US3342487A

US3342487A - Baseball stance and stride practice plate

Info

Publication number: US3342487A
Application number: US418224A
Authority: US
Inventors: David J David
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1964-12-14
Filing date: 1964-12-14
Publication date: 1967-09-19
Anticipated expiration: 1984-09-19

Description

p 19, 1967 D. J. DAVID 3,342,487

BASEBALL STANCE AND STRIDE PRACTICE PLATE Filed Dec. 14, 1964 INVENTOR. DAVID J. DAVID ATTORNEYS United States Patent Ofi ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A baseball batting stance and stride practice plate including a fiat plate with raised ridges forming batter foot guides. One ridge is disposed along the width of the plate and the batters back foot is disposed against this ridge which is provlded with an opening to allow the back foot to swivel during the stride. Two other ridges are disposed across the full width of the plate in laterally spaced apart diagonal direction against which the forward foot of the batter is disposed both before and after he takes his batting stride. A fourth ridge is disposed along the front edge of the plate.

p This invention relates to baseball practice batting plates,

and more particularly'to a novel baseball batting stance and stride practice plate.

Heretofore there have been provided many baseball practice batting tees for use in improving hitting, and in particular for studying and developing the basic fundamentals of hitting. However, the prior art practice batting tees have failed to teach the proper stance and stride of a baseball batter which is basic to proper hitting. Accordingly, it is an important object of the present invention to provide a novel baseball batting stance and stride practice'plate' for use in developing, correcting and studying the basic fundamentals of the proper stance and stride necessary for good batting.

It is another object of the present inventiont to provide a novel baseball batting stance and stride practice plate for teaching batters the proper stance for batting, including the stance a batter takes before the ball is pitched and the stride and stance the batter takes when the ball is pitched.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel baseball batting stance and stride practice plate which can be used by little league and major league batters, which is simple and compact in construction, economical to manufacture, and effective in use.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a novel baseball batting stance and stride practice plate which comprises a flat plate with raised ridges forming batter foot guides. The plate is provided with one ridge running along the Width of the plate against which the batters back foot is disposed and which ridge is provided with an opening to allow this foot to swivel during the stride. Two other ridges are disposed across the full width of the plate in laterally spaced apart diagonal directions against which the forward foot of the batter is disposed both before and after he takes his batting stride. A fourth ridge is disposed along the front edge of the plate.

Other objects, features and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, appended claims, and the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the home base area of a conventional baseball field, showing the right and left hand batters boxes and the home plate;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a left hand batters stance and stride practice plate made in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

3,342,487 Patented Sept. 19, 1967 ice FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 2, taken along the line 3-3 thereof, and looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 4 is a front perspective view of the structure i1- lustrated in FIG. 2, taken from the left upper corner of FIG. 2, and from the front side of the plate;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of a right hand batters stance and stride practice plate made in accordance with the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a transverse, elevational sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 5, taken along the line 66 thereof, and looking in the direction of the arrows; and,

FIG. 7 is a front elevational perspective view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 5, taken from the right rear upper corner viewed in FIG. 5.

Referring now to the drawing and in particular to FIG. 1, the numeral 10 generally indicates a portion of a conventional baseball playing field. The numeral 11 generally indicates a conventional home base. The numerals 12 and 13 generally indicate conventional right and left hand batter boxes, respectively. The numeral 14 in FIGS. 1, 5, 6, and 7 generally indicates a right hand batters stance and stride practice plate made in accordance with the principles of the present invention. The numeral 15 in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4, generally indicates a left hand batters stance and stride practice plate made in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 5, 6, and 7 the right hand batters stance and stride practice plate comprises a substantially rectangular plate 16 Which is disposed in the batters box 12 adjacent the home base 11 in a spaced apart position.

FIG. 1 shows the practice plate 14 in a position with the.

front longitudinal edge 17 in a position spaced apart approximately 12 inches from the adjacent edge of the home base 11. The plate 16 may be made from any suitable material as for example, plastic, aluminum, wood, or the like. While the plate 16 is illustrated as being rectangular it will be understood that it could be of any other suitable shape, as for example square, or round, as desired.

The plate 16 is provided with a plurality of holes 13 for attaching this plate to the ground within the batters box 12 by any suitable means, as by being bolted to anchor plates or by pointed spike members 29 as shown in FIG. 5.

Fixedly mounted along the front longitudinal edge of the plate 16 is a first raised ridge or guide 19. As shown, the ridge 19 is substantially square in cross section and may be made from the same material as the plate 16. The right hand batters stance and stride practice plate 14 further includes a second raised ridge or guide 20 which is disposed toward the right end of the plate as viewed in FIG. 5 and which extends perpendicularly across the width of the plate 16 toward the front ridge 19. The ridge 20 is spaced inwardly from the right edge of the plate 16 and extends from the plate rear edge 21 forwardly toward the front ridge 19, to the point 22 which is spaced apart from the ridge 19 a distance of approximately 8 inches. The plate is preferably 16 inches in width by 28 inches in length. The

ridges

19 and 20 may be about /2. inch square.

