CA1306764C - Arrangement for training and practicing a game of golf - Google Patents

Abstract

Arrangement for training and practicing a game of golf Abstract According to the invention an arrangement is proposed for training and practicing ball games, in particular golf. The arrangement can be used indoors as well as outdoors and comprises, on the one hand, a scoring means, preferably a panel (20) with a specifically prepared surface (28) and, on the other hand, a number of "golf balls" (10) having a surface likewise specifically prepared. The said surface preparation is such that the panel immediately catches and retains a ball when hit by it, so that the hitting point on the panel can be observed and taken down. However, the balls do not cling to each other or to carpets, curtains etc. occurring indoors.
The surface of the panel (20) is prepared with so called Velcro material (25). By means of the arrangement a game of golf can be practiced while imitating the play on a real golf course and while using the so called score card of this course. For training so called "putt" stroke the panel.
(20) can be replaced by a small cylindrical body or a thin circular plate of the same diameter. To catch the ball upon a hit the periphery of the body and the top side of the plate are prepared in the same way as the surface of the score panel (20) mentioned above.
(Fig. 5)

Description

~0~7~

The present invention relates to an arrangement for training ball games, golf in particular. The invention i9 aimed a~ a simple an~ e~fecti1/e train~
ing arrangement, the training primarily intended to be exercised indoors within a limited space, but the arrangement according to the invention can be used outdoors as well. It is to be noted that the invention can be exer-cised by a single player for the purpose of practicing as well as by several players who compete which each other during the training.
Especially as to the game of golf many arrangements have been proposed for trainin8 and exercising the game which, as a matter of fact, when prac-ticed normally means a certain extensiveness as it is played in the open airon vast golf courses. To train the game, in particular the ~ecessary stroke skill, within limited areas there has been built, particularl~ in Japan, se-parate, elongated compartments along which the player can strike one ball after another, the balls being collected automatically. Also more sophisticat-ed devices occur, for example, as disclosed in the patent 641~811-0 )where an optical system is proposed which illustrates by means of a computer the path a ball struck in the optical model systeln would follow in reality, Lhe player thUg being informed in such a way of the result of his strokes. ~or practic-ing indoors, e.g. at home, the usual, very hard golf ball is unsuitable for obvious reasons, but very light and from this point of view harmless balls, as to size and appearance coinciding with ordinary golf balls, are available for practicing indoors.
According to the invention the player strikes such balls from a "tee"
towards a score panel located at a suitable distance, the pla~ or practice being organized in accordance with a certain plan o~ play wh~ch can be ar~
ranged such that the training game be developed accordillg to the conditions prevailing rom hole to hole at knowll, real goLf courses. According to the invention the ball struck against the score panel is adapted to cling ~o ~he panel in order to mark truly and distinctly the point of hit, whose location is made of record.
It is previously known to provide hand missiles, which for the purpose of play or competition are thrown towards a target in order to cling there-to~ with a cover of so called "teasel" material which occurs on the market under the name of Velcro (reg. trademark**), a textile li]ce material provided on its surface with a large number closely spaced, fine hooks of plastics, preferably nylon. The hooks are adapted to get stuck in a material cooperat-ingwith the Velcro material, said second material having a fluffy fibrous form, preferably of thin, loop forming filaments. Such missiles can comprise darts, balls, rings etc. and such missiles provided with Velcro material are *) = USA 3 410 563 ** Velcro Corp.

