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[0001] In the past, a number of devices have been proposed for use by golfers, to aid them in developing and improving their swings. Unfortunately, many of the prior art devices concerned with the swing of the club have been expensive to purchase and/or difficult to use. As a consequence, these devices have not gained much favor with a large number of golfers.
[0002] The Strahan U.S. Pat. No. 3,351,346 entitled “GOLF SWING TRAINING DEVICE” teaches the use of weighted components on a shaft used for helping a golfer develop his swing. Strahan mentions that it is the goal of his device to provide a golf swing training device for teaching a golfer to perfect an inside-out swing of a golf club, but his device bears little relation to the present invention.
[0003] The Richards U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,111 entitled “GOLF SWING SIMULATOR DEVICE” is an elaborate device that would be expensive to produce and difficult to use. This patent would solve few of the problems with golf swing that are solved by the use of the instant invention.
[0004] The Olsen GOLF SWING TRAINING CLUB, U.S. Pat. No. 4,511,147, has a weighted head but fails to deal with the important matter of the positioning of the golfer's hands relative to his torso.
[0005] The DeBack U.S. Pat. No. 5,209,481 entitled “GOLF SWING MUSCLE STRENGTHENER AND SWING DEVELOPER DEVICE” is another instance of the use of weights for developing a golfer's swing. However, only a few golfers would be able to use such heavy weights.
[0006] In designing our novel golf swing position trainer, we were mindful of the fact that many golfers tend to develop golf swings that are inconsistent with the ball being hit squarely, and having it travel in the expected direction. To this end we have designed a novel device designed to teach the golfer, the fundamentals of the golf swing. Our golf swing position trainer is advantageously configured to in effect force the golfer to maintain his or her hands, arms, shoulders and hips in a desirable and effective relationship during the swing.
[0007] Our novel device is manifestly intended for use by males as well as females, and for left handed golfers as well as right handed golfers, but for the purpose of simplifying the description, we intend, when using the personal pronouns his or him, to include the fact that the golfer may be female, where the pronouns hers or her would normally apply. Also, it will later be seen that we have illustrated our novel device in use by a right handed golfer inasmuch as something more than 85% of the world's population is believed to be right handed. Quite obviously, our device will manifestly be marketed for left handed as well as right handed golfers, and the descriptive portions appearing herein that specifically mention right handed golfers are clearly not intended to preclude the use of a suitably configured version of our invention by a left handed golfer.
[0008] The golf swing position trainer we have developed is preferably constructed of a single piece of stiff material, that has been configured into a compound curvature designed to provide vision and feel references for enabling the golfer to achieve the correct golf swing position movement and ultimately improve his golf swing.
[0009] More specifically, our golf swing position trainer has a handle portion attached at a first end of the device, with a positioning reference located at the other end of the device. The handle portion is configured to cause the golfer to hold the position trainer in the appropriate manner for the position trainer to be moved with both hands in the general manner of a golf club. The handle portion represents a component of a relatively large U-shaped or arcuately-shaped portion of the position trainer, with an intermediate leg portion of the position trainer representing another part of the relatively large U-shaped portion. The intermediate leg portion resides in approximately the same plane as the handle portion and is disposed somewhat less than 180° away from the handle portion.
[0010] A second, relatively small U-shaped portion of the position trainer in effect forms a continuation of the intermediate leg portion, with a smooth curve being formed at the location where these portions join. The second, relatively small U-shaped portion is disposed in a plane residing in approximately an orthogonal relationship with the plane of the relatively large U-shaped portion. It is a part of the relatively small U-shaped portion that is to be maintained by the golfer against the biceps of one of his arms during a significant part of his swing, thus assuring the golfer's hands, wrists, arms and shoulders being maintained at a proper relationship to the chest portion of the golfer.
[0011] The second end of the position trainer represents the previously mentioned positioning reference, which is relatively short and in effect forms a continuation of the relatively small U-shaped portion. The positioning reference is disposed at approximately a 45° angle to the plane of the relatively small U-shaped portion and points generally away from the handle portion. The positioning reference provides important visual as well as feel references to the golfer, and at one part of the swing of the position trainer, the positioning reference indicates to the golfer, the line of sight to the target.
[0012] It is thus to be seen that we have provided a readily transportable position trainer device effective in causing the golfer to maintain the club handle in the appropriate relationship to his or her upper body throughout the swing of the club.
[0013] It is therefore a principal object of this invention to provide a golf swing position trainer that is uncomplicated, affordable, easy to utilize, and highly effective in helping a beginning or intermediate golfer develop a highly effective swing.
[0014] It is another object of this invention to provide a golf swing position trainer configured into a compound curvature providing vision and feel references to enable the golfer to achieve the correct golf swing position movement and ultimately improve his golf swing.
[0015] It is still another object of this invention to provide a golf swing position trainer that incorporates positive transfer training, or in other words, enables highly effective motor skill learning.
[0016] It is yet still another object of our invention to provide a novel device that, if used for approximately ten minutes per day, can help the golfer achieve effective motor skill learning of the ideal golf swing.
[0017] It is yet still another object of this invention to provide a golf swing position trainer of single piece, rigid construction that is configured to maintain a desirable relationship with the golfer's biceps during a portion of the swing, and thus assure the hands of the golfer being maintained at a desired distance from his chest during the swing, and his wrists, arms and shoulders in a highly desirable and effective relationship without the extended arm being under tension.
[0018] These and other objects, features and advantages will become more apparent as the description proceeds.
[0019]
[0020]
[0021]
[0022]
[0023]
[0024] A golf swing position trainer in accordance with this invention is adapted to train a golfer to swing a golf club correctly, with an exemplary version of our invention being illustrated in
[0025] An important ancillary portion of our device is represented by handle portion
[0026] It is to be seen from
[0027] From
[0028] As will be noted from
[0029] It is to be understood that if the golfer's extended arm is bent excessively, this will cause an early release or casting of the club head, which in turn causes a slice. None of the known prior art is designed to prevent the excessive bending of the extended arm, which error we believe to be the primary cause of the slicing of a golf ball by a golfer.
[0030] What may be regarded as the base portion
[0031] The positioning reference
[0032] It is to be noted from
[0033] With reference now to related
[0034] At this time the golfer should make sure that the positioning reference
[0035] Turning now to
[0036] With reference to
[0037] With reference to
[0038] With regard to
[0039] With regard to
[0040] It is to be noted that as a consequence of the use of rigid material in the construction of our position trainer, the handle portion of our device and consequentially the golfer's hands will remain in a desirable relationship to the golfer's upper body throughout the golf swing.
[0041] It will now be apparent that we have designed a Golf Swing Position Trainer that is inexpensive and relatively easy to use, yet enabling positive transfer training, or in other words, our device advantageously makes highly effective motor skill learning readily possible. We have found that if a golfer practices with our novel device for approximately ten minutes per day, this will help him achieve effective motor skill learning of the ideal golf swing.
[0042] Viewing our invention from a slightly different perspective, our device is responsible for training the golf club to react to the movement of the body rather than the body reacting to the movement of the golf club.