Patent Application
20100016125
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to gymnastic mats. More particularly, it relates to a mat for teaching specific gymnastic moves, for example, a cartwheel.
2. Description of the Related Art
The cartwheel is one of the most popular taught skills to students of gymnastics, acrobatics, dance, circus performing, cheerleading and schools as part of their physical education program.
The most difficult aspect of teaching the cartwheel is to demonstrate and convey the proper rhythm and sequence of the skill. As such, the skill of performing a cartwheel (i.e., the proper form and rhythm) has been, and continues to be, difficult to teach individuals. Current gymnastic mats have attempted to resolve this problem by printing feet and hands on the mat so as to demonstrate where the user should be placing their hands and/or feet when performing a cartwheel.
Unfortunately, the known gymnastic mats fail to teach the proper form and more importantly, the rhythm and sequence associated with properly doing a cartwheel. This is primarily due to the fact that there is no explanation, indication or demonstration for the user of how the skill needs to be kinesthetically and properly executed.
The current mats with printed feet and hands further confuse students because they assume that if there are graphic illustrations of hands and feet on the mat (e.g., two hands and two feet), the student will place both hands and both feet on the mat arriving at an incorrectly demonstrated and executed cartwheel, that in no way simulates the proper mechanics, sequence and rhythm of the cartwheel.
Thus, the existing mats do not provide the user with an indication as to the proper sequence and rhythm that are required to properly execute the cartwheel. Often times with these known printed mats, the user will place both hands down at the same time and kick their feet over in an effort to follow the imprinted feet and hands on the mat.
Thus, there is a need for a gymnastic mat, and particularly a cartwheel gymnastic mat that provides the user with feedback as to whether or not they are performing the cartwheel correctly, both from a form and execution standpoint.
According to one implementation, the gymnastic mat includes a plurality of sections each delineated for receiving one of a hand or foot of a user, and at least one indicator in communication with each of the plurality of sections and responsive to a user's hand and foot placement onto any one of the plurality of sections while performing a gymnastic movement. The indicator providing proper or improper indications in response to the user's performance of the gymnastic movement.
The indicator can be one of an audio indicator, visual indicator or a combination of both. A sensor is disposed in each of the plurality of sections and senses the user's placement of their hand or foot in the respective section. By way of example, the sensor can be a pressure sensitive sensor, motion sensor or a thermal sensor.
When using an audible indicator, at least two distinguishable sounds can be provided.
According to another implementation, the gymnastic mat includes a plurality of sections, at least one sensor positioned in each of said plurality of sections, an audio indicator having a first sound for indicating hand placement and a second sound for indicating foot placement, wherein proper sequential placement of the hands and feet during execution of the gymnastic move results in a predetermined sound sequence of the first and second sounds indicating proper execution of the gymnastic move. A power supply, either in the form of AC or DC power provides power to the at least one sensor and the visual indicator(s).
Other aspects and features of the present principles will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the present principles, for which reference should be made to the appended claims. It should be further understood that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and that, unless otherwise indicated, they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and procedures described herein.
In the drawings wherein like reference numerals denote similar components throughout the views:
Referring to
The mat 100 is designed to allow a student to independently learn a cartwheel skill with the aid of an audio/visual application that successfully translates the proper technique of a cartwheel through audio/visual cues. The mat 100 will also be an invaluable teaching tool for coaches, physical education teachers, parents, cheerleading instructors, dancers, circus performers, and anyone that would like to learn the proper execution of a cartwheel.
In order to correctly teach and execute a proper cartwheel, it is necessary to demonstrate the correct sequential placement of the hands and feet. It should be a “hand, hand, foot, foot” rhythm, which is the sequence that is essential for proper execution of a cartwheel. The hand and foot placement is also part of the sequence, and is implemented in the mat of the present invention. If a user incorrectly places two hands and/or two feet simultaneously or misses the proper rhythm, then the sequential illumination of the visual indicators will not occur. When using the audio indicator, when the user incorrectly places a hand or foot out of the proper sequence, the predetermined sound sequence that indicates proper execution will be interrupted by, for example, an out of sequence audio sound.
