Shot Meister™

Shot Meister™ (Tennis) creates large, electronic, rectangular target areas on a real tennis court. No other tennis product on the market does this. Shot Meister™ (Golf) uses the same concept with a circular target area around the hole.

Using a Smartphone app, the player chooses between pre-set or customizable audio rewards (musical tones, song clips, sound effects, smart aleck comments, etc.) to give feedback whenever the player hits the target area. By default, there is no penalty for missing the target area. The length, width, or diameter of a given target area can be adjusted to accommodate the many skill levels we have in tennis, golf, and other sports.

While playing competitive tennis, players who love to attack the ball and hit winners often think about the lines of the court or target areas of just a few inches inside the lines. On the other hand, we have defensive players who like to hit slow, high balls to the center of the entire court while waiting patiently for the opponent to commit an error.

Both types of players, respectively, can be helped by a knowledgeable teacher who uses Shot Meister™ (Tennis) to train players to visualize either larger target areas for safety and consistency, or smaller, specific target areas to help them learn to move the ball around the court more aggressively.

Regardless of what is the best “prescription” for a player, Shot Meister™ (Tennis) reinforces target-area visualization with every ball the player hits in a practice session. This applies to beginners as well as tournament players.

Dovetailing nicely with a ball machine or a human feeder, the player’s practice session immediately becomes more purposeful, and hopefully, more fun than today’s practice sessions. Audio speakers or earphones worn by the player are what actually rewards the player for each successful placement.

Group or team practice sessions can also be a blast, as the players compete to see who can hit the target area the largest number of times within a specific time period or a specific number of feeds. An optional electronic scoreboard will be available. Another possibility is to place two identical target areas on both sides of the court, allowing the players to compete with an opponent or team on the other side of the net.

 

PRODUCT FEATURES & BENEFITS

  • Creates large, electronic target areas on a real tennis court, putting green, etc.
  • Audio rewards for hitting the target area make the practice session more fun and purposeful
  • The target system works well with a ball machine or with a human partner, coach, etc.
  • Creates a realistic, game-like situation. Players must perform: Hit or miss the target area!
  • Can be used to strengthen the “feel” for any shot in tennis
  • Some players might choose to just do Shot Meister™ (Tennis) or Shot Meister™ (Golf) and ignore regular tennis or golf, but this cannot be stopped. Hopefully, they will play regular tennis or golf in the future.

 

Shot Meister™ (Tennis) and Shot Meister™ (Golf) do not judge a player’s racket-handling or club-handling technique. Teachers and coaches already have sophisticated, video-analysis tools for that. However, teachers and coaches can use Shot Meister™ (Tennis) and Shot Meister™ (Golf) to reinforce what they are telling players in their lessons.

In order to prepare for competition, teachers and coaches can use Shot Meister™ (Tennis) to evaluate and compare their players’ strengths and weaknesses on every basic shot with a simple numerical or percentage score.

 

PRODUCT DETAILS

Shot Meister™ (Tennis) and Shot Meister™ (Golf) create an electronic grid to make large, rectangular or circular target areas on a normal tennis court or a putting green.

One embodiment of Shot Meister™ (Tennis) has two sending and receiving boxes at opposite ends of a rectangular target area. An advanced version of this first embodiment is to place permanent sending and receiving units covering the entire court.  (See diagram on page 1 of the patent)

 

The second embodiment uses a portable tripod and camera to put out a continuous wave of light, similar to the technology used in virtual keyboards, where a user types on an empty, flat surface. The third embodiment uses one or more cameras looking down from the ceiling of an indoor tennis court.

 

When the player successfully hits the designated target area, an audible reward is sounded to the Bluetooth devices in the players’ ears, or to a speaker that others can also hear. By default, there is no penalty for missing the target area. The size of the target areas can be modified for different skill levels, from beginners to world-class professionals.

Using a Smartphone app, the player can choose from different types of audible sounds: pre-recorded musical tones, short clips from the player’s favorite music, sound effects, smart-aleck comments, or other audio files provided by the player or the coach.

Players, teachers and coaches can keep records and statistics to track the progress of individual players or an entire group. The player or coach can also “go casual” and choose NOT to keep records or statistics.

Shot Meister™ (Tennis) can be used to improve a player’s placement skills for any shot in tennis. The basic idea can be used for other sports where players must hit a target with a moving ball, puck, or other type of projectile.

 

High school and college coaches could use Shot Meister™ (Tennis) for teaching the game as well as a tool for established players to improve their accuracy or just have fun in a group situation. Tennis club professionals will enjoy using this technology to give a pleasant introduction to new players as well as entertainment for upper-level players.

Materials needed to produce the Shot Meister (Tennis)™:

  • Portable electronic emitter and receiver boxes (Embodiment 1a)
  • Permanent electronic emitter and receiver boxes (Embodiment 1b)
  • Portable tripod and camera (Embodiment 2)
  • Ceiling-mounted cameras (Embodiment 3)
  • CPU
  • Speakers
  • Bluetooth ear buds, if needed
  • Smartphone app software
  • Control boxes
  • Scoreboard
  • Power source

 

 

 

The Shot Meister™ is covered by United States Utility Patent: 9,989,352

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For additional information, licensing opportunities, and a full prospectus on the Shot Meister™  contact:

 

 

BankOnIP

VP of Business Development

Email: info@BankOnIP.com