Golf aiming and alignment training mat

Details Golf aiming and alignment training mat Golf aiming and alignment training mat

2003-03-20

2004-11-23

Vidovich, Gregory (Department: 3711)

Games using tangible projectile

Golf

Foot positioning aid and indicator associated with swingable...

C473S278000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06821210

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a golf training aid. More particularly, the present invention relates to a novel and improved golf training mat for use in teaching golfers of all abilities the views and angles of proper golf club aiming and alignment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Fundamental to a consistent ability to score well in the game of golf is the ability to properly strike a golf ball. By properly striking a golf ball with a given golf club, the golfer may drive the golf ball a given distance along an intended trajectory. In other words, the golfer may thus direct the ball at the intended target with a desired flight path, which flight path may comprise a high path, a low path, a straight path, a fade path or a draw path, as desired. In this regard, the golfer must develop the fundamental ability to visualize the trajectory path or ball-to-target line, square the golf club head perpendicular to the ball-to-target line, appropriately align the golfer's shoulders and feet with respect to the ball-to-target line, and initiate the golf club swing along a line parallel to the plane of the golfer's shoulders.
As many avid golf enthusiasts will attest, the ability to purposefully strike a golf ball in the described proper manner is not a simple undertaking. The golfer must properly aim and align the golf club with the golf ball using proper viewing practices and angles of alignment in order to achieve a proper golf ball strike. Through repetition and/or practice, a skilled golfer typically commits the necessary visualizations and angles of alignment to bodily memory, such that the ability to properly strike a golf ball in a given striking scenario results less from conscious efforts and more from an ingrained golf sense.
The ball-to-target line the golfer visualizes may most conveniently be envisioned by envisioning the plane or line passing through the golfer's shoulders (shoulder line) or the line connecting the tips of the golfer's feet (foot line) as being parallel to the ball-to-target line. The true ball-to-target line is the line whose tail end may be envisioned as emanating approximately three feet away from and roughly parallel to the golfers foot line or shoulder line. Frequently, a golfer will improperly align his or her foot line or shoulder line directly on the target. This improper alignment typically results in a trajectory path or ball-to-target line misaligned or misaimed to the right of the target for right-handed golfers or to the left of the target for left-handed golfers. In order to cure the often-encountered misalignment, the golfer will improperly adjust the golfer's arms or hands during the downswing of a golf club, which typically results in an out-of-control ball flight trajectory. If no arm or hand adjustment is attempted during the downswing, the propelled golf ball will usually fly well right of the intended target for right-handed golfers or well left of the target for left-handed golfers. The described tendency to misalign or misaim is natural and affects golfers of all abilities.
An additional and related golfing flaw is the golfer's inability to square his or her golf club head to the ball-to-target line. In other words, the golfer often fails to strike a golf ball such that the plane of the golf club face is substantially orthogonal to the tail end of the ball-to-tail line. It is often the case that if the ball-to-target line is not well envisioned, it becomes difficult to square the club head. In this regard, when the golf club is drawn back during the backswing, the golfer misaligns the golf club face. In this regard, the golf club face is typically pivoted about its vertical center line in slight degrees. The pivot or rotation about the vertical center line of the golf club face may either be counterclockwise (“toed in” for a right-handed golfer) or clockwise (“toed out” for a left-handed golfer), which slight rotation from the preferred orthogonal positioning, if not corrected during the downswing, results in a trajectory path that is often far left or far right of the intended ball-to-target line, and the head or termination of which is often in a less than ideal location.
While related, the ability to properly align the foot line and/or the shoulder line with the ball-to-target line and the ability to properly square the golf club head require different golfing skills. More particularly, the two noted abilities require different visualization skills and concomitant bodily events. A myriad of golf training aids have been developed in an attempt to aid golfers in their pursuit of perfecting their golfing skills and abilities. It is noted that the prior art teaches a great variety of golf training aids in general and golf training mat-type systems or apparatuses in particular. Some of the more pertinent prior art relating to golf training aids and the like is described hereinafter.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,637,339 ('339 Patent), which issued to Glennon et al. for example, discloses a Means for Instructing Golf Strokes. The '339 Patent teaches a device for the instruction of golf strokes, which comprises a base member, and a pair of laterally spaced longitudinally extending upstanding guide shoulders on said base member. The paired guide members are adapted to define a guide way for the free passage of the head of a properly swung golf-club. A golf ball may be placed intermediate the paired guide members atop the base member and thus may be addressed by a properly swung golf club.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,350,101 ('101 Patent), which issued to Bishop et al., discloses a Golf Swing Aid. The '101 Patent teaches a golf swing practice device comprising a pad having a tee area and a simulated captive ball member therein. Also disclosed is a curved line representing the ground trace of the swing of the club extending to the tee area and a resilient upright member wound on a reel for vertical adjustment located along said line and representing a vertical point on the swing path of said club.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,510,135 ('135 Patent), which issued to Gentile, discloses a Training Device for Golfers. The '135 Patent teaches the combination of a vertically adjustable guide stand that consists of a base to which is secured a vertically adjustable tubular member, called a swing arm holder, to the upper end of which is adjustably secured a horizontally disposed padded swing arm having an outer end against which the golfer places the back of his head; a mat on which the golfer stands and which indicates the position the golfer places his feet when swinging his club to hit the golf ball; and a hitting mat, a rectangular mat having a plurality of equally spaced and parallel guide lines thereon in both the longitudinal and lateral direction. The guide lines are intended to provide means for enabling the golfer to more properly guide the golf club head during the downswing of the golf club.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,542,369 ('369 Patent), which issued to Anderson, discloses a Golf Practice Mat. The '369 Patent teaches a portable practice mat made of felted fibers laterally bordered by plastic material. A tee with a wide base extends upward through a centrally located hole in the mat. Indicia on the plastic material show the direction of the target and the path that the head of the club should follow to drive a ball from the tee to said target. Additional indicia show the proper position of the golfer's feet.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,868,109 ('109 Patent), which issued to Fowler, discloses a Golfer's Practice Mat. The '109 Patent teaches a practice mat for golfers upon which either a left handed or right handed golfer may stand while practice-swinging a golf club and which provides for each a longitudinally extending stance guide slot correlated to a transverse guide slot which cooperate to properly position the feet of the golfer in relation to the ball. An additional transverse guide slot represents the flight line of a ball when the club

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