Golf Training Driver Club With An Elevated Face And Sweet Spot

Abstract

The present invention is a golf training club with an elevated clubface and sweet spot so that when the ball is struck anywhere but the center of the club the ball would exaggerate its flight to the right, left, up or down; the ball will fly straight only when hit right in the center of the club. The invention helps a golfer to practice precise contact, verify that the face of the golf club has not been inadvertently rotated during the swing and become more conscious of the direction and angle of their swing.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to golf clubs and, more particularly to a golf training driver club with an elevated face and sweet spot. It is used to train the golfer to hit the golf ball right in the center of the clubface for driving a golf ball in a desired trajectory.

2. Description of Related Art

A golf club is used in the sport of golf to hit a golf ball. Each club is composed of a shaft, a lance (grip) and a club head. A club generally comes in three forms: woods, irons and putters distinguished by shape and intended use. The words “wood” and “iron” do not necessarily refer to the material the club is made out of, but rather to the general shape of the club head. A “wood” club is one where the head is relatively broad from face to back, and it can be made of materials such as titanium, aluminum, composite, steel or wood. Other clubs used during play have a head that is relatively narrow from face to back, and it is usually made of steel—they may be referred to as “irons” but this reference is not indicative of the material composition of the club itself. Woods are long-distance clubs, meant to drive the ball a great distance down the fairway towards the hole. They generally have a large head and a long shaft for maximum club speed. The biggest wood, known as the driver, often made out of hollowed titanium with feather light shafts, is the longest club and the most powerful of all the golf clubs. The length of the woods have been increasing in recent decades, and a typical driver with a graphite shaft is now 45.5 inches long. This length increases the power that can be transferred to the ball, but it also makes it less likely that the ball will meet the quarter-sized sweet spot in the middle of the club face. When an off-center hit occurs, the head of the club tends to twist, pointing the face in an unintended direction, and sending the ball the wrong way.

Therefore, a number of golf club training devices have been proposed for training golfers with respect to maintaining the proper golf club movement while addressing and striking a golf ball on the right spot. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,121,925; 5,860,871; 5,904,628; 6,431,992; 7,004,850; 7,041,000; 7,625,295. Most of these patents utilize rings and/or arc devices for aiding the golfer during the golf club swing and several of these devices utilize guides wherein the club may be connected to a ring or arc to indicate to the golfer the proper club swing movement. While such devices may provide help to certain golfers, they are complex complicated, cumbersome, impractical and inconvenient, or not portable, etc. The present invention overcomes these disadvantages in that it provides an improved golf swing training club that fills the need for a simple, inexpensive, golf swing training club.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a golf training driver club with an elevated face and sweet spot so that when the ball is struck anywhere but the center of the club the ball would exaggerate its flight to the right, left, up or down; the ball will fly straight only when hit right in the center of the club.

The clubface is oval overall and the center of the club face is flat to allow the ball to compress and rebound.

The radius of the elevated sweet spot is about ⅔ the diameter of the golf ball or about 25-35 mm. The preferred radius of the elevated sweet spot is about 28-30 mm with an oval or round shape.

The elevation of the sweet spot on the clubface is smooth and proportional. The elevation is about 6-10 mm and preferably 8 mm.

Since the face of the golf training club is heavier than regular club's face the club head will have some weight in the back of the head without adding too much weight to the head overall so that the training driver club will not be too heavy or noticeably heavier than user's own driver club.

The golf training driver club head may be made of metal including but not limited to titanium, titanium alloy, steel, steel alloys, magnesium, magnesium alloys, aluminum and aluminum alloys and/or wood. The elevated club face 4 may be made of materials different from the rest of the club head.

The more important features of the invention have thus been outlined in order that the more detailed description that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may better be appreciated. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter and will form the subject matter of the claims that follow.

Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

The foregoing has outlined, rather broadly, the preferred feature of the present invention so that those skilled in the art may better understand the detailed description of the invention that follows. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter that form the subject of the claims of the invention. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they can readily use the disclosed conception and specific embodiment as a basis for designing or modifying other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention and that such other structures do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description, the appended claim, and the accompanying drawings in which similar elements are given similar reference numerals.

FIG. 1A is the first embodiment of the training driver club head in an operation position according to the present invention.

FIG. 1B is a regular driver club head in operation position.

FIG. 1C is the first embodiment of the training driver club head in an operation position according to the present invention wherein the sweet spot has an oval configuration.

FIG. 2A is the first embodiment of the training driver club head according to the present invention with the sweet spot facing up.

FIG. 2B is a regular driver club head with sweet spot facing up.

FIG. 2C is a second embodiment of the training driver club head according to the present invention with sweet spot facing up.

FIG. 2D is a third embodiment of the training driver club head according to the present invention with sweet spot facing up.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1A there is disclosed a wood-type driver club head (#1 wood) for golf training purpose according to the present invention. The club head 1 comprises: a hosel 2 connected the lower end of the shaft 3; a clubface 4 for striking a ball; a crown 5 adjacent to the upper edge 4a of the clubface 4; a sole 6 which is the part closest to the ground and adjacent to the lower edge 4b of the clubface 4; a back 7 between the crown 5 and the sole 6 and opposite to the clubface 4.

