Basketball net which detects shots that have been made successfully

A system for tracking basketball-shooting performance, comprising:

• a made-shot-detecting net system configured to detect when a basketball shot is made successfully, the net system comprising
• a net with a circumferential direction and a longitudinal direction and upper and lower openings through which a basketball can pass when a basketball shot is made successfully, the configuration of the net being such that the net stretches in at least one direction when a basketball passes through it;
• a strand of elastomeric conductive material extending along a portion of the net in a manner to stretch with the net when the net stretches as a basketball passes through it, the strand of elastomeric conductive material having an electrical property that varies over time as the elastomeric conductive material stretches;
• and
• a made-shot-detecting electronics module to which the strand of elastomeric conductive material is connected or is configured to be connected, the made-shot-detecting electronics module including 1) a sensing circuit a) that makes electrical contact with the strand of conductive material when the strand of conductive material is connected to the made-shot-detecting electronics module, and b) an electrical output of which varies as the electrical property of the strand of elastomeric conductive material varies;
• and 2) a wireless transmitter;
• the made-shot-detecting electronics module further including a processor and computer program code configured 1) to cause the processor to read a series of values over time of the sensing circuit's electrical output and to compare the series of values over time to a normative profile over time of the sensing circuit's electrical output over time that corresponds to a basketball passing through the net and to determine whether a basketball has passed through the net;
• and 2) to cause a message to be sent, via the wireless transmitter, indicating that a basketball shot has been made successfully upon the processor determining that a basketball has passed through the net;
• and
• a mobile computing device having a shot-tracking computer program thereon, the shot-tracking computer program being configured to receive the message sent from the made-shot-detecting electronics module and to tabulate successfully made shots.