DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] Referring to FIG. 1, the baseball training aid includes a first portion 6 and a second portion 8, where the first portion 6 is joined with the second portion 8 by a pivotal connection such as a hinge 18. The first portion includes a knob 10 at its proximal end followed by a grip 11 on handle 12. A first barrel portion 14 is located adjacent to the handle. A transverse hole 5 is located in said distal portion through which a first pivot pin 20 can be located. Hinge 18 is pivotally connected to first portion 6 using first pivot pin 20 and second pivot pin 22 which is located in a similar transverse hole in the proximal portion of second section 8 which includes second barrel 16. As a preferred embodiment, the first portion is 22½ inches long and the second portion is inches long. In this preferred embodiment which was directed to training a 12-year-old little leaguer, the weight of the first portion is and the weight of the second portion is about 1 lb. The diameter of the second barren portion is 2 inches while the diameter of the first barren varies from 1½ to 2 inches, while the length of the first barren is about 6 inches long. Again in the preferred embodiment, the distance between the first pivot pin and the distal end of the first portion is about 1 inch and the distance between the second pivot pin and the proximal end of the second portion is about 1 inch. The hinge's length is 2½ inches by 2¼ inches.

[0027] In the preferred embodiment and as shown in FIG. 2, the pivotal connection is provided by hinge mechanism 18 which urges unidirectional rotation and therefore the overall swing is attempted to be restricted to substantially one plane to groove the swing in a substantially horizontal direction—although the hinge could be replaced by other similar apparatus. In the preferred embodiment of FIG. 2 the hinge arm (horizontal) portions 19 are about 2½ inches long and the vertical portions 17 are about 2¼ inches long.

[0028] As mentioned previously, a typical flawed swing is often caused by kids being spoiled by the ultra-light nature of the aluminum bat and the trampoline effect of these bats which drive the ball great distances without proper arm and body rotation. Especially as the kids get older, and the velocity of the pitches increase, participants using these ultra-light bats have a tendency to just stick the bat out in the way of the ball to just make contact and not properly use their wrists and not their arms, hips, thighs and torsos. In contrast, the same swing with a wooden bat would not produce nearly the same impact or distance. In many instances, the problems with these hand swings are also compounded by hitting the ball too much in front, which is worsened by, in many instances, the participant stepping frontward, causing the body to be pivoted on the front foot and the swing deprived of the benefits of the push from the back foot followed by rotation of the trunk and arms and fully utilizing the hips, thighs, and torso. During the days when heavier bats were used, participants had to use their bodies, their hips and their arms as if they were swinging an ax to cut down a tree. Indeed, it is reported that the legendary player Ted Williams practiced his baseball swing by chopping down trees with an ax. Accordingly, one of the purposes of the invention is to build up good habits as was done with the wooden bat and as illustrated in FIG. 3.

[0029] FIG. 3 is an illustration of the correct way that the bat should be swung with hips turned, body back, no front step and the ball is hit in front of the body over the front foot. This is the method which the present invention tries to groove.

[0030] FIG. 4 shows the device in FIG. 1 where the second portion of the barrel has a front striking surface which is flat to further groove a flat swing. If a ball is pitched to the batter using this training aid and the swing is not flat, it will be difficult to get a correct hit.

[0031] FIG. 5 is a global top view of the operation of the batting training aid which is the subject of this invention. The drawing shows a top view of the operation of the bat starting with the bat being in Position 1 proceeding counter-clockwise from approximately the 4 p.m. position on a clock. The head of a right-handed person swinging the bat is shown by numeral 100. The person is facing north or 12:00 p.m. The arms are not shown.

[0032] In Position 1, at about 4:00 p.m., the weight is evenly distributed from front to back foot and the batter is in “loaded” position which, in a right-hand batter, means that the bat is generally over the right shoulder. Because the subject batting aid is heavy, especially with a younger participant, full extension might be problematic if someone was using a large adult bat. In most instances a kid would not be able to hold a heavy adult bat upright. The subject invention solves this problem by operation of the hinged embodiment which folds the bat and makes the center of gravity lower and much closer to the shoulders and the head, making it easier for a kid to “load” with a heavy batting aid.