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proposed in Y,~. thP U~ P~tent~ No~. 3 ~67 ~23 ~nd 4 240 63~, ~lo~r~ver3 ln exerclsing the inrention it i~ not pos~lb~ ~o provlde the ligh~ ~ol~ ~all~
used with V~lçro m~terlal ih thi~ w~y ln ord~r to r~ke the ~ clin~ to the score p~nel, and this ~eause of ~n ~nnoying eff~ct: the ball~ w~uld ~dhere stron~ly ~o each other in storlng ~nd, ~OVQ ~11, they would get ~tuc:k ~n e~rpets, curt:ains etc. According ~o the inver~tion t:he b~ re-'~o~red in~te~d ~ith ~ n~utral. fI~ffg msterial for clin~inR co~per~tion ~dth the scor~ phnel which, in contrast ~o known equlv~len~s. i~ coY~red with V~lcro nateri~
Ihe invention will now be de~cri~ed with r~ference to the accomp~ngin~
drawing ~n whi~h Fi~. 1 show~ a tralnlng b~ cccrdlng te ~i~e inven~ion, where~s Fi~ shows, on ~ strvn~ly enl~r~ed ~eale, ~ small fr~ent: of ~he bnll in order to lllu~ra~e the Ilu~y sur~ac~ ~E th~ b~ Fi~, 2 ~nd 3 show ~ strip of the fl~l~f~ m~teri~l whl~h 1~ h~ped in known m~nner tc~ coY~r completely, in a cooperat~n~ p~irl the ball accordin~ to FiR. l~ Fi~, 2 3howine A cec~ion ~l~ng ~he line II-II in Fig. 3, Fi~ 4 i~ a pl~n v:L~w of an embo~iment of ~he ~corlng p~nel accordin~ to the invention ~nd Fig. 5 show~ Q vertical section V-V qcoording t~ Fig. 4 ~hrough ths panal ~rec~0d on a b~se, Figs. 6 and 6~, finally, ~how ~n ~l~ernativq ~vrlng p~llel.
In Flg~, 1 3 ~here i~ thu~ ~hown ~n ex~ple o~ A trainin~ or pr~ctL~e ball lO ac~ording ~o ~he inven~ion, in~and~d ~or th~ gam~ of ~olf, Th~ ball per g~ ht and m~de o~ pl~stic~ anr~ h~s the ~m~ d~ et~r ~ ~n r.~rdln~-ry ~olf ~all. Accardin~ ta the inv~ntlon ~uch ~ ~11 is pr~vid~d with ~ cov~r, ~ub3tantially -ln the ~e n~nner ~9 A t~nnl~hA:LI1 that i~, hy two ~ym~n~trl-cally bean~shape~l plece~ 15' and lS" accordin~ to Fig. 3 of ~ f:Lu~ g fib~r mH t~ri~ rA ~o ~llr;t(l v~lr~)ur I b~ing appli~d ~nd g] ued ~o th~ bhll ~c~ th~tthi~ i~ coverad hy the velour m~terl~l . Lqok~d upon more! clo ~ly thi~ m~t~rl-Hl oon~i~t~ o~ .hi~, ~tron~ but str~t~h~le ~ub~tr~t~ 1~ .ioined wlth ~he 1u4~ or loop m~teriQl l~ prop~r. BA11~ m~de iA ~hls way o~n b~ ~t~xed with-out clingin~ to e~ch other or to textile m~terial in th~ ~urroundirgs, ~ i~,9. 4 ~nd 5 ~x~n~plifles a s~ore p~nel ~ sc~:ording to the invention, In th~ em~odlm~nt shown ~;he fron~ ~ide th~reo~ h~3 B ~ri~a o~ oQ~cen~ri~
squ~re~ 22 numb~red fro~ "O" to "S" whereby the v~rti~nl an~ la~ræl poKi-ttorl o~ ~ hi~ ç~n be observed, dire tly. Aa a m~t~er oP cour~e, :for other purpo~es ~loo ~h~ nv~ntlon~l t~r~ bo~d ha~in8 concentric cirole~ c~n b~ u4ed, From the ~r~r~ ec~lon ln Fig. 5 i~ 1~ seen that ~h~ ~oor~ p~n~l ~0, whiçh ~ccording ~o l:he ~ ur~ e~e~ted on ~ floor 3~ by mqano oE a ~a&~
YUpport 32, h~ it~ ~ront sid~ c~pletely covered wlt.h V~lc~o mae~i21 25 !, t~

