Games using tangible projectile – Golf – Practice swingable implement or indicator associated with...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-05
2001-11-06
Graham, Mark S. (Department: 3711)
Games using tangible projectile
Golf
Practice swingable implement or indicator associated with...
Reexamination Certificate
active
06312344
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a golf training aid for providing a golfer with multi-sensory experience while hitting a golf ball with a golf club and specifically, to an improved golf training aid that can provide to the golfer audio sensory and olfactory responses at impact between a golf club head and the ball and provide an indication whereabouts across the golf head face the ball actually struck the club face for training purposes.
2. Description of Related Art
Numerous devices have been tried over the years in the endless pursuit of hitting a golf ball with the perfect swing. While many variables are present in obtaining the perfect golf swing and golf club head velocity for improved distance, in the final analysis, the moment of truth is the moment that the club head face actually impacts the ball. This moment is typically at the dynamic maximum position of the swing.
Because of the relative quickness of the many different variables going on during the swing, it is hard to really appreciate the actual dynamics and variables from the back swing down to club impact.
The purpose of the present invention is to allow a golfer to utilize the golfer's own sensory perception, such as sight, hearing and olfactory combined together at the moment of impact for sensory feedback at the moment of impact. This will allow the golfer's mental perceptions to be alerted at the moment of impact through the use of the present invention.
Another training objective would be to find out where the ball actually engaged the club face during the golf swing at the moment of impact. The present invention also provides for a visually inspectable, graphic pattern that shows the location of the ball impact on the club face. This information can be very helpful to the golfer in adjusting the golfer's stance, swing, or grip.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A golfer's training aid to provide audio, visual and olfactory sensory stimulation at club impact in a visual record of ball impact on the face of the club comprising a paper sheet sized to fit approximately on the club face of a golf club, such as a driver, or slightly smaller, the outside periphery being shaped to cover the golf face, said thin sheet body including one or more impact explosive charges arranged in a predetermined matrix or array across the sheet body and across the club face, said explosive charges being encapsulated in another thin sheet and separated by predetermined amounts to form the array, such that individual explosive charges are provided that will not interfere or cause an adjacent charge to explode without impact.
The sheet body holding the array of explosive charges will include a suitable adhesive on one side of the sheet so that it can be firmly affixed to the face of a golf club, but at the same time, not be impossible to remove once the charges have been dissipated through impact. Each of the charges may have their own individual shape in the array, such as circular, and may be approximately ¼ of an inch in diameter and spaced a ¼ of an inch apart. The array could be in a matrix, such as rectangular rows, the circular charges disposed across the entire face of the sheet and thereby covering the entire face of the golf club.
Suitable explosive charges could be employed that were conventionally known as “caps” and were used several years ago in toy guns called cap guns in which a row of paper-mounted, small explosive charges covered by paper, could be inserted in the cap gun and individually fired by the impact of the toy gun hammer against the cap or explosive charge as it came up through a fake hammer and gun.
To operate the invention, a golf club, such as an iron or driver, is selected. A thin body sheet containing the array of charges may have a protective cover to protect the adhesive until time of use. The cover sheet can than be peeled away and the charge array sheet body affixed to the club face with the adhesive. The body sheet will be of predetermined shapes for different clubs, such as drivers, and different shapes across the face of the club for irons. Once the sheet is attached to the club face, then the golfer would address the ball in a normal way and proceed to drive the golf ball.
At impact, when the ball engages the face of the club during the drive, it can be appreciated that the velocity of the club face and momentum, as it strikes the ball, will cause the ball to severely impact the club face. The explosive charges on the matrix array of charges on the club face will then be exploded if they directly impact the ball and contact the ball during impact. At the moment of impact, the explosive charges that do contact the ball will explode if they contact it directly enough causing a loud bang or bangs from each of the explosive charges, while at the same time, the driver's looking downward and hears the charge and will also get an olfactory or smell of the charge being exploded. Thus, at the impact, while we are looking directly at the ball, there will be a definite banging noise and olfactory response.
Once the drive is completed, the golfer than can also visually inspect and remove the thin sheet with the array of charges and note the charges that have exploded which will indicate what part of the club face the ball actually was positioned at the moment of impact. Several important lessons or training aids can be gleaned from such a visual inspection, especially whether the golfer was hitting the ball at the proper area on the club face, the club face angle too far inside or too far outside to determine a certain specific flaw in the golfer's impact swing. The golfer can also write on the back of the sheet the date, what type of hit, and accumulate a plurality of the explosive matrix arrays to show the changes or improvements in the golf swing during drives. Also, the same procedure can be used for different iron shots, so that the golfer could accumulate the matrix sheets for different clubs and write that on the sheets. Often time, a golfer may master one club, such as a driver, while at the same time, have problems with different irons.
The sheet material itself will be preferably made of paper with the explosive charges being mounted thereon, much like caps discussed above, and themselves, which are coated by a thin paper sheet. Although the matrix array of explosive charges can vary in size, shape and geometric pattern, it is desired to have several small charges closely spaced together to give the greatest visual information of high accuracy of specific location on the club face that the ball impacted the club face. Thus, there could be a higher resolution caused by smaller, closer space dots of explosives depending on the resolution and accuracy desired.
It is believed that the impact could also include a louder noise if it is done correctly, because more explosive charges would be fired giving more audio feedback to the golfer when the swing is just right. This allows for reinforcement in the training process.
The invention could be constructed in large sheets of paper or plastic or precut kits of proper size, or suitable for providing for the explosive charge in the matrix array that could be cut with a scissors to fit perfectly on different club faces or as precut kits specifically for drivers and specifically for irons. Thus, the sheet form could be delineated or cut to adjust to the correct area size. Some golfers may prefer to place a small explosive charge area in the center of the “sweet spot” of the club to listen for the impact, if the shot is correct.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved golf training aid that during a golf swing, at the moment of club face impact with the ball, multiple sensory perceptions will be available to the golfer.
And yet another object of this invention is to provide an improved golf training aid that includes audio, visual and olfactory sensory perceptions at the moment of ball impact with a golf club.
And yet still another object of th
Graham Mark S.
Malin Haley & DiMaggio, P.A.
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