As shown in FIG. 5, the right hand batters stance and stride plate 14 is further provided with a pair of parallel, laterally spaced apart ridges or

guides

23 and 24. The

ridges

23 and 24 extend from the rear edge 21 of the plate 16 forwardly, and to the left on a diagonal line of about 45, to engagement with the longitudinal ridge 19.

The ridges or

guides

23 and 24 are laterally spaced apart a distance of approximately 6 inches so as to measure a 6 inch stride when the left foot of a batter is moved from the solid line position 25 in FIG. 5 to the dotted line position '26 of FIG. 5. The rear end of the diagonal ridge 24 starts at the point 27, which is approximately 3 inches 3 from the inner side of the ridge 20. It will be understood that the ridges or

guides

19, 20, 23 and 24 may be fixed to the plate 16 by any suitable means, and may be formed integral with the plate 16 if plate 16 is made from plastic and molded as in integral unit. All of these guides or ridges may be of equal size, as for example /2 inch square.

The lefthand batters stance and stride plate 15 is constructed in the same manner as the plate 14 with the

ridges

20, 23, and 24 reversely disposed to fit a left handed batter, and accordingly, the same reference numerals have been applied to the corresponding parts followed by the small letter a.

The stance and stride plate of the present invention may be used on an actual baseball field as illustrated in FIG. 1, or it can be used at home, as for example in front of a mirror to practice the proper stance and stride of a baseball batter. Experience throughout the years has shown that a batters stride should not exceed 6 inches for a proper batting stance and stride. The 6 inch stride is the same for young and old players although the initial stance for an older player may be larger.

In the use of the present invention, assuming a right handed batter is practicing, the right foot of the batter is placed in the solid foot line position indicated by the numeral 28 in FIG. 7. The front end of the right foot is in alignment wtih the inner side of the ridge 20 and it may preferably abut the front longitudinal ridge 19. The left foot of the batter is placed in the position 25. When the batter is ready to take his stride he will stride forward, or to the left as viewed in FIG. 5, with his left foot and move it to the dotted line position 26 with the side of his foot against the ridge 23 and the front edge thereof abutting the front longitudinal ridge 19. The open space between the front end 22 of the ridge 20 permits the right foot to be pivoted clockwise as viewed in FIG. 1. It will be seen that the stance and stride plate of the present invention trains a batter in the proper initial placement of his feet relative to the home plate 11 and assists him in developing the proper length stride and placement of the left foot during a batting action. The same procedure is followed when the plate 15 is used by a left handed &

batter. Experience has shown that the stance and stride practice plate of the present invention is an efficient and useful tool in the baseball art.

While it will be apparent that the preferred embodiments of the invention herein disclosed are well calculated to fulfill the objects above stated, it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible to modification, variation and change without departing from the proper scope or fair meaning of the subjoined claims.

What I claim is:

1. A stance and stride practice plate for a baseball hitter, for use with a home base, comprising:

(a) a fiat plate;

(b) a first generally straight foot guide member secured adjacent one edge of the plate adapted to be disposed in a parallel position with the adjacent edge of a home base;

(c) a second foot guide member secured adjacent one side edge of the plate in perpendicular relationship to said first guide member; and,

(d) at least a pair of foot guide members on the plate in laterally spaced apart positions from said second foot guide member and from each other diagonally disposed across said plate, the ends adjacent said first guide member being a substantially greater perpendicular distance from said second guide member than the opposite ends thereof.

2. The stance and stride practice plate for a baseball hitter as defined in claim 1, wherein:

(a) said second foot guide member is spaced apart from said first foot guide member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,039,771 6/1962 Bablouzian et a1. 273-'-54 X 3,051,486

RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner.

Assistant Examiners,

8/1962 Zenchenko 273-54-

Claims

1. A STANCE AND STRIDE PRACTICE PLATE FOR A BASEBALL HITTER, FOR USE WITH A HOME BASE, COMPRISING: (A) A FLAT PLATE; (B) A FIRST GENERALLY STRAIGHT FOOT GUIDE MEMBER SECURED ADJACENT ONE EDGE OF THE PLATE ADAPTED TO BE DISPOSED IN A PARALLEL POSITION WITH THE ADJACENT EDGE OF A HOME BASE; (C) A SECOND FOOT GUIDE MEMBER SECURED ADJACENT ONE SIDE EDGE OF THE PLATE IN PERPENDICULAR RELATIONSHIP TO SAID FIRST GUIDE MEMBER; AND (D) AT LEAST A PAIR OF FOOT GUIDE MEMBERS ON THE PLATE IN LATERALLY SPACED APART POSITIONS FROM SAID SECOND FOOT GUIDE MEMBER AND FROM EACH OTHER DIAGONALLY DISPOSED ACROSS SAID PLATE, THE ENDS ADJACENT SAID FIRST GUIDE MEMBER BEING A SUBSTANTIALLY GREATER PERPENDICULAR DISTANCE FROM SAID SECOND GUIDE MEMBER THAN THE OPPOSITE ENDS THEREOF.