, wherein the data processing system is programmed to analyze the measurement data received from the sensors to evaluate movements of the player and to generate suggestions for the player.

15. The golf skill training system of claim 14, wherein the data processing system is integrated in one of the sensors of the armband assembly.

16. The golf skill training system of claim 14, further comprising one or more wearable vibration devices, communicatively coupled to the data processing system, and configured to generate vibrations to provide suggestions for the player.