~drawn exa~gera~od in ~cal~ ~pplied to ~ ~ody 24 o~ ~.g. exp~d~d p~ iC9.
In analo~y wi~:h ~he velour In~t~rial 15 m~nti~n~d ~ove ~h~ Vel.c~) m~teri~l 2S exhibit~ a ~ubstrEI~ 26 wher~rom ~ d~n~ wood" ~ of tlny pl~9'cl~: hooks ri~es ~
In ~ig~ o ~n ~ltern~tive embod1~ent o~ the scorin~ p~nel i~ ~hown which th~ adv~ntage ~hst lt w~ll engu~ ~lmo~t absolutely tha~ ~n~ b~ll h~tln~
the p~nel wlll be Q~tu lly caLI~ht. ~he p~nel ~e~cr:1bed above may in ~ertai~, ~lkhough rsre ca~e~ subJec~ ~ ball, flying in at 8re~t ~orce, to ~ kind of boun~e actiont so ~h~t ~he b~ll doe~ not 3~i~kl a cal~ity which cannot oe-cur ~ith the seorln panel 20' shown in Fig3. 6 and ~a. For a ch~nge, this p~nel 1~ shown ~uapended on ~ wall 31, but o~ cour~e it c~n be prov-lded, llko p~nel ~0, wi~h mean~ f~r erecting it on ~ floor, The p~nel 20~ ~n b~ degcrib~d ~8 a l'do~lbl~ p~nel". tha~ i~, it iB com-po~ed of two r~ er ~hin, p~rallell board~ 35 ~snd 3~ united by upper and low-~r spacin~ ribs 34 and 3~, respectivcly, ~o th~ ~n ~ir gap 40 i~ Por~ed be-tween them. The Velcro mat 2S i3 applle~ on th~ front board 35, which prefer-ably con~lse~ o:~ a com~ratiYely thin and hard pl~ ~ic~ materl~ he air gap 40 should 1~ width or ~hickne~s of at lea t ~-10 llun, and with regard to the bo~rd3 ~e front one could be ~ shee~ of poly~tyrene, some 1,5-2 mffl thiek, and likewi~e ~ould the b~ek bo~rd c~mpr:l~e s~leh a she~t ~lthough this bo~rd collld be n~ade of ~ ~impler and more ~o~rse materlal. ~.g. Eibr~ board.
In the mo3t ~ 1p~ Ca~! the back ~oard 3~ m~y be omltted ~o~pletely, ~he w 31 fQrming a ~uh~ti~ute, ~he de~i~ive condi~ion i~ thac ~n air gRp or "air ~ushion" mu~ exl~ h~hind the front bo~rd 3S. In ad~ition, there 1~ a fur~
ther conditlon which concern3 the BUgp~n ion of the fr~nt bo~rd, ~ee below.
Thu~ i~ h~ to b~ no~d that ~he ~ront board 35 ~hoald be "~r~" ln the senso that it ia ~,llowed ~ llmlted -fr~dom of maYemon~ or r~olll~r~
a direction norm~l to lt21 own pli~ne. In th~ 113.u~rated emhodiment this c~n-dition i~ ~ul~ d by ~ feature th~t the ~ron~ bt~lrd 35 i~ only ~unp~nd-~d ~nd ~mpported by it~ upper and lo~er ribs 34 and 38, re~peotively; while lts vértieal ~ide~ ~e f~sq. The reqr board can also ~e de~r~loped in~o a box which ~urr~unds th~ f~ont bo~rd flnd the ~ir ~p ~nd whieh i~ provided with ~ean~ for ~u~pen2~lion on a w~ll, or for erec~ion on a floor. Al~o, ~he condltlon o alr ~ap-and 3uspen3ion oould b~ ~et by ~ho front bo~rd 35 be~
ing pro~id~d with a surrounding el~lc fruDe, ~hich hs~ld~ th~ boa~d with the nece~ary re~lllence a~ well ~ air ~p, At ~ ~ul~:ablo di~t~n~e fron~ ~h~ vereic~ or~ pan~l 20 o~-~0' ~
pl~yer or pl~yer~ no~ t~,ke their 3t~rt~n~ po~iti~n ~o dri~re the ball lO
~aln~ the pan~l on thr under~flndin~, for ea~mple, ~ha~ th~ b~ to 3~
l~nd On ~ ~re~n of ~ ~olf ~r~. In doln~ BO the pl~yer h~ of course ~o pO~eBS C ~en~ral yreci~ion o~ ~im which the player train~ ~y tryin~ ~o ~lt the ~ntral ~ield 22 of the p~nel 20, m~rked lol'. H~w he ~ e~eds i~ immediR- A
tely r~ve~led ~8 the b~ll clin~ ~o the pcn~l oxactly in the hit po~ition ~nd thi~ i~ mode of record.
By ~ho pl y~r llevlng t~e unlqu~ oppor~unit~r imm~diQtely to ~e, deter~
mine ~n~ ~180 m2ke of record wh~t beco~e~ o~ th~ ball h~ hit~ durine M ~r~1n-lng or competition round wit~ ~he arr~n8~men~ accordlng to the invention, he can adapt hiq pl~yin~ contln~ou~ly by dlre~ing d~liberately the ball tow~rds vArloug ~r~ on the ~cor~ p~nel, dependin~ on th~ path he believ~ ~h~ b~11 will follow in re~lity, ~.g~ ~h~n belng driven onto Q green. In ~ccordance with thi~ conCRpt th~ YcorQ panel m~y be de~igned in ~ mor~ ~ophisticat~d w~y th~n with t~ 3imple sq~are~ sho~n in Fi~, 4, ~or the purpo~e o~ pre-ci~ln~ the tralnin~ 8~e And make it more interesting. As a whale ~he inven-tion make3 a ~re~t v~riation in choice pos~ible when lt come~ to trainin8 and p~ylng posslbilltles. A~ ~ fure~er exa~ple of quch po~ibilities it ~an b~ ~entio~ed that by the ~r~n~emen~ ~c~rding to th~ in~entlon al94 a compl~
