The History of the Whetball

The Whetball was created after my time as a junior college basketball player. During my time at my junior college I had the best trainer in Minnesota and he would use the swimming pool to develop, my speed, endurance, and explosiveness. I thought it would be great if I could apply those same principles and mechanisms to my ball-handling. A year passed and the concept was still on my mind during one of my workouts. I remembered a chemistry lesson from 11th grade on buoyancy, so I rushed home and started to test my theories about creating an underwater basketball.

The first ball the concept of buoyancy control worked on was a mini rubber ball. I saw that the ball dribbled in a bathtub so I decided to apply the same method to a full size basketball. Once I finished the process I rushed back to the gym and hopped in the pool. To my amazement it handled underwater the same way a normal ball would on a court.

Shortly after the process to patent the ball began. I met with a local patent attorney but it wasn't fruitful. I also had to leave to start school at my four year college. Unbeknownst to me I wouldn’t have access to a pool for a couple years. While I was in school I would continue to talk to people about the Whetball. I eventually met a woman that worked at the college whose husband was an attorney ad they would connect me with HK Law  and truly start the patent process.

While wrapping up my degree in Exercise Physiology I went from playing to coaching. During that time I was taking conference calls and revising patent work. Once I completed  school I moved back to Minneapolis and started coaching and training. During my second year training in I began to use the Whetball with clients and saw major improvements. Yet I was still waiting on the patent to be approved and continuing to revise art work and claims.

The next summer I ventured out to train on my own. By the end of that summer the USPTO approved the patent. Then the journey of finding manufacturers began. I make the modified basketballs myself and they are currently designed to be used exclusively in the water. The next step is delivering a basketball that functions on the court and in the water.