GB2156227A

GB2156227A - Golf practice device

Info

Publication number: GB2156227A
Application number: GB08407957A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Ronald Grice
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1984-03-28
Filing date: 1984-03-28
Publication date: 1985-10-09
Also published as: GB2156227B; GB8407957D0

Abstract

A golf practising device comprises a first strip 10 with portions 12, 13 marked to show possible positions of feet. A second strip 14, 15 adjustable in length by means of a stud 16 and groove 22, extends normally to the first strip 12 and is provided with a plurality of lines 24 to indicate possible positions of a golf ball 23. The second strip 14, 15 is adjustable in relation to the first by means of a second stud 16 and grooves 17, 18 in the second strip. An adjustable hand-locating device 25 and an adjustable club-swing control 29 are also provided. The studs and grooves may be replaced with press-stud fastenings. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in or relating to golf This invention relates to golf and is particularly concerned with practice equipment for improving the player's game.

In playing golf, the adoption of a correct stance by the player when addressing the ball is all-important but is very difficult to achieve in practice so that the ball when hit proceeds in the intended direction for the required distance. In particular, the positions of the player's feet, hands and head in relation to this direction and in relation to the position of the ball being addressed is highly significant.

An object of the invention is to provide practice equipment to enable the learner golfer to improve his stance.

According to the present invention, there is provided practice golf equipment comprising a foot locating element and a ball-locating element for cooperating with the foot-locating element. Both elements may be in the form of strips of material.

The foot-locating element is intended to be laid on the grass so as to point in the direction in which the ball is to be hit and may be provided with an arrow to indicate this direction. The player's feet should be so placed in relation to this element that the toes of the two feet lie on an imaginary line running in this direction. Toe positions for the two feet may conveniently be marked on the element or cut out of it, for example along the long edge of a strip element. Usually there would be one position marked for the toes of the left foot and at least two possible positions for the toes of the right foot (for right-handed golfers).

The ball-locating element is intended to be laid on the grass so as to extend from the foot-locating element and indicate a position or positions for the ball. In the case of a ball-locating strip element, the ball may be placed at the end of the strip remote from the foot-locating strip element and the balllocating strip may carry a set of lines or ribs or other markings pointing to the possible ball positions. The two strip elements will normally be placed at right angles to one another.

Preferably the ball-locating element is connectible with or conected to the foot-locating element so as to facilitate the positioning of the elements on the grass. Means may be provided to vary the position on the foot-locating element at which the balllocating element is connected so as to vary the position of the foot-locating element with respect to the player's feet. The ball-locating element may itself be adjustable in the amount it extends from the foot-locating element, for example adjustable in length of the case of a strip element, in order to compensate for players of different height and/or the use of golf clubs of different lengths. Thus the ball-locating element may comprise two portions variably interconnectible or interconnected so that the distance of the ball from the line of the toes may be varied.

The two elements may be connected by press stud fastenings so that the position at which they are connected may be varied or the two elements may be permanently connected so as to be relatively siidable to vary the position of connection, for example using a stud-and-slot arrangement.

Similarly, the two portions of the ball-locating element may be variably inter-connectible by press stud fastenings or slidably interconnected, for example by a stud-and-slot arrangement.

The practice golf equipment of the invention may be further provided with a hand-locating element, such as a lamina, for positioning adjacent to the junction of the foot-locating and ball-locating elements to the left of the latter whereby the players hands may be positioned vertically above the handlocating element. The hand-locating element may be marked with more than one possible position above which the hands may be located. The handlocating element may be connected to the balllocating element by press stud fastenings or by a stud-and-slot arrangement.

The practice golf equipment of the invention may be still further provided with a club-swing control element for positioning adjacent to the ball on the side of the ball opposite to the ball locating element, the arrangement being such that, if the club is correctly swung to hit the ball, it will avoid contact with the control element. This element may also take the form of a strip but is positioned with its short edges vertical and one of its long edges in contact with or close to the ground. The element may conveniently be provided with mounting or support members which are pushed into the ground to position the element. The element may also be marked with or carry sighting means to enable the player's head to be positioned behind the ball.

The various elements of the golf equipment may be made from any suitable material but are preferably made from a flexible material, such as rubber, to compensate generally for uneven ground on which they may be laid or in the case of a clubswing control strip element, to allow the strip to be bent so that the long edges are curved concavely to the ball if desired. In the case of the foot-locating element, the use of a resiliently deformable material, such as rubber, is desirable to minimise damage to the element by the player's feet.

However, it will be appreciated that the degree of flexibility or resilience of the material should be insufficient to hinder any relative sliding movement provided between interconnected parts of the equipment.

The invention will now be further described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one form of practice golf-equipment using stud-and-slot arrangement; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one of the studs shown in Fig. land Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view of another form of practice golf equipment using press stud fastenings.

In Fig. 1, a foot-locating strip 10 is provided with an arrow 11 which is pointed in the direction in which the ball is to be hit. Along one edge of the strip is a toe-marking 12 for positioning the player's left foot and alternative toe-markings 13 for positioning the player's right foot. If desired the toemarking 12 may be cut out of the strip.

