Archive for the ‘Sports’ Category

Polara Self Correcting Golf Balls Reduce Slice And Hooks

By Andrew Liszewski

Lets get this out of the way first and foremost. Polara’s self correcting golf balls, which promise to correct slices and hooks by up to 75%, are not approved for professional competition play. So if you think you’ve found a way to sneak into the PGA or LPGA, it isn’t going to happen. However, if you’re completely unable to play through a round of golf at your local course without constantly landing your ball off the fairway, and have very understanding friends, you might want to give them a shot.

I don’t completely understand the science of what keeps them on the straight and narrow, but it’s a combination of a deep, shallow and tiny dimple pattern on the outside of the ball. And what looks to be a specialized layer core which optimizes spin and increases distance. A set of 12 Polara balls will cost you $39.95, which I assume is more expensive than a regular set of balls. But since Polara’s balls will also reduce the number of snickers and laughter from your fellow players, I’m pretty sure it’s more than worth it for a lot of golfers.

[ Polara Self Correcting Golf Balls ] VIA [ The Red Ferret Journal ]

RobotPutt Vending Machine Dispenses Putting Lessons Instead Of Sugar Water

By Andrew Liszewski

A can of pop or a candy bar might give you an energy boost for a couple of minutes, but the makers of the RoboPutt vending machine feel your money could be better spent, particularly if you’re an avid golfer with a terrible putting game. Designed to be installed in pro shops or somewhere near a golf course, the RoboPutt machine provides 5 minutes of putting training and instruction for a mere $5.

Users bring their own putter, since it helps to use a club you’re already comfortable with, and in the process of creating their user account they attach a small sensor to it and record the mechanics of their current putting swing. Once satisfied, that information is uploaded to the RoboPutt machine and is stored with their ID for future comparisons. Each user is also provided with a swipe card so their information is available on any RoboPutt machine around the world. For the actual putting lessons they then attach their putter to a mechanical arm which goes through the motions of a proper putting swing so that a user can build up the appropriate muscle memory over time.

There are options to simply go through the motions of the swing you recorded to reinforce what you already feel is an ideal swing (if you’re a professional golfer for example) or to have the RoboPutt machine take into account and correct the swing you recorded to improve your game. And after that more advanced lessons are also available to help you master any kind of putting scenario.

[ RoboPutt Vending Machine ] VIA [ Gizmag ]

Two universities adopt Wii Fit to monitor football concussions

As it turns out, there are quite a few uses for a $100 off-the-shelf computerized scale, above and beyond getting fit — Nintendo’s Wii Balance Board is now providing a mechanism by which college football teams at Ohio State University and the University of Maryland can cheaply determine whether players are suffering from concussions. Taking the place of force plate machines that can cost tens of thousands of dollars, the white plastic boards measure students’ balance (using yoga poses) and coordination (in Table Tilt) before a game, to provide a frame of reference against which trainers can measure whether athletes are fit to keep playing. Though some scholars found Wii Fit didn’t stack up favorably against the expensive force plates, the universities trialing the system called it “pretty decent,” so the question is whether Nintendo’s peripheral offers a reasonable enough benchmark for the price. We suppose the American Heart Association liked it well enough.

Two universities adopt Wii Fit to monitor football concussions originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Aug 2010 03:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Switched  |  Washington Post  | Email this | Comments

Florida Jocks Get Free MacBook Pros

As part of a new program with Apple, the University of South Florida is giving each of its 460 student athletes free MacBook Pros to keep up with their studies on the road.

In addition to handing out notebooks to jocks, the university is adding new materials to iTunes U, a page in the iTunes Store hosting educational content, such as video podcasts and digitized lectures.

The university declined to comment on the cost of the program, but a spokesman told Fortune that the cost of the notebooks for the spring semester was in the “six figures” — even after a special Apple discount.

To me, this program seems excessive, and I’d imagine the non-athletes are pissed. Which college student, jock or not, doesn’t already own a notebook?

Far more interesting is the pilot program at Abilene University, in which the school is handing out free iPhones to its entire freshman class to transform the classroom experience using web apps.

Press release [USF]

See Also:

• How the iPhone Could Reboot Education
• Apple Stores Offer Field Trips for Schools
• Apple Takes on School in Latest Trademark Battle
• Apple, Stanford Teaching iPhone Development for Free
• Apple Launches iPhone University Program
• From iLightswitch to iBurrito, Stanford Students Concoct iPhone …

Photo: *.*/Flickr

Video: First footage of EA Sports MMA

I’m over here watching the Strikeforce show on CBS and there’s ads for EA Sports MMA all over the place. So I’m like, “hmm, maybe EA Sports has posted the trailer to its Web site yet?”

Yes. Yes it has.

Let the record show that I beat Sherdog and all the gaming sites I usually visit to this news. Go me~!

« Older Entries