Category: Sports

Categories
Sports

Challenger tennis aid tracks speed and impact, makes players better with the ball

Every sport out there has become smart. With golfing aides and fitness rings, it’s now possible to examine every way a player can improve their game.

Enter Challenger, a tennis racket attachment that measures various aspects of a tennis player’s swing. This nifty little gadget attaches directly to the strings of a tennis racket. With Bluetooth, it communicates various metrics to the accompanying app. The Challenger is impact-resistant, weather-resistant and features a highly visible touchscreen display with four hours of battery life.

The app measures the speed of the swing, impact points on the racket and spin of each ball hit. It also keeps track of play time, types of swings, and how long the strings of the racket last until they need to be restrung. The app provides individualized profiles of players, gives tennis tips, and tracks progress over time.

Challenger offers lots of data that will certainly be helpful to tennis players looking to take their game to the next level. All it’s missing is a way for the app to interpret that data to provide feedback on how to improve, like the similar runScribe for runners. However, it’s feature of connecting the user with different players in their area is a nice plus. One can be had for $150 with delivery in January 2015. Challenger hopes to raise $75,000 in funding.

Categories
Sports

Range to Go helps golfers practice on the road

Range to GoFor those who would say that the golf course or driving range is a little slice of heaven on earth, there is now a way to transport ecstasy. Whether you want to practice in their backyard, basement, garage, dock or even as the sun sets on the beach, Range to go is a portable option for a little white delight whenever the ideal time and place converge. Golfers can even take full swings, avoid scuffing their clubs, and actually tee up the ball. Rough and fairway surfaces are also included, and it’s weather resistant. While there are other portable ranges out there, they don’t seem to offer multiple surfaces, weather resistance, or location versatility. For $79, backers get one product with an expected delivery of June 2014.

Categories
Sports

GreenPlay guides your golf balls to their putting goal

GreenplayGolfers constantly face new challenges as they travel to different courses. Putting in nature creates many variables that need to be taken into consideration. The GreenPlay training system allows golfers to collect data from a putting green in order to more accurately shoot the ball. This small device sits on the ground and calculates the slope as well as the hole’s position in relation to the ball in an iOS/Android app. It’s a perfect way to train golfers into the right putting techniques, much like the X Ball, because it suggests the best way to putt. Early golfers can enjoy this system for $79 or $99 with a regular price of $250 by July 2014. GreenPlay needs to raise $50,000 in a 45-day Kickstarter campaign.

Categories
Sports

Jump Shot Pro puts some thunder in your jumper

Jump Shot ProCoaching only gets basketball players so far. At some point, they won’t know what a good shot feels like until they experience it for themselves. In the spirit of basketball shot trainers such as the Shoot Natural Glove, the Jump Shot Pro is a worn constraint that people wear to allow them to perfect their jump shot. This sleeve is worn on the shooting arm and helps to spring load the forearm to shoot the ball with more power. One Pro costs backers $80 with an estimated delivery date of August 2014. The Jump Shot Pro sleeve has a $50,000 Indiegogo goal over a 60-day campaign.

Categories
Sports

Zen Bloodhound Golf Putter follows the golfers with the cash

Zen Bloodhound Golf Putter f68dc5b3bf1a8711bc1b691723c2af1c_large[1]Is it a movie aiming to be a blockbuster or a piece of sporting equipment? The dramatic but uninformative video on the campaign page leaves the viewer wondering. Nevertheless, Zen Bloodhound Golf Putter has been turned loose to sniff out just exactly how to build a better putter. And for £1000, it ought to not only hold the ball, but come with a homing device that fetches the ball and resets it on the green when you miss your par, too! The excuse for the pricey practice hole is that the technology is taken from the Bloodhound SCC 1000 mph car. Of course! 1000mph, £1000, flawless logic. Those who enjoy that kind of status among fellow golfers won’t see the putter arrive with any significant speed, though. Expected delivery is June 2014.

Categories
Sports

Shoot Natural Glove helps make basketball players straight shooters

The Premise. Perfecting the one-handed shot in basketball is essential to honing a player’s game. It’s difficult to learn this shot, however, and most make the mistake of using two hands which can mess up the accuracy of the shot.

The Product. The Shoot Natural Glove is a basketball shooting training tool that allows players to feel what it’s like to shoot a proper one-handed basket. It is simply a glove that shapes the hand in the correct way for a one-handed shot by eliminating “thumbing”, one of the biggest problems in basketball shooting according to the campaign. The glove is black, fingerless, reversible and keeps the thumb rigid with a piece of built-in plastic.

The Pitch. Shot in a gym and accompanied by a number of demos as well as a cameo by a former NBA pro, the video for the Natural Glove tells the story of how the creator came inspired to create the glove. After breaking his thumb and ignoring doctors’ orders about staying off the court, he discovered that his cast helped his game. It was this incident that gave him the idea for his product. This shooting aid hopes to raise a relatively modest $5,000 in a 30-day run on Kickstarter.

The Perks. One Shoot Glove goes for $30 on Kickstarter with an estimated delivery date of June 2014. Reward tiers go up to $250. A stretch goal of $15,000 has been set to allow for more options for glove colors in the future.

