Golf Club Grip with Angled Channel
A golf club grip with an exterior surface has sides along a length of the grip that are gripped by a golfer's hands during use. The grip length has a cross section defined by a first dimension that is non-parallel to a second dimension. An interior portion of the golf club grip is configured with a hollow channel to receive a top portion of a golf club shaft. The hollow channel has a center axis that is: (a) non-parallel to the center axis of the grip in the first dimension; and (b) parallel to the center axis of the grip in the second dimension.
This application is a continuation-in-part of, and claims the benefit of and priority to, U.S. Provisional patent application Ser. No. 13/865,708 filed on Apr. 18, 2013, and U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No. 14/219,929 filed on Mar. 19, 2014, both of which applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONWhen a golf club is not self-balancing, the golfer must balance the club in his/her stroke. That is, the golfer must put torque on the shaft in order to keep the face of the golf club square to the arc. This puts strain on the hands and arms of the golfer and makes it more difficult for the golfer to hit or putt successfully. Further, it means that the golfer must adjust to each golf club independently, because the amount and direction of torque required to square the golf club will vary depending on the golf club.
In order to be self-balancing a golf club must satisfy two conditions. It must “seek” square to the arc during a normal swing and it must do so when the shaft includes a forward lean. Many golf clubs claim to be self-balancing, however, they do so only when the shaft does not include forward lean. Since most golfers have forward lean in the shaft of their golf clubs, whether the golf club self-balances is irrelevant because it does not do so when in actual use.
In addition, golf club grips do not conform well to the hands of the user. In particular, most club grips are round in shape. However, the hands of the user do not form a round shape. Therefore, the hands of the user must conform to the grip and there are areas of the grip with little or no pressure and areas of the grip with high pressure. Moreover, a round grip does not provide any type of tactile feedback to indicate to the user whether the club is properly aligned.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a golf club that will seek square even with forward lean. Further, there is a need for the golf club to avoid putting torque or strain on the user. In addition, there is a need for the club to have a grip that conforms to the hands of the user and provides tactile feedback as to the correct alignment of the golf club. And, there is a need for the club grip to compensate for the lean angle of the club shaft to the club face irrespective of the location of placement of the hands along the grip.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF SOME EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTSThis Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential characteristics of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
One example embodiment includes a golf club. The golf club includes a club head. The club head includes a clubface configured to make contact with a golf ball. The golf club also includes a shaft attached to the club head. The shaft includes a center axis. The golf club further includes a grip which has a shape that can accommodate an angled channel, and may for example be elongated in an elliptical in shape, wherein the elongated grip includes a center axis. A hollow channel in the grip within which the shaft fits has a center axis that is: (a) non-parallel to the center axis of the grip when viewed from a point on the y-axis, (b) parallel to the center axis of the grip when viewed from a point on the x-axis; and (c) parallel to a major axis through the focal points of the elongated shaped grip.
Another example embodiment includes a golf club. The golf club includes a club head. The club head includes a clubface configured to make contact with a golf ball. The golf club also includes a shaft attached to the club head. The shaft includes a center axis, wherein the center axis converges with a balance point at an intersection of a lie angle radian and a lie angle axis. The golf club further includes a grip which has an angled channel, and may for example be elongated and elliptical in shape, wherein the grip includes a center axis through the length of the grip. A hollow channel in an elliptically shaped grip within which the shaft fits has a center axis that is: (a) non-parallel to the center axis of the grip when viewed from a point on the y-axis, (b) parallel to the center axis of the grip when viewed from a point on the x-axis; and (c) parallel to a major axis through the focal points of the elongated shaped grip.
