A system for tracking balls in sports in which players kick, pass, bounce, strike or carry a ball. The ball is equipped with two beacons pulsing in the 5-10 Hz range at a frequency which is not attenuated by the body of the players. one beacon has a very short range of 40 -120 cm and the other has a range of 1 - 5 metres. A data logger worn by the players includes a clock, location and speed sensors, a receiver for the beacon signals and a micro controller to record the data from all the sensors.

The micro controller is able to record whether the player is in possession of the ball or is contesting the ball. The path of the ball from player to player is tracked relative to the playing field. An impact or pressure sensor may be fitted to the players footwear, glove or a bat stick, club or racquet to register a kick or ball strike.

Die vorliegende Erfindung betrifft einen Schläger für Ballspiele, insbesondere Tennis-, Squash-, Badminton-, Racketball- und Paddletennisschläger, mit einem einen Schlägerkopf und einen damit über einen Herzbereich verbundenen Griffabschnitt aufweisenden Rahmen aus einem Hohlprofil. Das Hohlprofil ist durch Wickeln mehrerer bahnenartiger Lagen gebildet. Der Rahmen weist am Schlägerkopf mehrere im wesentlichen zur Längsachse des Schlägers zwischen die das Hohlprofil bildenden Lagen eingewickelte Dämpfungslagen auf, wobei eine Dämpfungslage im Bereich zwischen 4 Uhr und 6 Uhr und eine weitere Dämpfungslage im Bereich zwischen 6 Uhr und 8 Uhr am Schlägerkopf vorgesehen ist. Dadurch hat der Schläger hervorragende Dämpfungseigenschaften und kann Stöße bzw. Vibrationen effektiv minimieren.

A sporting rod member using a solid rod (8, 18, 18'), said solid rod (8, 18, 18') comprising a solid-state core member (10), an outer layer (12) formed of fiber reinforced resin and disposed on an outside of said core member (10) and a hoiiow pipe member (14, 16) formed integrally with an end portion of said solid rod (8, 18, 18').

A staff (20) Having a paddle (18) mounted at each end of the staff with each paddle providing a generally planar surface (28) for hitting a ball (16) or other missile is provided for playing a sport or game. Between two spaced apart hand grip portions (22) of the staff there is a middle part (24) that provides at least one additional generally planar surface (38) for hitting the missile. The paddles may be hollow to reduce their weight and, in an alternative embodiment, permit the respective ends of the staff, to be telescoped into the paddles to adjust the length of the staff exposed between the paddles.

This invention relates to items of sporting equipment such as hockey sticks, bats, clubs, mallets and the like and a method of manufacturing an article of sporting equipment such as a bat, club, mallet, hockey stick or the like is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of forming a core (102) which may be of wood or of synthetic fibres, roughly in the shape of the article and encapsulating the core in a plastics material in a mould.

Articles for automotive, aerospace, manufacturing and defence industry applications including shafts or tubes used, for example, as golf club shafts, ski and hiking poles, fishing rods or bicycle frames, skate blades and snowboards are at least partially coated with an electrodeposited metal, metal alloy or metal matrix composite coating layer. The coating layer having a quasi-isotropic microstructure, a thickness of higher than 30µm and an average grain size between 0.004µm and 10µm. The coating layer provides articles of high resilience, high yield strength, scratch and wear resistance and hardness, and appealing appearance.

Fine-grained (average grain size 1nm to 1,000nm) metallic coatings optionally containing solid particulates dispersed therein are disclosed. The fine-grained metallic materials are significantly harder and stronger than conventional coatings of the same chemical composition due to Hall-Petch strengthening and have low linear coefficients of thermal expansion (CTEs). The invention provides means for matching the CTE of the fine-grained metallic coating to the one of the substrate by adjusting the composition of the alloy and/or by varying the chemistry and volume fraction of particulates embedded in the coating. The fine-grained metallic coatings are particularly suited for strong and lightweight articles, precision molds, sporting goods, automotive parts and components exposed to thermal cycling. The low CTEs and the ability to match the CTEs of the fine-grained metallic coatings with the CTEs of the substrate minimize dimensional changes during thermal cycling and prevent premature failure.

Lightweight articles comprising a polymeric material at least partially coated with a fine-grained metallic material are disclosed. The fine-grained metallic material has an average grain size of 2nm to 5,000nm, a thickness between 25 micron and 5cm, and a hardness between 200VHN and 3,000 VHN. The lightweight articles are strong and ductile and exhibit high coefficients of restitution and a high stiffness and are particularly suitable for a variety of applications including aerospace and automotive parts, sporting goods, and the like.