HK1105379B - Putter type golf club and a method of using it - Google Patents

Description

Putter-type golf club and method of using same

The present invention relates to a golf club of the so-called putter type, comprising a cylindrical head with a vertical hole in the middle, into which the shaft is inserted, said shaft being adjustable in length, suitably shaped and ending with a grip formed by two balls of different diameter; the invention also relates to a method for performing a decisive stroke on a green, in which the player strikes the ball in a position in front of the target (hole), moves the club towards himself during the loading phase, and subsequently hits the ball with a cylindrical head in a pendulum-like movement, wherein the head swings between the player's own legs.

The importance of grip in completing a stroke is well known, particularly in the case of putters when the ball must be inserted into a hole. For example, us patent 5,616,089 describes and claims a method of achieving a decisive stroke, a so-called putter, by which it is possible to control the speed of the stroke and the direction of the stroke: the method is generally envisaged to use the dominant hand to hold the club and the other hand to be placed at the wrist of the dominant hand in order to obtain a certain stability of the dominant hand without any noticeable effect on the stroke. The shot is completed in a conventional address position in which the golfer's body is parallel to the swing of the club: however, the address position can even determine some problems in the stability of the hitting hand and the trajectory of the ball when the player remembers that the ball must be hit at a well-defined position on the golf club head.

Us patent 5,090,698 describes therein a cylindrical head in which the impact zone with the ball extends almost the entire length of the cylinder; however, the shaft connects the heads at the ends of the cylinder, thus making it certain that it is used with conventional address balls, and under the influence of some hesitations in controlling the execution of the shot, which is very disadvantageous in the completion of a decisive shot.

The applicant has now found that the object of the present invention is how to make putters that allow to actively control the stroke according to the speed and direction of the ball on the grass, a novel method of using said putters to accomplish a decisive stroke being a second object of the present invention, which method does not have any hesitations and problems that could not be avoided in all the methods known so far. A first object of the invention is thus a golf club of the so-called putter type, comprising a cylindrical head with a vertical half-through hole in the middle of the cylindrical surface and a second threaded hole for the insertion of a screw perpendicular to the first hole, the length of the shaft being adjustable, the shaft being inserted in the first hole while the first part is inserted in said hole perpendicularly and orthogonally with respect to said head, the shaft comprising portions folded at an angle with respect to the first vertical part, one opposite the other, the upper inclined part ending in an end parallel to the ground when the club is in the position of use, said end in turn supporting a grip formed by two balls of different diameter, which grip realizes an ergonomic grip, the inner ball being able to slide along the shaft so as to allow self-adjustment of the grip; moreover, the balancing masses are suitably added to the head, since said head is made with internal symmetrical grooves suitable for inserting filling elements of different weight values.

Fig. 1 shows a complete view of a golf club according to the invention, this view clearly showing a cylindrical head 10, a shaft with a vertical inclined portion 11 and grip portions 12 and 12' formed by two balls of different diameters, inserted in a portion designed to remain horizontal when the head is placed on grass: in the figures, the head is shown as solid, but is suitably made with a dedicated groove 13 for placing a symmetrical counterweight 14, in order to allow the counterweight to be adjusted. Furthermore, the second threaded hole 15 for inserting the screw is also placed at any other position on the cylindrical head.

Figures 4, 5 and 6 show details of the grip portion and details of the sliding of the inner ball 12' along the shaft.

Fig. 7 gives an example of implementing a header, in which it is clearly shown: the end of the shaft is inserted into the vertical half-through hole 20 in such a way that the horizontal threaded hole 15 for inserting the screw 16 is placed in the middle, the screw 16 locking system, while also serving as a reference when colliding with a ball. When the holes are located at different positions, the reference at the time of impact with the ball is directly specified by the insertion point of the shaft.

Furthermore, loosening the screw allows the head of the putter to slide along the shaft until it reaches the desired length: adjusting the shaft length thus allows easy adjustment of the club when used by players of different heights, which represents undoubtedly an advantage, the addition of the shaft to a cylindrical head allows to hit the ball at any point on said head, even at any point different from the so-called reference point, without any loss of speed and direction of the ball hit by the golfer. FIG. 8 is a schematic view of a collision between a putter and a ball: the first hit on the upper part of the second causes the ball-up effect, reducing the rolling of the ball. The golfer completes the shot according to the following method, which is itself an object of the present invention, the method comprising the following actions performed by the golfer himself:

-positioning the body in front of the hole;

-holding the putter grip portion with both hands;

the feet are separated from each other, the knees are slightly bent;

-positioning the arm with both hands on the grip portion so that the club head is close to the ball;

-the player's head is positioned vertically above the ball;

using the shoulder as a pivot and the push rod head as a mass, the push rod is loaded under pendulum-like motion;

the putter swings between the legs and hits the ball using the long part of the putter's cylindrical head.

FIG. 9 shows the putter being held in both hands; fig. 10 and 10 'show the positioning of the golfer's body from the side and front. The sequence of fig. 11/11 ' -12/12 ' -13/13 ' exemplarily shows the action before and while hitting a ball, while fig. 14 and 15 show the difference in the positions of the (a) and the conventional address (B) according to the present invention.

Claims (4)

1. A putter-type golf club comprising: a cylindrical head (10) having a vertical through hole (20) in the middle of the cylindrical head, and a second horizontal threaded hole (15) perpendicular to said vertical through hole for the insertion of a screw (16), the length of the shaft being adjustable, the shaft being inserted in said vertical through hole with a first vertical portion inserted in said vertical through hole (20) perpendicularly and orthogonally with respect to said head (10), the shaft comprising inclined portions bent at an angle with respect to each other with respect to the first vertical portion,

the upper of the inclined portions ends at the end of the shaft which is parallel to the ground when the club is in the striking position, said end then supporting a grip formed by first and second balls of different diameters for which the second ball, the inner ball, can slide along the shaft.

2. The golf club of claim 1 wherein the head includes a symmetrical interior groove adapted for insertion of a filler element.

3. The golf club of claim 1, wherein the second horizontal threaded hole is disposed in the center of the cylindrical head.

4. The golf club of claim 1, wherein the second ball that slides along the shaft is a larger diameter ball.