The Potential. Other products don’t seem to offer the flexibility that the Shoot Natural Glove does. For instance, the J-Glove isn’t ambidextrous like the Natural Glove is and can only be bought either for the left side or right side. The Shotloc aid is quite rigid and doesn’t really teach the player what a good shot feels like, but only really works when worn with few lasting effects. It seems that the Shoot Natural Glove is one of the few out there that focuses on the guide hand alone, teaches muscle memory and doesn’t constrict the hand like other aids do. In addition, the price isn’t bad either, especially for a glove that fits onto both the left and right hands.

Categories
Food and Beverage Sports

REALAJ enables full-tilt hydration without tilting your head

REALAJ ce77d093777e2e936aeb73f6498be39d_large[1]Whether it’s competitive cycling, marathon running, or power walking, staying hydrated is key to a top performance. When you have to tip your head back to drink some water, it can interfere with being able to see where you’re going. REALAJ has redesigned the sports water bottle so that you can keep watching where you’re going. The idea of an ergonomically designed bottle that lets you drink without tipping your head back will likely be valuable to pro cyclists and runners as well as those aspiring to go pro. But even at two for $25, it will be going up against some popular competition. Expected delivery for REALAJ is June 2014.

Categories
Sports

Arced Curvstar tennis racket serves up ergonomic enhancements

The Premise. Imagine, it’s finally the weekend! The sunny sky is a clear blue and you’ve been looking forward to getting out and playing tennis with your good friend all week long. It’s a perfect summer morning. Could anything be better than taking a few swings with your favorite racket? It could if there was a new racket that might become your favorite.

The Product. If you’re a tennis enthusiast, and especially a professional, you’ll likely want to check out this ergonomically correct tennis racket by Curvstar. Tennis pros, health pros, and engineers got together to design a curved racket that boasts of not only being able to give you a better game, but also a safer one. The inventors claim that the curve is a better fit with the design of the human body and takes the stress off of a player’s wrist and forearm that would otherwise be present with a traditional racket. And less stress means reduced chances of injury and more opportunity to enjoy the tennis season from start to finish.

The Pitch. The video for the $50,000 campaign could have used some better lighting for the live shots throughout the video, but the explanation of how and why the product is better than a traditional racket has some good logic to it. It was a nice touch to hear background music that wasn’t dorky. The video also notes that it’s not necessary to change your technique in order to use Curvstar. The racket head is roughly the same size as a traditional racket, and you’ll hold it in pretty much the same location.

The Perks. There are ten tiers from which backers may choose. The first level that includes a racket is the $149 early bird special. This is a $100 savings off of the anticipated retail price. Expected delivery is June 2014, just in time for summer session!

The Potential. With an anticipated retail price of $249, it’s not likely that the average Rafael or Serena will take an interest in Curvstar, especially when a traditional Wilson racket can be purchased for around $30. However, tennis enthusiasts, aspiring professionals, and professionals are a niche that could possibly really make this product take off because if the claims that the design reduces injury and improve performance ring true.

Categories
Aquatics Sports

Steertube mixes the safety of tubing with the thrill of waterskiing

The Premise. Water tubing on the high seas or in a lake is one of the most popular activities to partake in during the summer. The only problem is that tubers can’t control where they go and are at the mercy of the person driving the boat. Most people prefer water skiing, because they have much more control over their movements.

The Product. Steertube combines the best of tubing and water skiing for those who prefer a not-so-lazy river. The user sits in the tube, but has the control to steer anywhere they want to go. A t-shaped handle attaches to the line between the tube and boat. The line is attached to a steel bar across the front of the tube. When steered, the line moves along the bar, and tilts small rudders underneath to the tube to change its direction.

The Pitch. Steertube’s Kickstarter campaign provides video testimonials of people using the product. As they bounce around in the water, people can be heard saying how cool they think the tube is. Their Web site offers a ton more videos of the Steertube on the water, being pulled by a variety of different boats. This water accessory’s creators hope to raise a somewhat ambitious $125,000 in their 39-day Kickstarter campaign.

The Perks. For $499, backers can cut through the water at warp speed. Each Steertube comes with its own custom tow rope. The campaign only has nine reward tiers and the last five all go for $499 with an estimated delivery date of June 2014.

The Potential. There are so many different kinds of water tubes out there and some offer steering capabilities, but none quite like this. The Bat X-Ray Tube needs the rider to lean their whole body to the right or left in order to steer. Others use handles that are attached to the tube for steering which doesn’t allow for the range of motion needed to do tricks in the water. The only thing that remains unclear is if riders can also lay on their stomachs, or if they are stuck on their backs in the Steertube. Holding onto the tow line may be more difficult while lying prone. All in all, however, the Steertube appears to be the most versatile towable water tube out there and will land in the water just in time for summer.

Categories
Sports Watches and Jewelry

Ear Protection Guards implores kids sports officials to stop fearing the earring

EarProtectionGuardOh the struggles of being a girl who wants to be involved in sports. Wearing jewelry can cause injury to both the girl wearing it and those around her if the sport involves any close contact. Since waiting until after softball season doesn’t always get taken into consideration when a girl wants to get her ears pierced, Ear Protection Guards provide that necessary protection. Although not explicitly guaranteed, the assumption is that the barrier will enable piercing through the no-jewelry rule that inspired them. If tape or a band-aid are unacceptable, it might be a good plan to check and be sure about ear guards. Nevertheless, for $20, backers get the product, but it’s not clearly indicated if that means one pair. Expected delivery is July 2014.