round on H cer~ain, exist~ng gol~ ~our~c can be imit~tffd, thHnks to the ac~
th~t for each ~ol~ eour~ ~he de~ree of di~ficulty o~ eAoh cour~ section or "hole" has been os~Abllshedl firstly, by ~he ~inimum number o~ stroke~
(l~pdir~) which ~ playor 1~ dee~ed to need ~t the vurlou~ hole~ for prapellin~
the hall ~rom a st~rtin~ polnt ~"tee~) to the fln~ ~OD~ eh~ cup" ln thé
~en of tho co~rse se~io~ ~nd~ secondly, by the ~utual degree o~ di~icul-tYI "h~ndicap", Qf ~he ~ou~e ~ection~ or holes. Thi~ infDrm~tlon, thus a~out pa~r and handic~p for e~ch ~ola, is av~ hle in ~h~ ~or~ of a EO called 3core c~rd valid for ~h pol~ eour~e wh~re ~ l lM~ormution i~ ~-lv~n. H~nc~, lf one h~ ne'~ pos~l such ~ ~c4r~ d from ~o~e f~mou int~rnation~l golf oour~e, ~.~. 8:t Andrew~ ln Scotl~nd, one ~n ~a~ry throu~h ~n -lnter~
~n~ rollnd of golf while imltatln~ the condition~ prev~ilin~ Bt this cour~e, in doing whi~h it i~ sa~umed that one h~Y hlt ~he ~reen at ev~ry sectlon.
Then a number of ~troke~, pr~dotermin~d R~cordin~ to the Score card, ~e made a$ainst the s~or~ p~n~l and the numher of point~ aecordlng to ~he hit locations i~ noted. In th~ ~me ~ay a~ ln real eolf che plAy~rs take ~heir person~l h~ndlcflp ~nto ~ccount for Jud~in~ b~ re3ult when summin~ up the number o~ ~trok~/point~, Aecording to th~ lnvcntton ~h~ pl~yer oan also praotice the co~luding ~troke~, ~'pu~t~ hlch are m~de on the gr~en when the b~ to be hlt ln-to th~ cup of the gr~en. For this pr~c~lce the ~bove ~Pntioned ~core p~nel i~ r2place~1 by a low cylind~r of a certain weigh~ hn~ h a diamet~r approxi-5_ ~3~6t~6~L
-mae~ly corre~pontin~ to the di&mek~r o~ th~ green ~up 1~4 t:h~ di~m~t;~r o~
the ~all, Th8 perlph~ry ~f ~he cyllnder 1~ oove~d by ~he ~3id h~701c ~terial.
A1ternati.r~1y a thin ~irculAr plate is u~ed, ~h~h ha~ ~ ~om~lhat 1~r~r diameter th~n th~ ~bov~ mention~d ~ylin~er ~nd who~ ~op ~id~ i~ prov~ded with the hook ~ r~nl, In both C4~e~3 the eylinder/pl~te ~orm~ A t~rge~
ln~t which the player~ are "putting't the b~ nd ~ hit ia lm~edlntely ~nd permanently ~rked by ~he b~ in~, caught in the manner di~lo~ed ab~ve .

Claims (2)

1. An apparatus for training and practicing golf, comprising:
a resilient, ball adhering target;
a simulated hall of the size of a standard sized golf ball, to be hit against said target, said target comprising a portable scoring means arranged to indicate on its surface the point where it is hit by the ball and which is to catch and retain that ball by means of an adhering surface contact at the point of impact;
surface means on the ball and scoring means for adherence of the ball to the scoring means upon contact therewith but for non-adherence of one ball to another similarly surfaced ball at mutual contact of such balls, said surface means being defined by a cover of a so-called stretch hook material which provides the surface of the scoring means and a cover of a fluffy or fibrous material which provides the surface of the ball for gripping cooperation with the cover of the scoring means;
the scoring means comprising a vertically arranged board formed by a comparatively thin and hard sheet of plastics which is provided on its front surface with said cover of said stretch hook material, said target having a back member, the board being suspended on the back member with an air gap formed between the board and the back member, only the top and bottom edges of the board being fixed rigidly with respect to the back member, leaving the vertical side edges of said board free of said back member, said board thus having all the way across its width a resiliently limited freedom of movement in a direction normal to the plane of the board.

2. An arrangement according to claim 1, in which the air gap is at least 8-10 mm thick, the ball being a lightweight plastics.