US Patent 10315086 Baseball and softball slide trainer

A slide trainer for a softball or baseball student features a resilient pad and a load-spreading member. The load-spreading member distributes the load of a student landing on the load-spreading member over a relatively large are and hence volume of the resilient pad. The resilient pad may be thinner and hence less bulky and less costly than a resilient pad without the load-spreading member. For embodiments where the load-spreading member is not covered by a fabric, the load-spreading member provides a relatively slippery surface on which the student may slide.