Another example embodiment includes a golf club. The golf club includes a club head. The club head includes a clubface configured to make contact with a golf ball. The golf club also includes a shaft attached to the club head. The shaft includes a center axis, wherein the center axis converges with a balance point at an intersection of a lie angle radian and a lie angle axis. The balance point is at a position (x=x1, y=±y1, z=z1) in an imaginary Cartesian coordinate system defined around the club head. The imaginary Cartesian coordinate system includes an origin at the center of gravity of the club head and an x-axis defined as a horizontal line through the origin between the toe of the club head and the heel of the club head, where the clubface has a negative x location; The imaginary Cartesian coordinate system also includes a y-axis defined as a horizontal line through the origin parallel to the clubface, where the heel of the club head has a negative y location for a right-handed player. The imaginary Cartesian coordinate system further includes a z-axis defined as a vertical line through the origin, where the top of the shaft has a positive z location. The position z1 is the vertical distance between the origin and the attachment surface of the club head. The imaginary Cartesian coordinate system additionally includes a lie angle plane defined by the center axis of the shaft and a line parallel to the x-axis, wherein the line parallel to the x-axis is offset from the x-axis a distance z2 along the z-axis. The imaginary Cartesian coordinate system further includes a radian plane parallel to the x-y plane offset a distance z1 from the x-y plane, where the lie angle axis includes the intersection of the lie angle plane and the radian plane. The value of y1 is calculated using the equation
Where α is the lie angle of the center axis. The value of x1 is calculated using the equation
The golf club further includes a grip with dimensions such that the grip accommodates an angled channel within which the club shaft fits. The grip may, for example, be circular, square, elliptical, rectangular, triangular or any number of other shapes. The shape may have one or more flat sides, or be a shape that is generally stretched. An elongated shape provides a cross section of the grip with a first dimension along a first axis being relatively longer than a second dimension along a second axis that is generally perpendicular to the first axis. In an embodiment of the invention with an elongated grip, a center axis is positioned through the length. In an elongated embodiment, a hollow channel in the grip within which the shaft fits has a center axis that is: (a) non-parallel to the center axis of the grip when viewed from a point on the y-axis, (b) parallel to the center axis of the grip when viewed from a point on the x-axis; and (c) parallel to a major axis through the focal points of the elongated shaped grip.
Another example embodiment includes a golf club. The golf club includes a club head. The club head includes a clubface configured to make contact with a golf ball. The golf club also includes a shaft attached to the club head. The shaft includes a center axis, wherein the center axis converges with a balance point at an intersection of a lie angle radian and a lie angle axis. The golf club further includes a grip which may for example be elongated in shape, wherein the elongated grip includes a center axis. A hollow channel in the grip within which the shaft fits has a center axis that is: (a) non-parallel to the center axis of the grip when viewed from a point on the y-axis, (b) parallel to the center axis of the grip when viewed from a point on the x-axis; and (c) parallel to a major axis through the focal points of the elongated shaped grip.
These and other objects and features of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention as set forth hereinafter.
To further clarify various aspects of some example embodiments of the present invention, a more particular description of the invention will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is appreciated that these drawings depict only illustrated embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope. The invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings in which:
Reference will now be made to the figures wherein like structures will be provided with like reference designations. It is understood that the figures are diagrammatic and schematic representations of some embodiments of the invention, and are not limiting of the present invention, nor are they necessarily drawn to scale.
A radian plane 304 is also defined in
ztotal=z1−z2 Equation 1
Substituting Equation 2 into Equation 3 yields:
The shaft center line always originates at a balance point 404 defined as the intersection of the lie angle radian 402 and the lie angle axis 306 (i.e., position x=x1, y=±y1, z=z2). That is, the axis of the shaft through the center of the shaft (the same axis used to measure the lie angle), the lie angle axis 306 and the lie angle radian 402 all converge at a single point. One of skill in the art will appreciate that the shaft can be rotated about this point. I.e., the axis of the shaft can be moved within the lie angle plane 302 (otherwise, the lie angle would be changed) as long as the balance point 404 remains the same. This can allow the self-balancing putter 100 to be customized to the user based on the lie angle preferred by the user. The balance point is configured to make the club face seek square when making contact with the golf ball. As used in the specification and the claims, the phrase “configured to” denotes an actual state of configuration that fundamentally ties recited elements to the physical characteristics of the recited structure. As a result, the phrase “configured to” reaches well beyond merely describing functional language or intended use since the phrase actively recites an actual state of configuration.
One of skill in the art will appreciate that the shaft may, but is not required to, attach to the balance point 404 (even though the center line of the shaft will still intersect with the balance point 404). In particular, the shaft may have a bend or curve near the balance point 404. Thus the lie angle axis 306 of
Because the balance point 404 is the intersection of the lie angle axis 306 and the lie angle radian 402, the putter head will be balanced to match the lie angle of the shaft relative to the ground line. This is critical to keep the face square to the arc of the stroke without any outside influences or any torsion forces from the golfer's hands.
The balance point 404 at the intersection of the lie angle axis 306 and the lie angle radian 402, with or without forward shaft lean, will keep the putter face perpendicular to the arc that the lie angle and length creates throughout the back swing, transition and forward stroke and impact. If the shaft attaches at a different point, the self-balancing putter 100 is not swung on the lie angle that the shaft creates (which is limited to 80° upright, as described above). This eliminates the possibility of a toe down or variations thereof, toe up or variations thereof, face balanced or variations thereof or face straight down self-balancing putter 100 ever being able to remain naturally balanced face on and perpendicular to the arc the self-balancing putter 100 swings on without outside influence from the hands.
