GB2103937A - Wrist support for a tennis player - Google Patents

Abstract

A wrist support 10 for a tennis player comprises a plastics plate 12 which has an elongate forearm section 26 of uniform width contiguous with a hand section 28 of diverging width which subtends an obtuse angle thereto. The plate 12 has three straps 14, 16 and 18 threaded through slots in the plate 12 which enable the plate 12 to be fastened to the forearm, hand and racquet of a player so as to maintain the back of a hand and the forearm of the player at a predetermined obtuse angle during play. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Wrist support for a tennis player This invention relates to a wrist support for a tennis player.

Ideally, when executing a forehand or backhand tennis stroke, the tennis racquet should form a Vshape with the arm of the player when contact is made with the tennis ball. Variations in the height of the ball to be hit should be compensated for by the player by bending his knees. Generally speaking, when piaying tennis ground strokes, the player's wrist should be held firm so that the face of the racquet is maintained in a desired angular relationship to the tennis ball throughout a substantial portion of the stroke swing.

Tennis players, especially beginners, have a tendency to introduce undesirable wrist movements into their ground strokes which can result in letting the head of the racquet drop in relation to the arm and/or varying the angle of the face of the racquet during the swing in such a way as to produce a stroke of poor quality.

It is well known for players to use a tube of elasticated material to strengthen a relatively weak wrist. It is also well known to strengthen the wrist during play by strapping semi-rigid padding to the forearm and wrist. Neither of these forms of wrist support restrict the movement of the wrist joint in particular manner to eradicate undesirable wrist movement but are generally strengthening aids.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a wrist support for a tennis player which overcomes or at least mitigates the above described problems.

According to the present invention we provide a wrist support for a tennis player comprising a rigid plate which is configured to overlie the forearm and hand of the player and means for detachably fastening the plate to the forearm and to the handle of a racquet used by the player wherein the support is configured so as to maintain the back of the hand and the forearm of the player at a predetermined obtuse angle during play.

The present invention supports the wrist of a tennis player in such a way as to ensure that the head of the racquet does not drop undesirably and that the face of the racquet is maintained at the desired angle in relation to an oncoming tennis ball during play. The invention may be particularly useful for practising top spin ground strokes and is not intended for use during match play.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the plate comprises an elongate section of uniform width contiguous with a diverging section which subtends an obtuse angle thereto, both sections having a common longitudinal axis.

The plate may be a one piece plastics moulding.

The above mentioned obtuse angle may be from 1300 to 1400.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the plate comprises slots through which straps are threaded. Furthermore, the slots in the diverging portion of the plate may be arranged so that the support is suitable for use by both lefthanded and right-handed tennis players.

The arm-contacting underside of the plate may have padding adhesively attached thereto for comfort.

A particular embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a bottom plan view of a wrist support according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a cross sectional view of the support of Figure 1 taken along the line 2-2; Figure 3 is a perspective view of the support attached to the arm and racquet of a tennis player.

Referring to Figure 1 and Figure 2, a wrist support is indicated generaliy at 10 and comprises a plastics plate 12 and three straps 14, 1 6 and 1 8 threaded through three out of four sets of slots 20, 22,23 and 24 formed in the plate 12.

The plate 1 2 is transversely arcuate along its length and comprises an elongate forearm section 26 of uniform width contiguous with a hand section 28 of diverging width which subtends an obtuse angle thereto.

The two sets of slots 20 and 22 formed in marginal regions of the forearm section 26 both comprise a pair of opposed slots 30, 32 and 34, 36. The two sets of slots 23 and 24 disposed across the width of the hand section 28 each comprise four slots 38, 39, 40, 41 and 42, 43, 44, 45. Each of the sets of slots 23 and 24 is divided into a pair of slots which run parallel with a respective side of the hand section 28. The straps 14, 1 6 and 1 8 are made of nylon and are provided with Velcro type fastening means 46. The plate 1 2 has a centrally located y-shaped piece of foam padding 48 adhesively attached to its undersurface.

In Figure 3, the wrist support 10 is shown attached to the arm 50 of a tennis player and to the handle 52 of a racquet used by the tennis player. The straps 1 4 and 1 6 are secured around the forearm of the player and the strap 1 8 is secured so as to encircle the forefinger of the player and racquet handle 52.

To attach the wrist support 10, the user must position the plate 12 so that the forearm portion 26 overlies his forearm and the hand portion 28 overlies the back of his hand and then fasten straps 14 and 16 in the usual way. Then, while holding the racquet handle 52, the player must pass the strap 1 8 between his forefinger and middle finger and fasten the strap 1 8 around the handle 52. When attached, the wrist support 10 ensures that the player's wrist is maintained at an angle depending on the angular relationship of the forearm portion 26 to the hand portion 28, Furthermore, the strap 1 8 supporting the racquet handle 52 ensures that the head of the racquet does not drop in relation to the arm 50 of the player during play.

Depending on whether a player is left-handed or right-handed, the strap 1 8 is passed through slots 44 and 45 or through slots 42 and 43 respectively before being attached to the racquet handle 52. The strap 18 can be positioned in the second set of slots 23 on the hand section 28 when the support is used by smaller players for example women and children.

Claims (7)

1. A wrist support for a tennis player comprising a rigid plate which is configured to overlie the forearm and hand of the player and means for detachably fastening the plate to the hand and forearm and to the handle of a racquet used by the player wherein the support is configured so as to maintain the back of the hand and the forearm of the player at a predetermined obtuse angle during play.

2. A wrist support as claimed in claim 1 wherein the plate comprises an elongate section of uniform width contiguous with a diverging section which subtends an obtuse angle thereto, both sections having a common longitudinal axis.

3. A wrist support as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said angle is from 1300 to 1400.

4. A wrist support as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the plate comprises slots through which straps are threaded.

5. A wrist support as claimed in claim 4 wherein the slots in the diverging portion are arranged so that the support is suitable for use by both left-handed and right-handed players.

6. A wrist support as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the arm-contacting underside of the plate has padding adhesively attached thereto.

7. A wrist support substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.