Systems and methods for measuring and/or analyzing swing information
View Patent ↗In a first aspect, a system for monitoring a swing is provided that includes (1) a swing measurement device adapted to couple to a swinging object and to output a signal indicative of a characteristic of the swinging object; (2) a wireless transmitter coupled to the swing measurement device and adapted to wirelessly transmit the signal output by the swing measurement device; and (3) a wireless device adapted to receive the wirelessly transmitted signal and to provide information regarding the swinging object based on the received signal. The wireless device is a cellular telephone or personal digital assistant (PDA). Numerous other aspects are provided.
1. A method for monitoring a golf swing comprising:
providing a swing measurement device having one or more accelerometers that monitor acceleration of the swing measurement device as the swing measurement device swings so as to generate acceleration information;
providing a cellular telephone having a program that allows the cellular telephone to:
wirelessly communicate with the swing measurement device;
receive acceleration information wirelessly from swing measurement device as the swing measurement device swings;
collect acceleration information based on the monitored acceleration of the swing measurement device as the swing measurement device swings;
analyze the collected acceleration information to determine one or more characteristics of a golf swing based on the collected acceleration information including golf score; and
output information regarding the one or more characteristics of the golf swing on a display of the cellular telephone;
coupling the swing measurement device to a golf club; and
employing the cellular telephone and swing measurement device to:
monitor acceleration of the swing measurement device as the swing measurement device swings while a user swings the golf club;
collect acceleration information based on the monitored acceleration of the swing measurement device as the swing measurement device swings with the golf club;
analyze the collected acceleration information to determine one or more characteristics of the golf swing based on the collected acceleration information; and
output information regarding the one or more characteristics of the golf swing on the display of the cellular telephone.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the cellular telephone includes a program that determines one or more of acceleration of the golf club, velocity of the golf club, and speed of the golf club.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the cellular telephone includes a program that determines one or more of ball-club contact, ball-club contact timing and ball-club contact force.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the cellular telephone includes a program that determines one or more of number of strokes of the golf club, number of strokes of a golfer swinging the golf club, and golf handicap.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the cellular telephone includes a program that determines one or more of predicted ball travel distance and predicted ball position.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the cellular telephone includes a program that detects wirelessly transmitted signals from multiple golfers.
7. The method of claim 6 wherein the cellular telephone includes a program that tracks the golf score of multiple golfers.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein the cellular telephone includes a program that transmits swing information over the Internet.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein the cellular telephone is GPS-enabled and includes a program that tracks position of the user on a golf course or relative to a golf hole.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein the cellular telephone includes a program that converts acceleration information into an audio signal and provides an audio signal indicative of swing tempo.
11. The method of claim 1 wherein the cellular telephone includes a program that compares a current swing to an ideal swing and outputs a cue if the current golf swing varies from an ideal swing in real time.
12. The method of claim 1 wherein the cellular telephone includes a program that sends a message to one or more persons regarding a quality of the golf swing.
13. The method of claim 1 wherein the cellular telephone includes a program that differentiates between practice swings and strokes.
14. The method of claim 13 wherein the cellular telephone includes a program that differentiates between practice swings and strokes by determining deceleration of the golf club during at least one of at ball contact and end of stroke.