Strip portions 14 and 15 together from a balllocating strip. The strip portion 14 is slidably mounted on the foot-locating strip 10 by means of a stud 16 which is mounted on the strip 10 and slidable in longitudinal slot 17 located in one end of the stip portion 14. The stud 16 is also slidable in lateral slots 18 located in strip portion 14 and extending from the longitudinal slot 17. As may be seen from Fig. 2, the stud 16 consists of a shank terminating in heads 20 and 21. The shank passes through the strip 10 and through the slots in the strip portion 14 and the heads overlap the strips to provide a permanent connection in which the strip portion 14 is slidable both longitudinally and transversely of the strip 10 to allow for adjuistment of their relative positions.The strip portion 15 is slidably mounted on the other end of the strip portion 14 by means of another stud 16 which is mounted on the strip portion 14 and slidable in a longitudinal slot 22 located in the strip portion 15.

This stud 16 is also as shown in Fig. 2 and provides a permanent connection between the stip portions. A ball 23 is positioned on a tee at the free end of strip portion 15 at one of the ball positions indicated by lines 24 (or alternatively by dots between the lines) on the strip portion 15.

A hand locating element 25 is slidably mounted on the strip portion 14 by means of another stud 16 which is mounted on the strip portion 14 and slidable in slots 26, 27 in the element 25, which is marked with hand locating positions 1 to 5 generally designated 28.

A club-swing control strip 29 is mounted vertically behind the ball by means of mounting pegs 30 attached to the strip and pushed into the ground.

The strip 29 is provided with a sighting mark 31 for the purpose previously described.

In the exploded view shown in Fig. 3, the same parts are mainly present as in Fig. 1 and, as far as possible, the same reference numerals have been used to identify them. The equipment shown in Fig.

3 would be used with a control strip 29 as shown in Fig. 1. The equipment used in Fig. 3 differs from that shown in Fig. 1 mainly in that the stud-and-slot connections of the parts 10, 14 and 15 are replacad by press stud fastenings. The press stud fastenings 32,33 on the strip 10 and strip portion 14 allow adjustment, of the position in which the strip portion 14 is connected to the strip 10 in both transverse and longitudinal directions with respect to the strip 10.

The press stud fastenings 34, 35 on the strip portions 14 and 15 allow adjustment of the connection between the strip portions in the longitudinal direction of the strip portions. As shown in Fig. 3, the hand-locating element 25 is not connected to the other parts but is placed immediately on the left of the strip portion 14 and immediatly adjacent to the strip 10. In the exploded view, the straight dotted lines indicate the positions in which the parts are placed and connected for use.

The equipment shown in the drawings is for practice purpose or for use in practice or friendly games only. The parts 10,14,15,25 and 29 are positioned by trial and error using the adjustments provided to determine the best relative positions of the player's feet, hands and head and the best ball position so that the individual golfer can make a more consistently solid contact between club head and ball in the intended direction. More particularly, this equipment functions as follows: 1. It gives the correct alignment of the feet to the target with standard open or closed stance as required.

2. It-gives the ball position in relation to the left heel and the distance between the feet.

3. It gives the ball position in relation to the distance from the feet.

4. Both the distances mentioned in 2 and 3 above are adjustable both ways depending on the size of the golfer for both short and long irons and woods.

5. The ball position for irons, being adjustable, enables a divot to be taken if required because the shot can be taken from practice field grass, or original lie, if used during a friendly or practice game.

6. The equipment gives the correct hand position for each individual golfer depending on the shot required (e.g. standard shot, ahead of ball) and is completely adjustable for non-standard shots if required.

7. The equipment gives the individual golfer the knowledge that his takeaway from the ball may be outside the ball, which is wrong, or his return to the ball may be outside, which is also wrong and the main cause of slicing. If the return is too far from the inside (which is again wrong), the equipment will show him why he is possibly hooking the ball. The equipment also gives the correct head position, i.e., behind the ball.

Claims

1. Practice golf equipment comprising a foot locating element and a ball-locating elementforco- operating with the foot-locating element.

2. Practice golf equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein one or both of the foot-locating element and the ball-locating element is/are in the form of a strip.

3. Practice golf equipment as claimed in claim 2, wherein the ball-locating element extends from the foot-locating element.

4. Practice golf equipment as claimed in claim 3, wherein the ball-locating element extends substantially perpendicular to the foot-locating element.

5. Practice golf equipment as claimed in any of claims 1 to 4, including means connecting, or means for connecting, the two elements to vary the position of the two elements with respect to each other.

6. Practice golf equipment as claimed in claim 5, wherein the means comprise at least one press stud fastening.

7. Practice golf equipment as claimed in claim 5 or claim 6, wherein the means comprise a stud-andslot arrangement.

8. Practice golf equipment as claimed in any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the ball-locating element is adjustable in length.

9. Practice golf equipment as claimed in any of claims 1 to 8, including a hand-locating element.

10. Practice golf equipment as claimed in claim 9, wherein the hand-locating element comprises a lamina.

11. Practice golf equipment as claimed in any of claims 1 to 10, including a club-swing control element.

12. Practice golf equipment as claimed in claim 11, wherein the club-swing control element, in use, is positioned adjacent the ball on the side of the ball opposite to the ball-locating element.

13. Practice golf equipment constructed and arranged substantially as herein described, with reference to, and as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 or Figure 3 of the accompanying drawings.