[0033] Going now to Position 2, at about 3 p.m., in order to make the transition from folded bat position to a straighter position where the second portion of the bat is generally aligned in relation to the front portion, the participant is forced to bring the knob of the bat generally forward and rotate the body around an imaginary axis of rotation through the head. As the rotation of the batter continues, the first and second portion of the batting aid becomes more generally aligned as shown in Position 3. Once again, because of the weight of the bat and the momentum caused, balance and stability must be maintained through almost equal weight distribution to both feet while a turning through the aforementioned axis of rotation using the hips, arms, and torso. When the bat reaches Position 4, at about 12 p.m., the momentum caused by the second portion of the training aid translating and rotating by means of the hinge encourages the bat to be over the front foot—basically the ideal place a ball can be properly hit using the subject invention. If the leading end of the second portion is flat, as shown in FIG. 4, and if the hinge is constructed so as to encourage horizontal motion, such as shown in FIG. 2, the additional goal of grooving a flat swing is also encouraged. The benefits of this training can be emphasized by throwing a wiffle ball and forcing the hitter to try to make contact with the outer barrel—which can best be achieved with weight forward and the hips rotated. The bat position from Position 4 to Position 5 in FIG. 5, shows how the momentum of the hinged second portion causes a pendulum motion and ultimately the roll of the wrist and the follow through ending up in Position 6.

[0034] In operation, when the participant practices using this training aid, the participant builds up his/her muscles and grooves a horizontal swing using the correct muscle groups with the knob of the bat pulled through the swing first and the flip of the wrist occurring only after the knob is generally over the front foot, followed by a progressive follow through which automatically occurs because of the momentum of the second portion of the bat and the pendulum action caused by the hinging movement.

[0035] Other embodiments encompassed by this invention is shown in FIG. 6 where weights 30 are added within a hollow outer barrel portion 32. The weights are threaded over a bolt 34 fastened at the end and are added inside. The bolt can be inward or outward 36 as shown in FIG. 7 where weights are added to the outside, a much easier feat, and fastened with a nut 37. FIG. 8 shows weights 39 added to the first portion either through an opening in the handle 41 or distal thereto. FIG. 9 shows that the building up of foam 38 or similar padding to the outside of the bat to minimize injury.

[0036] FIG. 10 shows another embodiment where the second barrel portion is fitted with fins 40 that create air resistance and force the swing to be close to the body and the knob of the bat 42 to proceed first preventing what is called “early casting” where the wrists break too early and before the impact point. If the swing is not proper, it will simply be too difficult to get the second portion smoothly through the hitting zone. FIG. 11 shows yet another embodiment with fins 44 added to the first portion of bat 46 near the handle. FIG. 11 shows yet another embodiment where a slideable sleeve 46 is utilized to fix the positions of the first and second members, so that they can be adapted to either swing freely as in FIG. 10 or be unitary as in FIG. 13.

[0037] In the embodiment of FIG. 13, instead of a hinged embodiment there is shown a unitary bat structure having a handle 48 and a flat striking surface 50. The handle has a spacer 52 which holds the hands apart from one another. This encourages or grooves a flat swing and the proper arm and body motion as described earlier, analogous to a hockey swing. In the preferred embodiment, the flat portion is 14 inches long while the overall bat length was 34 inches long. The spacer is 6 inches long.

[0038] Yet another embodiment is shown in FIG. 14 which illustrates an embodiment similar to FIG. 13 but where an annular member 54 is positioned to slide over the handle portion of the bat from Position 1 (56) to Position 2 (58). With a right-handed batter, the left hand is placed adjacent to the knob while the right hand is placed over the annular member a distance away. The batter starts the swing with hands a distance apart at the load position but as the swing is initiated and the bat rotates into the hitting zone, the hands come together again urging a flat swing.

[0039] In the embodiment in FIG. 15 the flat striking surface training bat as illustrated in FIG. 13 is shown with the addition of fins 58. In the preferred embodiment, four fins are placed in the area between the handle and striking area. The fins add air resistance to the swing not only building up strength but preventing early casting. The flat striking surface allows the training aid to be used to hit practice balls further grooving a flat swing because of the flat striking area. If the swing is not flat, it will be difficult to hit the ball.

[0040] While we have shown and described various embodiments in accordance with the present invention, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without the parting of the scope and spirit of this concept.