DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

[0012] The invention described here mainly provides a new golf club grip, and a method of gripping a golf club that not only increase the carry of the ball but also more accurately control of the direction and distance that the ball will carry.

[0013] FIGS. 1 and 2 show the preferred embodiment of the invention (the golfer in FIGS. 1 and 2 is right handed. If the golfer is left handed, the positions of the hands will be reversed).

[0014] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the grip (G) of the invention provides that the golfer's two hands are folded about the club shaft from different directions. It will be noted that the positions of the left hand (1) and its fingers (4) and the right hand (2) and four of its fingers (3) are substantially the same as the conventional position of the golfer's hands and fingers (see FIG. 3).

[0015] The instant invention departs from the conventional golf club grip by positioning one finger (2A) of the 10 fingers, that is the index finger of the hand closest to the club head, around the grip (G) in a different way. The aforementioned only differently positioned finger is shown as a forefinger of the right hand (2) or left hand (1), whichever is closest to the club head. This forefinger is disposed aligned substantially parallel to the grip (G) as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. In the embodiment shown in the drawing, the golfer is right handed and therefore the appropriate finger that is substantially aligned with the club shaft is a forefinger (2A) of the right hand (2). Since the forefinger (2A) is the most sensitive finger, its alignment with the club shaft creates the most effective control when swinging the golf club.

[0016] The aforementioned forefinger (2A) used in the conventional gripping method is folded in a U-shape around the grip of the golf club together with the other nine fingers shown in FIG. 3. According to the conventional gripping method, both hands are interlocked at the pinky of the lower hand and the forefinger of the upper hand, and all of the fingers of both hands are closely folded around the grip of the golf club.

[0017] On the other hand, the forefinger (2A) of the right hand (2), as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, is stretched down along the club shaft toward the club head and placed along the outer surface of the grip (G). This positioning is instead of wrapping the forefinger of the lower hand around the club shaft.

[0018] If all of the fingers of both hands are folded around the grip in a conventional manner, a clearance is created between the club shaft/grip wherefore, the grip area comes into contact with and is supported at two different points by the hands. The entire golf club will function like a lever comprising a fulcrum (point(s) where the hands support the golf club shaft/grip), a power point and a working point (the sweet spot of the club head). If the power to each hand is even slightly out of balance, eventually the desired alignment of the club face and the ball will suffer and the direction of the flight of the ball may greatly change.

[0019] In order to avoid the aforementioned lever function, it may be reasonable to modify the conventional gripping method by positioning and maintaining both hands disposed more closely together and about the club shaft to simulate the golf club being supported at only one point. However, the conventional club grip simulating support at one point by keeping the hands close together encounters difficulty in keeping the holding position accurate. This difficulty is greater than the resistibility of the club grip when it is supported at two points. As aforesaid, swinging the aforementioned golf club supported at two points does not create an accurate swing. This theory will be easily understood from the viewpoint of batting in a baseball game. If the batter grips the bat with a space between the hands, the head of the bat will not be swung at a full speed. Therefore, the new gripping method was invented by judging from long experience and achievement in combination with the merit of a golf club grip supported at two points and compared to the merit of the conventional gripping method that provides a full swing at a full speed.

[0020] In other words, the conventional method of gripping a golf club shown in FIG. 3 provides contact between the hands (1) and (2) and the grip (G) to a length of two hand spaces, that is no more than the width of two palms (L2). Actually, the gripping length (L2) is less than the actual width of two palms since both hands are positioned together as tightly as possible and even partially overlap so that both hands can be firmly moved together as a single unit as much as possible. In this conventional grip, the forefinger of hand furthest from the club head (shown as the left hand) is intertwined and locked with a little finger of the hand closest to the club head (shown as the right hand) in the conventional manner. Thus the length of contact between the hands and the club grip is even less than two palm widths.

[0021] The instant invention has considered all the aforementioned conditions and increased the effective length of contact between the hands and the club grip by extending the forefinger (2A) of the hand (2) that is nearer to the club head so that it is stretched and placed along the grip/shaft (G) generally longitudinal to the axis of the club shaft. Holding the grip (G) as described above, makes the effective gripping length (L1) longer by almost the length of the forefinger (2A) compared with the conventional holding length (L2). This comparison is clearly shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

[0022] Holding the grip (G) by supporting it at one point, that is an effectively longer gripping length, increases the resistance of grip (G) to the force that will cause the club head and shaft to wobble. The effect of the above method for gripping a golf club in this invention does not depend on the physical strength or body size of each golf player.

[0023] In order to prove the efficacy of this invention, many different comparison tests were actually conducted by many different players. The several tests using different size players showed that the invention was operative without regard to the size or shape of the player. The results of all these comparison tests, proved that the gripping method of this invention caused a substantial increase in the accuracy and controllability of the direction and carry of a ball. This improvement was especially noticed when putting on the green or hitting out of a bunker.

[0024] It was also proved, by actually hitting golf balls, that holding the grip (G) with a longer gripping length (L1) than the gripping length provided by the conventional gripping method makes it easier to control the direction, and even carry of a hit golf ball.