Patent Application
20160332050
People of all ages play a variety of sports that require a specialized playing field or court. These fields may require a large, flat surface and structural components, such as nets or goals. It therefore may be difficult to play games or practice certain sports without a specialized field or court. A smaller scale court that can be used for playing variations of a sport may therefore be desired.
According to an exemplary embodiment, an athletic apparatus may be provided. An athletic apparatus may include a height-adjustable center pole with an anchoring member disposed at the top. The anchoring member may have a plurality of holes. At least one net, including a line, may secure to a hole in the anchoring member and may run to a ground anchor. The at least one net may divide a playing surface into zones.
According to another exemplary embodiment, a method of playing a game may be provided. The method may include setting up an athletic apparatus for a desired number of players. Next, a game may be started by a player serving a ball or birdie from behind a back line. A point may be scored against a player. The serve may rotate to a next server after a point is scored. Gameplay may be continued until a player has reached a predetermined maximum number of points. A winner may be determined as the player with the least amount of points scored against them.
Advantages of embodiments of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the exemplary embodiments. The following detailed description should be considered in conjunction with the accompanying figures in which:
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Aspects of the invention are disclosed in the following description and related drawings directed to specific embodiments of the invention. Alternate embodiments may be devised without departing from the spirit or the scope of the invention. Additionally, well-known elements of exemplary embodiments of the invention will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the invention. Further, to facilitate an understanding of the description discussion of several terms used herein follows.
As used herein, the word “exemplary” means “serving as an example, instance or illustration.” The embodiments described herein are not limiting, but rather are exemplary only. It should be understood that the described embodiments are not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. Moreover, the terms “embodiments of the invention”, “embodiments” or “invention” do not require that all embodiments of the invention include the discussed feature, advantage or mode of operation.
According to an exemplary embodiment, and referring to the Figures generally, an athletic court 100 may be provided. An exemplary court 100 may include an adjustable net structure, which may be adjustable to account for a varying number of players and a variety of game conditions. Athletic court 100 may allow athletes to play competitive games and practice a variety of skills. Court 100 may be set up on a variety of surfaces 102, including sand, grass, dirt, pavement, a gym floor, or other surfaces as would be understood by a person having ordinary skill in the art. Court 100 may further include perimeter boundary lines, or back lines 104. Back lines 104 may be physical lines applied to a surface or may be understood, imaginary lines. Back lines may further have a middle 105, which may optionally have significance during gameplay.
Adjustable net structure 110 may include a center pole 112. Now referring to exemplary
Center pole 112 may further optionally have a base 124. Base 124 may be weighted or may be capable of being fastened to a surface to maintain the upright orientation of center pole 112. In some embodiments, base 124 may be hollow and capable of being filled with sand or water for weighting purposes. Such embodiments may facilitate transportation. Some embodiments of base 124 may also include wheels for facilitating transportation. In yet other embodiments, center pole 112 may not have base 124, but may be inserted into a ground surface, securing the orientation of center pole 112. Center pole 112 may also have a net anchoring member 126, as shown in exemplary
Adjustable net structure 110 may further include at least one net 130, as shown in exemplary
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In operation, a variety of games may be performed on the athletic court. Players may, for example, play variations of existing games or may create new games to be played on athletic court 100. Variations of existing games may include, but are not limited to, volleyball, soccer, paddleball, and badminton. Now referring to exemplary
First, the game may be started with a serve 1210. The game may be played with any of a variety of playing pieces, such as a ball or birdie. A server may stand outside of their zone, from an area behind their back line. In some embodiments a serve may be from behind the middle of the back line. In some embodiments, the serve may have to reach a height greater than the standing height of all players.
A point may be scored against a player 1220. A point may be scored against a player if that player allows the ball/birdie to touch the ground after having entered their zone. A player may also only touch the ball/birdie once per play; otherwise, a point may be scored against them. Lines and the center post may be considered “in play.” After each point scored, the serve may rotate to the next server in a clockwise direction 1230. Gameplay may be continued until a player has reached a predetermined maximum number of points scored against them 1240. A winner may be determined by having the least amount of points once a player has reached a predetermined maximum allowed number of points 1250. The predetermined maximum may be any desired number. In some embodiments the maximum may be 15 or 21.
There may be further miscellaneous rules that may be generally applied or may be decided upon by players. These may include adding a point for a player who breaks the plane separating another player's zone or contacts common lines or nets. A player may optionally be allowed to contact the back line of their zone. A player may also optionally be allowed to break the plane below common lines and nets to play a ball without contacting the common lines/nets. Additionally, there may be specific rules based on the sport variation being played. For example, for volleyball games there may be no open under hands and for soccer there may be no hand balls. As a person having ordinary skill in the art would understand, there may be a variety of additional rules based on the sport.
The foregoing description and accompanying figures illustrate the principles, preferred embodiments and modes of operation of the invention. However, the invention should not be construed as being limited to the particular embodiments discussed above. Additional variations of the embodiments discussed above will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.
Therefore, the above-described embodiments should be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive. Accordingly, it should be appreciated that variations to those embodiments can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.
