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Reflex Conditioning Wall

Wall with many angled facets to improve reflexes.

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It would be convenient to have a portable wall segment, say 4'x8', that a goalkeeper could use to keep his reflexes sharp. This would not be a flat wall, but rather one with many crevices and protrusions on its surface so that it is nearly impossible to predict which way a ball will bounce upon impact.

It would also be lightweight and fold for easy storage.

—	Cuit_au_Four, May 30 2006

Random bounce reaction training device http://patft1.uspto...10414&RS=PN/6010414
US Patent 6,010,414 [ldischler, May 30 2006]

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um.... what?

—	tcarson, May 31 2006

I presume the goalkeeper bounces the ball/puck/haybale/flying disc off the described product and then attempts to catch the offending projectile, post-bounce.

—	Texticle, May 31 2006

You could just get a regular wall and tape a bunch of crap to it.

—	notmarkflynn, May 31 2006

Or use a stonework chimney.

//It would be convenient // This posting is a wish, not a half-baked idea.

—	baconbrain, May 31 2006

No, it definitely describes a product.

—	moomintroll, Jun 01 2006

Okay, it describes a wished-for product. But it doesn't tell enough about how to make it for it to be even halfbaked. I think I can show that Cuit has some problems to solve.

He (?) wants this wall segment to be lightweight, foldable and portable. Okay, I've seen ads for display walls in trade-show magazines, but they aren't really all that lightweight and portable.

He also wants many crevices and protrusions on it. That could be accomplished by setting up a trade-show display wall in a semi-folded position, and fastening on a bunch of those rock-climbing knobby things. But that requires some more weight, and a bag of knobs, which further reduces portability.

Finally, this wall has to be pretty strong. The word "impact" is used in the original posting. The goalkeeper is trying to keep his reflexes sharp. He's probably going to be belting the ball into the wall as hard as he can, to practice blocking hard kicks back at him. The trade-show display walls I mentioned earlier could not stand up to that sort of abuse.

So I say the idea needs to address those issues, and to give some explanation of how to make the wished-for item work. If it had said "Take a trade-show display wall, set it up poorly, screw in some knobs and hang bags of water on the back," I would have said it was halfbaked. Original, but not really workable, which makes it Halfbakery material. And not a wish.

The best way to make a portable goal-keeping practice wall is probably to go find a portable rock-climbing wall, and steal a piece or two. Which would make the idea baked, except for the easy-folding portability that is wished for.

Another way is to use a portable basketball goal, dropped down low, with a sheet of plywood bolted onto the backboard, and odd holes cut into the plywood. Again, not all that portable, but at least the idea of using holes to cause bad bounces is new, even if it won't work.

By the way, the item in the Patent Office link is for a bumpy sheet to be placed flat on the ground. So the wall that has been wished for has not yet been done. Keep wishing.

—	baconbrain, Jun 01 2006

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