Golf club and practice arrangement
A golf club including a shaft and a head attached to the shaft. A cavity is formed in the head and a removable light-producing insert is located within the cavity. A non-light producing insert is also provided so as to be selectively received within the cavity in place of the light producing insert.
The present application is related to and claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/283,488, filed Nov. 18, 2005 and U.S. application Ser. No. 10/659,648, filed Sep. 10, 2003, both entitled “Golf Club and Practice Arrangements” and to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/409,463, filed Sep. 10, 2002, entitled “Laser Putt II,” and to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/447,593, filed on Feb. 14, 2003, entitled “Laser Putt III,” and to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/457,804, filed on Mar. 26, 2003, entitled “Laser Putt IV,” and to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/471,953, filed on May 20, 2003, entitled “Laser Putt V.” The subject matter disclosed in those applications are hereby expressly incorporated into the present application.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention related generally to golf, and more particularly to a golf club and practice arrangement utilizing same. More specifically, the invention relates to a golf club, and practice arrangement utilizing same, that facilitates development of proper club head aiming technique. It will be apparent to those of skill in the relevant arts that variations in the specific designs disclosed may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONOne element of a proper golf shot is proper orientation or aim of the club head. It is important that the club head be properly oriented relative to the ball during set up. A proper golf swing or stroke will return the club head to the ball at substantially the same orientation adopted by the player during set up. Thus, it is important that the club head be properly oriented or aimed relative to a target along the desired line of ball flight or roll.
The most used club in golf is the putter. The most important and difficult task to accomplish with a putter is proper aim. In one embodiment, the present invention facilitates the development and practice of proper putter aim, one of the most important fundamentals in putting and one of the most difficult to master.
In certain embodiments, the present invention is intended primarily as a practice device which may be used both indoors and outdoors. However, the golf club of the present invention may be used in actual play on a course. This is desirable in that it eliminates the need to transfer learning from a practice device to an alternative club used in regulation play. In certain embodiments, the practice device/golf club of the present invention is well suited for both purposes, and may be used both to learn proper aim and alignment of the club, as well as in actual playing of the game of golf.
In one embodiment, the present invention includes a golf club comprising a shaft, a head attached to the shaft, a light-producing insert, and a non-light producing insert. The head has a ball-striking surface, an aperture formed in the ball-striking surface for allowing light to pass therethrough and a cavity formed in the head adjacent the aperture. The light-producing insert is configured so as to be operably and removably received within the cavity. The nonlight-producing insert is configured so as to be selectively received with the cavity in place of the light-producing insert. In one embodiment, the nonlight-producing insert is substantially equal in weight to the light producing insert and, in certain embodiments, may be substantially the same size and weight, and have substantially the same weight distribution, as the light-producing insert.
In certain embodiments, the ball striking face of the head comprises a translucent material disposed over the aperture. A prism, or lens, may be disposed in the aperture for transmitting light produced by the light-producing insert. The prism columnates a light beam produced by the light-producing insert such that the light beam forms a line on a surface, a portion of the light beam may be projected onto a surface of a target. In certain embodiments, the prism may be formed as part of the light-producing insert. In these or other embodiments, the aperture is located in an approximate midpoint of the ball-striking surface.
A switch may be provided to allow a use to selectively activate the light-producing insert.
The light-producing insert preferably includes a battery-powered laser device. The nonlight-producing insert may be formed of any material having an appropriate size, weight and weight distribution.
In a practice arrangement particularly well-suited for putting, the invention includes the combination of a golf club and a target. The subject golf club includes a shaft, a putter head attached to the shaft, a light-producing insert, and a nonlight-producing insert. The putter head includes a ball-striking surface, an aperture formed in the surface for allowing light to pass therethrough and a cavity formed in the putter head adjacent to the aperture. The light-producing insert is configured so as to be operably and removably received within the cavity in place of the light-producing insert.
The target includes a surface for reflecting at least a portion of a light beam produced by the light-producing insert to provide a visual indication of orientation of the putter head relative to the target. The target may include a surface which extends transversely to a target line defined by the light-producing insert. The surface may have a plurality of regularly-spaced marks thereon. A portion of the target may be configured so as to extend into a golf hole to secure the target in position relative to the hole. In one embodiment, a prism is provided to columnate a light beam produced by the light-producing insert such that the light beam forms a line on a putting surface between the putting head and the putting target. A portion of the light beam may also be projected directly to, and reflected by, a surface of the target.
The concepts disclosed are not limited to use with a golf club of the exact type illustrated in the drawings, but may be used with clubs of many shapes, sizes, or dimensions.