By way of example, the audio indicator assists in identifying the proper sequence of performing the cartwheel. As mentioned above, the proper sequence is “hand, hand, foot, foot”. Thus, in one contemplated embodiment, the audio indicator includes a first sound for “hand” and a second different sound for “foot”. For example, the hand audio sound=“bing”, while the foot audio sound =“bong”. Therefore, a properly executed cartwheel would result in a “bing, bing, bong, bong” sound in that particular sequence of 2דbing” and 2דbong” corresponding to the respective “hand, hand, foot foot” sequence. In the event that the cartwheel is improperly executed, one of the sounds will be out of sequence from the proper “bing, bing, bong, bong” audio sequence, thereby immediately notifying the user of the error in execution. In this manner, the user will be notified which part of the sequence they missed, so they can practice to correct the same.
In another exemplary implementation of the present invention, the audio indicator identifies the proper sequence by audibly announcing a distinct sound for each one of the plurality of sections 102, 104, 106, 108, 110, 112. For example, the distinct sound can be an audible announcement of “one”, “two”, “three”, “four”, “five”, etc., corresponding to the interactions with the first, second, third, fourth, fifth sections, etc. of the mat, respectively. This audible indication will prevent any confusion relating to discerning the respective sound indicators, and would eliminate the possibility that the user accidentally placing, for example, a first hand in the second hand spot on the mat, when they start the gymnastic move. In the event
The first section 102 includes a start indicator 120 which includes the word “start” and a picture of two feet. In addition, a selection area 114 is provided for the user to select whether they want to do a left handed (116L) or right handed (116R) cartwheel. In the example shown in
Referring to
An AC plug 322 can be provided to provide power to the mat 300, or alternatively, a rechargeable battery 324 can be housed within the mat in any one of the sections (shown in section 102 for exemplary purposes). The power source and be AC or DC, depending on the desired application or available electricity.
As discussed above, the speaker 302 is configured to provide an audible sound in response to the user's proper or improper sequence of a gymnastic move during use of the mat. In other embodiments, more than two audible sounds could be provided depending on the particular gymnastic move, or the desired operation. In another embodiment, two distinguishable audible sounds are provided, one for indicating proper execution, either during or upon completion, of the gymnastic move, and one for indicating improper execution, either during or upon completion, of the gymnastic move. The improper audible sound should be provided during the execution so as to notify the user immediately at the point during the move where the improper execution occurred. For example, the proper execution audible sound could be a bell sound, while the improper execution audible sound could be a buzzer sound.
In another contemplated embodiment, the audible indicator would provide only the improper execution audible sound. Thus, if the user completes the move without any audible interruption, they could assume they executed the move properly.
According to another embodiment, the audio sounds are different and specific to a hand or foot placement on a corresponding section of the mat (e.g, the audible indication of “one”, “two”, “three”, “four”, etc.). Of course, any other discernible sounds could be used without departing from the scope of the present invention. The audio aspect of the present invention may be turned on and off as desired by the user, and may be used in conjunction with the visual indicator, or alone without the visual indicator.
After the user has selected the left option 116L in section 102, they are to start with their left foot first and proceed to the next section 104. This is shown in
In this embodiment, the user's first step with their left foot is the beginning of the sequence for executing a left handed cartwheel.
According to one embodiment, the visual indicator 304 can be flush with the mat's upper surface, and in another embodiment indicator 304 can extend above the mat's upper surface (shown in dotted lines) to make it easier for a user (or instructor) to see the visual indicator, even from a distance.
In other embodiments, it is contemplated that the visual indicators can be operated in a flash mode or a sustain mode. In the flash mode, the visual indicator will remain on while the user's hand or foot is activating the sensor within the respective section. In a sustain mode, the visual indicator will remain illuminated after the user completes the cartwheel or other gymnastic move. This will allow the user to inspect their performance after execution of the cartwheel.
While there have been shown, described and pointed out fundamental novel features of the present principles, it will be understood that various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form and details of the methods described and devices illustrated, and in their operation, may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the same. For example, it is expressly intended that all combinations of those elements and/or method steps which perform substantially the same function in substantially the same way to achieve the same results are within the scope of the present principles. Moreover, it should be recognized that structures and/or elements and/or method steps shown and/or described in connection with any disclosed form or implementation of the present principles may be incorporated in any other disclosed, described or suggested form or implementation as a general matter of design choice. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the claims appended hereto.