The benefit of this balancing is to keep the face square to the arc without tension or manipulation of the large and small muscles in the arms and hands. Being able to reduce tension in your hands and arms allows a golfer to focus on acceleration for proper distance control without also thinking about face angle (direction and path) at impact, i.e., by inserting or aligning the shaft not directly above the center of mass it creates an extra lever that resists twisting on any strike and in fact self corrects without any outside influence from your hands. In other words, the balance point 404 ensures that the self-balancing putter 100 seeks ‘square’ with a forward shaft lean at address and continues to seek square at any point in the back swing, down swing and impact.
In mathematics, an ellipse is a curve on a plane surrounding two focal points such that a straight line drawn from one of the focal points to any point on the curve and then back to the other focal point has the same length for every point on the curve. The shape of an ellipse (how “elongated” it is) is represented by its eccentricity which for an ellipse can be any number from 0 (the limiting case of a circle) to arbitrarily close to but less than 1. Ellipses are the closed type of conic section: a plane curve that results from the intersection of a cone by a plane. Other elongated shapes (e.g. triangular, rectangular, other non-conforming shapes such as generally elliptical with one or more flat sides), may be substituted for an elliptical shape. For purposes of this application, an elliptical grip will be described and shown. However, it should be understood that other elongated shapes as specified herein may be substituted for the elliptical grip.
The major axis 602a can be perpendicular to the club face (i.e., parallel to the x-z plane defined by the x-axis 104a and the z-axis 104c of
The minor axis 602b can be parallel to the club face (i.e., parallel to the y-z plane defined by the y-axis 104b and the z-axis 104c of
Golf is a game of “feel” in terms of the manner that a player holds and swings the club, and the force imparted by the player with which the clubface impacts the ball. This is true for any club, but particularly for a putter. Putting requires exacting precision. The lie angle of the putter clubface and the position of the hands on the grip vary each time a player sets up to take a putt. This is further complicated by the fact that players typically hold the putter at different positions along the grip depending on the length of the putt—lower down for a short putt and higher up for a long putt. In practice, a shorter, softer stroke is typically applied to a short putt while a longer, harder stroke is typically applied to a long putt. Each time a player holds the club, there is some degree of variation in the placement of the hands along the length of the grip. That being the case, it is desirable to provide a club that exactly replicates the angle of the club face to the ball irrespective of the position along the length of the grip at which the player holds the club. Grip 600 achieves this result.
The three views of elliptical grip 600 on shaft 106 as shown in
The particular angle between center axis 604 of grip 600 and center axis 204 of shaft 106 depends on the lean of shaft 204. The lean may be forward towards the face of the club or rearward away from the face of the club. As an example, the club shown in
The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.
Claims
1. A golf club grip comprising:
- an exterior surface having: sides along a length of the grip and on which a golfer's hands are placed during use; an elongated cross section of the length of the exterior surface defined by a first axis of a first dimension and a second axis of a second dimension, wherein the second axis is non-parallel to the first axis and the second dimension is smaller than the first dimension; and a grip center axis that is parallel to the sides;
- an interior portion of the golf club grip configured with a hollow channel to receive a top portion of a golf club shaft, the hollow channel having a channel center axis; and
- wherein, the channel center axis is: (a) non-parallel to the grip center axis in a plane coincident with the first axis; and (b) parallel to the grip center axis in a plane coincident with the second axis.
2. The golf club grip of claim 1, wherein the channel center axis intersects the grip center axis in the plane coincident with the first axis.
3. The golf club grip of claim 2, wherein the intersection of the channel center axis and the grip center axis is approximately halfway between the top and the bottom of the length of the grip.
4. The golf club grip of claim 1, wherein the elongated cross section is shaped in one of a type comprising: (a) an ellipse; (b) a triangle; (c) a rectangle (d) an ellipse with at least one flat side; or (e) a hexagon.
5. The golf club grip of claim 1, wherein the channel center axis is angled to provide a lean of a golf club shaft in one direction selected from types comprising: (a) forward;
- and (b) backward.
6. The golf club grip of claim 1, wherein the angle of the channel center axis is such that the lie angle is the same regardless of the position of the golfer's hands along the length of the exterior surface.