Additional embodiments, features and advantages will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following description of the illustrated embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A prism, or lens, 19 is disposed within aperture 18. Prism 19 columnates a light beam produced by the light-producing insert so as to cause a portion of the beam to define a line along a surface in front of head 14. A cavity (see, for example,
Target 22 is shown inserted into a hole 34 which may be a hole on a practice green or a regulation green, or another object in an indoor or outdoor setting. This invention allows the use to become accustomed to and practiced at aiming the ball striking surface 16 of the club 10 directly at target 22. The regularly-spaced marking on surface 24 of target 22, which in some embodiments may extend laterally from hole 34 to a greater extent than shown in
It should be noted that bright sunlight may cause the path of the light beam along line 30 to be obscured, or become very dim. In that even, the dot or short line 32 projected onto the surface 24 will still be visible to the user.
An access cover may be provided in the bottom, rear, or top of club head 14 to provide ready access to the internal cavity and to allow for easy interchange of inserts 36 and 50. The access cover may be secured by screws, or equivalent fasteners. In certain embodiments, either one or another of the access cover, the light-producing insert, and the nonlight-producing insert (or any combination thereof) may be provided with a “snap fit” to facilitate access to, removal of, and interchangeability of the inserts.
With further reference to
Although the above description refers to a particular means, materials and embodiments, one skilled in the art can easily ascertain the essential characteristics of the present invention. Various changes and modifications may be made to adapt to various uses and characteristics without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Claims
1. A golf club, comprising:
- a shaft;
- a head attached to the shaft, said head comprising a ball striking surface, an aperture formed in the surface for allowing light to pass therethrough, and a cavity formed in the head adjacent the aperture;
- a light-producing insert configured so as to be operably and removably received within the cavity; and
- a non-light-producing insert, configured so as to be selectively received within the cavity in place of the light-producing insert.
2. The golf club of claim 1, wherein the non-light-producing insert is substantially equal in weight to the light-producing insert.
3. The golf club of claim 1, wherein the non-light-producing inset has substantially the same size, weight and weight distribution as the light-producing insert.
4. The golf club of claim 1, wherein said ball striking surface comprises a translucent material disposed over said aperture.
5. The golf club of claim 1, further comprising a prism disposed in said aperture for transmitting light produced by said light-producing insert, wherein said prism columnates a light beam produced by said light-producing insert such that said light beam forms a line on a surface between the head and a putting target.
6. The golf club of claim 5, wherein a portion of said light beam produced by said light-producing insert is projected directly to, and is reflected by a surface of the target.
7. The golf club of claim 1, wherein said light-producing insert comprises a prism to columnate a light beam produced by said light-producing insert to form a line on a surface between the head and a target, wherein a portion of said light beam produced by said light-producing insert is projected directly to, and is reflected by a surface of the target.
8. The golf club of claim 1, further comprising a switch for allowing a user to selectively activate the light-producing insert.
9. The golf club of claim 1, wherein the aperture is located at an approximate midpoint of the ball-striking surface.
10. The golf club of claim 1, wherein said light-producing insert comprises a battery and a laser.
11. The golf club of claim 1, wherein at least one of the light-producing insert and the non-light-producing insert is secured within the cavity by a snap fit.
12. A practice arrangement for putting, comprising the combination of a golf club and a target, the golf club comprising:
- a shaft;
- a putter head attached to the shaft, said putter head comprising a ball striking surface, an aperture formed in the surface for allowing light to pass there through, and a cavity formed in the putter head adjacent the aperture;
- a light-producing insert configured so as to be operably and removably received within the cavity; and
- a non-light-producing insert, configured so as to be selectively received within the cavity in place of the light-producing insert; and
- the target comprising a surface for reflecting at least a portion of a light beam produced by the light-producing insert to provide a visual indication of orientation of the putter head relative to the target.
13. The practice arrangement of claim 12, wherein said target comprises a surface which extends transversely to a target line defined by the light-producing insert, said surface having a plurality of regularly-spaced marks thereon.
14. The practice arrangement of claim 12, wherein said target includes a portion configured to extend into a golf hole to secure the target in position relative to the hole.
15. The practice arrangement of claim 12, further comprising a prism disposed in said aperture for transmitting light produced by said light-producing insert, wherein said prism columnates a light beam produced by said light-producing insert such that said light beam forms a line on a surface between the putter head and the target.
16. The practice arrangement of claim 12, wherein said light-producing insert comprises a prism to columnate a light beam produced by said light-producing insert to form a line on a putting surface between the putter head and the target.
17. The practice arrangement of claim 12, wherein at least one of the light-producing insert and the non-light producing insert is secured within the cavity by a snap fit.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 10, 2006
Publication Date: Jun 22, 2006
Inventor: Bendict Marnocha (Granger, IN)
Application Number: 11/351,606
International Classification: A63B 69/36 (20060101);