AU8313498A - An improved putter - Google Patents

Description

"AN I:XPROVED PUTTEP" This invention relates to an im!orcved golf putter and to a method of putting a golf ball.

In the game of golf, excellence can be achieved by perfecting the golf swing so that the variables in playing a etroke relate only to the seiection of the golf club and the stance of the person rela-t-1%e to ths ball so that the ball struck on the unstrcke cr th" downstr"O3e.

When a player perfects the golf swing~, tho swing 0 movement is mostly maintained for addressing the ball when putting. in recent years, alternae type puttera have been proposed ho-wever they have not .ined 'iidesoread acceptance.

This may be because theyv are riot gripped and swung in the conventional manner. There is also some doubt as to whether or not the presently available alternate style putters will continue to be accepted by the controlling bodies of the sport of golf.

Various attempts have also been made to provide puttero which are swung in the conventional manner with various head and head to shaft joint configurations with a view to increasing accuracy of use of the putter as many experienced golfers often fail to sink relatively sh~ort puts. Thus putting success is much lower than covld be expected, The present invention aims to provide an improved putter and a method of putting a golf bell which will assist a player to achieve more consistent putting accuracy-.

With the foregoin~g in view.. this invention in one aspect residEs broadly in a golf putter including:handgrip; a head havina a striking face; a shaft interconnecting the head to the handgrip and having a lot;er 3haft portion connected to the head; the lowter shaft portion e:ctending uipwardly and forwardly fr~rn the head between the lateral extremcities5 of thQ stjriing face, and an upper shaft rortion e2xtending from tht lower portion to the handgrip.

PDre-ferably the lower shaft portion extends from a centred position on the head above the centre of mass thereof. It is also areferred that tha lower shaft portion :1-1 inclines iwiardly relative to an operative disposition of the clJub head so that a user may angle the sha-ft down-wardly and outwardly from their hands while maintaining the club head in an operative striking position. Suitably the inward inclination is in the order of five degrees.

It is also preferred that the lower shaft part is relatively short compared to the upper shaft part and are joined to one another to form an angular joint in the shaft.

Suitably this joint bends the shaft through an angle of about thirty degrees. H~owever, a curved joi~nt may be utilised if desired and of course the geometry will vary with changes of the relative lengths of the shaft parts. Preferably the shaft configuration enables a user to sight the ball. being addressed centered on the upper shaft portion so that the ball will be struck by the so called sweet point of the club head. The shaft portions in one embodiment are straight throughout Lheirlnt.

The club head suirabLy has a lower face which cuxres upwardly towards teach side altho,,ch the loi-er face may be substantially plarnaf iF requir.ed. Sitably the striking face of the putter !s plnAr. vThe striking face may be of any desired configuration an~d may include an insert if desired.

in anotho r aspect this invention resides in a method of putting a golf ball, inciud±:ng:standing with the leading foot adjacent the golf ball and directed towards the target; *i5arranging the other foot behind the front foot and suitably angularly thereto so as to provide balanced support for the player; providing a club whIch may be supported by a conventional two hand grip and swung from a position adjacent the rear foot past the inside face of the front foot to strike the golf ball in a manner which will propel the golf ball towards the target.

Preferably the golf club is formed with a two part handle such that a player may sight along the upper handle portion towards the target ball and suitably with a view of the shaft portions which will enable a player to ma~intain relative alignment between tho striking fcace, the ball and the target by maintaining a constant visibla -relationship between the upper and lower portions of the shaft. This will prevent rotation of the Shaft Causing tilting and twisting of S the club head and mav Le~rU monitored.

A lurthe~rernc iP rovided by a viwacross the striking face-. of the club head w.-hichi is mc-intained substantielly at t-ight anges to the inside~ face of the user's leading shoe, hich wn iedfrom above provides .3 10 =ubntantiolly straj.qht inie eduge tez,*:en tne ankle and the ball of the fout. Itz is also ,jr.ferredi that the leading foot be placed iith the g!:zlf- ball be located adjacent the ball of the leading foot.

Preferably the putter is of the type defined above but 5 other forms of putters may be used if desired.

in order that this invention may be more readily understood and put into practical effect, reference will now be made to the accompanyin~g drawings which illustrate a typical embodiment of. the present invention and wherein.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a putter made in accordance with The present irnvention7 FIG- 2 is a front view of the Putter illustrated in Fig.

FIG. 3 illustrates the line of sight reference which the putter of Fig. I provides a player during performance of a swing, and 71 FIG. 4 illustrates a further embod-Inent of the invention.

Referrinq to Figs. I -to 3 it will be se-en that the putter 10 includes a head L!1 having an elongate front striking face 12 bou.-ded by a curved underside face 13 and a shallow V-shaped top face 14. The head 11 is of billet form steel and has a centre of- mass; substan-tially co-incident with the juniction 15 o! th- -,op face Vortions 17.

A club shaft mount: 16 extends upw.,ardly and forwardly relative to the face 12 from the Junction 15 to receive a lower shaf nortion 18 of :he S.'aft assembly 20. The lower shaft nortion I8 extends fovr..ardly of the froant face 12 by a distance ab-jut equn1 toD the dia;-ieter of z a colf bell and suitably dbout 1 imnes the diameter of a golf ball.

