Sunday, June 08, 2008

Not Quite Innovative

I had this problem that I observed when I recorded myself on the camcorder. I tend to flip my wrist so the racquet is upside-down. I was thinking of making a contraption that would correct it.

Here's the idea. I'd take a cup. I'd attach it to a vibration dampener (the Head SmartSorb). I'd put a hacky-sack in the cup. If I flipped the racquet upside down, the hacky-sack would fall out.

Here's the problem.

Have you ever filled a bucket with water? Then you swing it in a circle? Due to centripetal force, the water stays in the bucket, even if it's upside down.

The other problem is the hacky-sack was too large, and filled the cup, and so it had a tendency not to fall out. I put in a much smaller, bright pinkish-red vibration dampener in the cup. The problem? The follow through caused the vibration dampener to fall out of the cup (I think I could use dental floss and tape to prevent it from completely falling out.

However, the first problem is even greater. If the forces keep the dampener in the cup even if it's upside down, then it doesn't help.

This means, I think, that a superior technology is needed. It has to detect the relative position of two parts of the racquet, and somehow give feedback (probably through some noise) to let you know what's going on.

Oh well, I guess I'll have to figure this out some other way.

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