7. A method of forming a golf club grip, comprising:
- providing an exterior surface having: sides along a length of the grip and on which a golfer's hands are placed during use; an elongated cross section of the length of the exterior surface defined by a first axis of a first dimension, and a second axis of a second dimension,
- wherein the second axis is non-parallel to the first axis and the second dimension is smaller than the first dimension; and a grip center axis that is parallel to the sides;
- forming an interior portion of the golf club grip inside the exterior portion that is configured with a hollow channel to receive a top portion of a golf club shaft, the hollow channel having a channel center axis; and
- wherein, the channel center axis is: (a) non-parallel to the grip center axis in a plane coincident with the first axis; and (b) parallel to the grip center axis in a plane coincident with the second axis.
8. The method of forming a golf club grip of claim 7, wherein the channel center axis intersects the grip center axis in the plane coincident with the first axis.
9. The method of forming a golf club grip of claim 7, wherein the intersection of the channel center axis and the grip center axis is approximately halfway between the top and the bottom of the length of the grip.
10. The method of forming a golf club grip of claim 7, wherein the elongated cross section is shaped in one of a type comprising: (a) an ellipse; (b) a triangle; (c) a rectangle (d) an ellipse with at least one flat side; or (e) a hexagon.
11. The method of forming a golf club grip of claim 7, wherein the channel center axis is angled to provide a lean of a golf club shaft in one direction selected from types comprising: (a) forward; and (b) backward.
12. The method of forming a golf club grip of claim 7, wherein the angle of the channel center axis is such that the lie angle is the same regardless of the position of the golfer's hands along the length of the exterior surface.
13. A golf club grip comprising:
- an exterior surface having: sides along a length of the grip and on which a golfer's hands are placed during use; a cross section of the length of the exterior surface defined by a first axis of a first dimension and a second axis of a second dimension, wherein the second axis is non-parallel to the first axis; and a grip center axis that is parallel to the sides;
- an interior portion of the golf club grip configured with a hollow channel to receive a top portion of a golf club shaft, the hollow channel having a channel center axis; and
- wherein, the channel center axis is: (a) non-parallel to the grip center axis in a plane coincident with the first axis; and (b) parallel to the grip center axis in a plane coincident with the second axis.
14. The golf club grip of claim 13, wherein the channel center axis intersects the grip center axis in the plane coincident with the first axis.
15. The golf club grip of claim 14, wherein the intersection of the channel center axis and the grip center axis is approximately halfway between the top and the bottom of the length of the grip.
16. The golf club grip of claim 13, wherein the cross section is shaped in one of a type comprising: (a) an ellipse; (b) a triangle; (c) a rectangle (d) an ellipse with at least one flat side; (e) a hexagon (f) a circle; or (g) a square.
17. The golf club grip of claim 13, wherein the channel center axis is angled to provide a lean of a golf club shaft in one direction selected from types comprising: (a) forward; and (b) backward.
18. The golf club grip of claim 13, wherein the angle of the channel center axis is such that the lie angle is the same regardless of the position of the golfer's hands along the length of the exterior surface.
19. A method of forming a golf club grip, comprising: wherein, the channel center axis is:
- providing an exterior surface having:
- sides along a length of the grip and on which a golfer's hands are placed during use;
- a cross section of the length of the exterior surface defined by a first axis of a first dimension, and a second axis of a second dimension, wherein the second axis is non-parallel to the first axis; and
- a grip center axis that is parallel to the sides;
- forming an interior portion of the golf club grip inside the exterior portion that is configured with a hollow channel to receive a top portion of a golf club shaft, the hollow channel having a channel center axis; and
- (a) non-parallel to the grip center axis in a plane coincident with the first axis; and
- (b) parallel to the grip center axis in a plane coincident with the second axis.
20. The method of forming a golf club grip of claim 19, wherein the channel center axis intersects the grip center axis in the plane coincident with the first axis.
21. The method of forming a golf club grip of claim 19, wherein the intersection of the channel center axis and the grip center axis is approximately halfway between the top and the bottom of the length of the grip.
22. The method of forming a golf club grip of claim 19, wherein the cross section is shaped in one of a type comprising: (a) an ellipse; (b) a triangle; (c) a rectangle (d) an ellipse with at least one flat side; (e) a hexagon (f) a circle; or (g) a square.
23. The method of forming a golf club grip of claim 19, wherein the channel center axis is angled to provide a lean of a golf club shaft in one direction selected from types comprising: (a) forward; and (b) backward.
24. The method of forming a golf club grip of claim 19, wherein the angle of the channel center axis is such that the lie angle is the same regardless of the position of the golfer's hands along the length of the exterior surface.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 6, 2014
Publication Date: Sep 24, 2015
Inventors: Bill Presse, IV (Reno, NV), Scott Sulprizio (Carson City, NV)
Application Number: 14/534,308