-The club shaft mnoun~t 15 also provides an inwa..-rd inclination of the lower shaft portion 18 in the order of to 8* from the vertical and this inward inclination relative totheoperative disposition of the head 11 is continued in the upper shaft portn 19 which is straight and extends upwardly from its junlction with the lower portion to the hand A grip 22.

in this embodiment the included angle between the lower shaft portion 18 and the upper shaft portion 19 is in the region of 150' the lower portion extending UDWardly to a 1 25 height above the lcwer face of no more than about 200mm. The J. overall length of the putter shaft is about 900mm with~ the hand grip occupying the 250.uun of the top of the shaft portion 1-9.

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It will be Seen Xrom Fig. 3 that In use when a playver addresses a ball 25 to be putted., thle Player has a ine of sight down the u~per shaft portion 19 to the golf ball this line of sight doiwn the shaft providing ready centering of th-3 ball w-ith the face 12.

Also the user can reiadIllv detect the angle between the lower and upper shaft pottions 128 and 19 respectively so that rotation of the shaft about the handgrip axis during the performance of a stroke may be readily monitored and thus prevented or efifectlwely miniimised so as to maintain operative alignment of the club face 12 with the ball Furthermore, the player may stand with their ayes directly above the ball so that they watch the club face at all times to maintain its align-'ment at right angles with the viewed inside face o! the leading shoe, which is olaced in a direction towards the target.

The putter 30 illustrated in Fig. 4 differs fromi the putter 10 in that the head 31 is a club-type head and the lower shaft portion 32 extends vertically up from the top face 33 of the club head 31 before inclining upwardly and forwardly to a position in front of the striking face 34 and joining angularly to the upper portion 35 so as to provided a 2= readily distinguished vxisual reference to any twisting of the shaft resultant f rom the user's control of the handgrip 37 during movement to the ball 36.

In use, the player may successfully perform a stroke by: placing the leading foot pointed along the line the pla/yr -,ishes to purt; S placing- the other foot at 434 to the leading foot; ztanding contfortably balan~ced -Dn both feet before swringing the putt, r from the rear foot past the leading foot where thi col ball is locatod next to the ball of the foot to ntrike -the golFE ball to-we-rds the target.

joThus, In usin~g a golf ouctr zaccordinq to the present invention or when perform-iing a stroke according to this invention, it should be possible to achieve consistent striking of a ball fo~r putting purposes to provide repeatable accuracy, the player of course requiring to make Judgement as 7:15 to the appropriate direction of the ball to counter the slopes and/or uneven surface of the putting green.

It will of course be realized that the above has been~ given only by way of illustrative example of the invention and that all such m~odifications and variations thezeto as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of the invention as is defined by the appended claims.

Claims (9)

1. A golf Putter including:- a handgrip; a hcad having a srkn ae a shaft in~terconnecting~ tIhc hea d U-o tho handgrip and having a !C Ier 311,41- por*,icn r--nnecized to tho head; lower shaft oorz ion exten-ding upwardly and I I~I~forwardly front the heed tr-:w.een the lateral extrerities- of the striking face, and i0an upper shaft portion extending from, the lower shaft portion to the hancigzip.

2. A golfr put ter as claim~ed in claim 1, :-he-ruln said lower shaft portion extends upa~ yand forwardly from a centred position on the head.

3. A golf putter as claimed in claim 1, w..herein oaid lower shaft port ion extends forw-ardlv beyond the striking face to a position of between one, and one and one-half times a golf ball diameter.

4. A golf putter as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said lower shaft portion is relativelyv short compared t o the upper shaft portion and inclines inwardl* in the order of three to five degrees relative to an cperative disposition of the club head.

5. A golf ioutter as cla-Imed in claim 4, wherein said l~ower and upper shaft PortiOrAS ar%7e joirned So as to form J an enua ';o-nt in h hf,

6. A gO].f nutt-r aO Q'L.iVIe:d in any. ane of the preceding claims, wher-zein the included angle between said lower sh.aft oorticn and said upper shaft portion is in the order of 150~'. 0

7. A golf putter as clai-med in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the shaft configuration enables a user to sight a ball being correctly addressed along the upper shal-t portion.

8. A method of putting a golf ball, i;ncluding:- standing with the leading foot adjacent the golf ball and directed towards the target; arranging the other foot behind the front foot and suitably angul~arly thereto so as to provide balanced support for the player; providing a club which way be supported by a conventional two hand grip and swung from a position adjacent the rear foot past the inside face of the front foot to strike the golf balL in a rnanrter which will Propel the golf ball tcow.ards the target.

9. A method as cl.aimned in claim 8, wherein the golf club is formed such that the- piever may sight along an upper handle portion towards the target ball and with a View of a lower shaft portion .Ilspo3eed angilarly to the upper shaft portion. A method as claime d in claim S or claim 9 wherein 0 the putter is of zhe type as defined in any one of claims I to 7. DATED THIS Fourth DAY OF Seotembe r 1998 PAUL LEV FIZZEYS PATENT TRADE M*ARK ATTORNEYS