Referring to FIG. 1B for a regular club head 1, the clubface 4 is typically a flat surface with quarter-sized sweet spot 41 in the middle; the sweet spot 41 is the ideal place to hit the ball. According to the invention, the clubface 4 is not a flat surface; instead, the face is elevated and has a flat sweet spot 41 at the center (FIG. 1A). With loft of about 7-11 degrees.

A different view of a regular golf driver club head 1 is shown in FIG. 2B wherein the plane of clubface 4 is almost flat. FIG. 2A shows a different view of the embodiment of the golf training driver club head 1 disclosed in FIG. 1A, wherein the golf training driver club has an elevated face 4 and sweet spot 41. The elevation of the face 4 and sweet spot 41 may be smooth and proportional as disclosed in FIG. 2A. The clubface may also be in a concave shape with the flat sweet spot in the center as disclosed in FIG. 2C or it may be in a convex shape with the flat sweet spot in the center as disclosed in FIG. 2D. The elevation of the face 4 and sweet spot 41 in the preferred embodiment is smooth and proportional as disclosed in FIG. 2A.

The objective of the elevated clubface 4 with a reduced size of the flat surface (sweet spot 41) is for training a golfer to square more accurately the sweet spot 41 on the clubface 4 during the swing and impacting of the golf ball. The elevated surface of the clubface 4 would exaggerate the flight of a golf ball to the right, left, up or down directions if the golf ball does not impact right on the elevated sweet spot 41. The ball will fly straight only when hit right on the elevated sweet spot 41 which is located at the center of the clubface 4. The invention helps a golfer to practice precise contact, verify that the face 4 of the golf club has not been inadvertently rotated during the swing and become more conscious of the direction and angle of their swing. The radius of the elevated sweet spot 41 is about ⅔ the diameter of the golf ball or about 25-35 mm, preferably 28-30 mm. and is round or oval in shape.

The height 8 of the elevated clubface 4 with sweet spot 41 according to the present invention needs to be balanced with the weight of the club head 1. The principle of the invention is to help the golfer to aim better (that means perfect contact of the sweet spot 41) without compromising the motion of a swing and golfer's feeling when they swing the club. Thus, the weight of the club head 1 should not differ much from the users' regular driver club head 1. Since the elevated clubface 4 will be heavier than regular club's face 4, the training driver club head 1 will also have some weight in the back 7 of the head 1. However, the total weight of the club head 1 should not be too heavy or noticeably heavier than user's own driver club. Thus, the range of the elevation (or height) 8 is about 6 mm-10 mm. The preferred elevation 8 of the sweet spot 41 is about 8 mm.

The embodiments of the training driver club head 1 according to the present invention may be in regular conventional shape; they may be in other shapes. The training driver club head 1 has a volume ranging from 300 cubic centimeters to 500 cubic centimeters and a hollow interior, preferably 460 cubic centimeters. The training driver club head 1 has a mass ranging from 100 grams to 200 grams, preferably 200 grams.

The golf training driver club head 1 may be made of metal including but not limited to titanium, titanium alloy, steel, steel alloys, magnesium, magnesium alloys, aluminum and aluminum alloys and/or wood. The elevated club face 4 may be made of materials different from the rest of the club head 1.

While there have been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention and not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Obvious modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The embodiments discussed were chosen and described to provide the best illustration of the principles of the invention and its practical application to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the invention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are entitled.

Claims

1. A golf training driver club head comprising an elevated clubface with an elevated sweet spot.

2. The golf training driver club head of claim 1, wherein the radius of elevated sweet spot is about 25-35 mm.

3. The golf training driver club head of claim 1, wherein the radius of elevated sweet spot is preferably about 28-30 mm.

4. The golf training driver club head of claim 1, wherein the elevation of the sweet spot is about 6-10 mm.

5. The golf training driver club head of claim 1, wherein the elevation of the sweet spot is preferably about 8 mm.

6. The golf training driver club head of claim 1, wherein the elevation of the elevated clubface is smooth and proportional.

7. The golf training driver club head of claim 1, wherein the training driver club head has a volume ranging from about 300 cubic centimeters to 500 cubic centimeters and a hollow interior.

8. The golf training driver club head of claim 1, wherein the training driver club head has a preferred volume of about 460 cubic centimeters.

9. The golf training driver club head of claim 1, wherein the training driver club head has a mass ranging from about 100 grams to 200 gram.

10. The golf training driver club head of claim 1, wherein the training driver club head has a preferred mass about 200 gram.

11. The golf training driver club head of claim 1, wherein the driver club head is composed of a metal selected from the group consisting of titanium, titanium alloy, steel, steel alloys, magnesium, magnesium alloys, aluminum and aluminum alloys.

12. A golf training wood-type club head comprising an elevated clubface with an elevated sweet spot.

13. A golf training iron-type club head comprising an elevated clubface with an elevated sweet spot.