Tennis swing analysis method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9327177-B2
Application number	US-201213539754-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 2, 2012
Priority date	Oct 14, 2011
Publication date	May 3, 2016
Grant date	May 3, 2016

Abstract

A swing analyzing apparatus includes: a three-axis acceleration sensor attached to a tennis racket, for measuring accelerations in the directions of three axes when a swing for hitting a tennis ball is taken with the tennis racket; a three-axis gyro sensor attached to the tennis racket, for measuring angular speeds about the three axes; and an analyzing device. The analyzing device has a receiving function to receive data regarding the accelerations and the angular speeds from the three-axis acceleration sensor and the three-axis gyro sensor; a coordinate axis conversion function to convert relative coordinate axes that are the three axes for the accelerations into absolute coordinate axes on the basis of the angular speeds; and a calculation function to calculate an index of the swing on the basis of accelerations resulting from the coordinate axis conversion.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A tennis swing analyzing apparatus comprising:
a three-axis acceleration sensor attached to a tennis racket including a grip and a head, for measuring accelerations in directions of three axes when a swing for hitting a tennis ball is taken with the tennis racket;
a three-axis gyro sensor attached to the tennis racket, for measuring angular speeds about the three axes when the swing for hitting is taken; and
an analyzing device, wherein:
the three-axis acceleration sensor and the three-axis gyro sensor are both attached to the grip of the tennis racket,
the analyzing device has:
a receiving function to receive data regarding the accelerations and the angular speeds from the three-axis acceleration sensor and the three-axis gyro sensor;
a coordinate axis conversion function to convert relative coordinate axes that are the three axes for the accelerations into absolute coordinate axes on the basis of the angular speeds; and
a calculation function to calculate an index of the swing, the index including a grip speed and a head speed, the grip speed being calculated on the basis of accelerations resulting from the coordinate axis conversion and time, the head speed being calculated on the basis of the grip speed and a speed by rotation which is calculated on the basis of a racket length and a rotation matrix.

2. The analyzing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the index further includes a head speed component ratio, or a swing trajectory.

3. The analyzing apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein the index is the grip speed, the head speed, or the head speed component ratio immediately before an impact of the tennis racket against the tennis ball.

4. The analyzing apparatus according to claim 2 , wherein
the three-axis acceleration sensor and the three-axis gyro sensor are attached to an end of the grip, and
the analyzing device further has:
a calculation function to calculate the head speed component ratio, or the swing trajectory on the basis of the grip speed.

5. A tennis swing analysis method comprising the steps of:
measuring accelerations in directions of three axes by a three-axis acceleration sensor and measuring angular speeds about the three axes by a three-axis gyro sensor when a swing for hitting a tennis ball is taken with a tennis racket that includes a grip and a head, the three-axis acceleration sensor and the three-axis gyro sensor are both attached to the grip of the tennis racket;
converting relative coordinate axes that are the three axes for the accelerations into absolute coordinate axes on the basis of the angular speeds; and
calculating an index of the swing by an analyzing device, the index including a grip speed and a head speed, the grip speed being calculated on the basis of accelerations resulting from the coordinate axis conversion and time, the head speed being calculated on the basis of the grip speed and a speed by rotation which is calculated on the basis of a racket length and a rotation matrix.

6. The analysis method according to claim 5 , wherein the index further includes a head speed component ratio, or a swing trajectory.

7. The analysis method according to claim 6 , wherein the index is the grip speed, the head speed, or the head speed component ratio immediately before an impact of the tennis racket against the tennis ball.

8. The analysis method according to claim 6 , further comprising the step of calculating the head speed component ratio, or the swing trajectory on the basis of the grip speed.

9. A method for fitting a tennis racket by using an analysis method according to claim 5 , the method comprising the step of:
determining suitability of the tennis racket on the basis of the index.

10. A method for fitting a tennis racket by using an analysis method according to claim 5 , the method comprising the step of:
displaying, on a display section, a graph in which a vertical axis indicates a head speed component and a horizontal axis indicates another head speed component.

11. A method for fitting a tennis racket by using an analysis method according to claim 5 , the method comprising the step of:
categorizing a swing type on the basis of a head speed component ratio.

12. The analyzing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the tennis racket further includes a face and a shaft, the index further includes a head speed component ratio, and the head speed component ratio is calculated on the basis of a head speed component parallel to the face and a head speed component perpendicular to the face.

13. The analysis method according to claim 5 , the tennis racket further includes a face and a shaft, the index further includes a head speed component ratio, and the head speed component ratio is calculated on the basis of a head speed component parallel to the face and a head speed component perpendicular to the face.

Assignees

• Yamamoto Yosuke
• Takihara Hironori
• Horiuchi Kuniyasu
• Dunlop Sports Co Ltd

Inventors

• Yamamoto Yosuke
• Takihara Hironori
• Horiuchi Kuniyasu

Classifications

• A63B69/38 Primary

  for tennis {(A63B61/006, A63B69/0073 and A63B69/0097 take precedence)} · CPC title

• G06V40/23

  Recognition of whole body movements, e.g. for sport training · CPC title

• A63B49/00

  Stringed rackets, e.g. for tennis (strings therefor A63B51/00) · CPC title

• A63B2220/40

  Acceleration · CPC title