GB2266471A

GB2266471A - Putter.

Info

Publication number: GB2266471A
Application number: GB9308242A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Akira Kanegawa
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1992-04-30
Filing date: 1993-04-21
Publication date: 1993-11-03
Also published as: JPH05305159A; GB9308242D0

Abstract

A putter comprising a club head portion having a club- face 3 for hitting a golf ball and a shaft 4 connected to the club head portion, the shaft being mounted to the club head portion at the rear side of the club-face in such manner of having an angle L of 10 DEG or more from a vertical plane containing the club face. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION TITLE OF THE INVENTION Putter BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The invention relates to an improvement of a putter among various clubs for use in golf.

The putter is used for putting to sink a ball in the hole on the green and is conventionally so constructed that a shaft is, generally, connected onto the upper surface of the head portion of the club (called hereunder the "club head portion") and the angle made by the club face of the club head portion with respect to the shaft, i.e., the socalled loft, is 0 to 5" generally and a "lie" angle (made between the shaft and a horizontal plane on which the club sole is placed precisely) 70 to 80. . Also, the club head portions are various in shape, for example, being bent in V-shape at a shaft-connecting part (the hosel or neck) forward of the club face.

The conventional putters are various in construction as above but almost equal in the loft about 0 to 3 e , so that basic ways for putting in use of the conventional putters are almost identical except superficial difference in style among the golfers. In detail, the player takes a stance on the green, looking directly down the golf ball placed on a plane extending forward between the player's feet and putting with the wrists being locked and the club head portion being swung like a pendulum as allowing both arms of the player to urge the ball.

Golf pros learned the above basic putting technique are able to putt the ball almost perfectly in any selected directions to the hole even by use of the conventional putters. But, amateurs in golf using such putters cannot putt with holding the club face in any targeted directions, so that they often awkwardly pull the ball leftward or cause the ball to slice and cannot lower their scores. It is because the conventional putters are so designed or constructed that the player strikes the ball placed on the plane extending forward between the feet of the player, whereby the club head portion necessarily traces a circular path and points where the club face abuts against the ball are hardly constant. To be also pointed out is the fact that the players are apt to rotate their wrists and twist the club upon putting.This is a quite delicate and unavoidable matter affecting not only the amateurs in golf but also the golf pros depending on their condition during the tournament.

A further problem the players meet in putting using the conventional putters is that they can hit the ball with the club face either in conformity with the basic theory of putting or even in the foregoing awkward putting way twisting the club with the wrist but cannot determine relevance or effectiveness of the hitting methods before the end of putting. In other words, the players are enabled to some extent to merely hit the ball in any targeted directions even by whatever hitting methods, so that the players when hitting the ball do not or cannot recognize slight or minute changes of the club face in directions, resulting in that they cannot achieve a precise hitting of the ball in targeted directions.Also, to determine any putting directions, the players need to turn and turn back several times their heads to look at the ball, the hole and the green therebetween, whereby it takes time before the start of hitting the ball. Further, the players when striking the ball can or do look only at the ball (not with any targeted directions that the ball will roll) to be apt to have failures in putting.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a putter so designed as to allow a player to hit the ball which is placed nearer the hole than the player's feet are, so that the player can readily grasp directions in which the ball is to be hit, and also prevent deviation of the club head portion from a desired posture in the course from the taking-back of the club (pulling the club head portion backward) to the hitting of the ball.

The present invention is directed to a putter comprising a club head portion having a club-face for hitting a golf ball and a shaft connected to the club head portion, the shaft being mounted to the club head portion at the rear side of the club-face in such manner of having an angle of 10. or more from a vertical plane which is defined by a specific surface of the club head portion including the club-face with a sole of the club head portion being positioned at its lower end.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The "club-face" referred to herein is a surface provided on the club head portion for hitting the golf ball. The club-face may be formed directly with a part of the club head portion or use a separately formed member to be fixed on the club head portion. Conventionally, the loft of the club-face is about 0 to 5 ' , so that the club-face strikes against the ball in the state of being vertical or slightly opening upward and the shaft is upright in this case (in a front view of the player and irrespective of the lie angle).

The inventor deems the concept of loft which expresses slant of club-face is not proper for the putter according to the present invention in which the shaft is mounted to the club head portion at the rear side of the club-face as having the angle of 10. or more from the vertical plane defined by the specific surface having the club-face. In detail, the loft expresses angles from the vertical made by the club-face with the shaft being upright upon the club's hitting of the ball and is not properly applicable to the putter according to the present invention constructed to enable hitting the ball with the shaft being substantially inclined.The putter according to the invention drastically reforms the conventional putting methods and allows the player to address and hit the ball which is placed nearer the hole than the player's feet are, without causing the shaft to be upright. In this case, the club-face may be vertical or open or close about 2 - 3 as conventionally.

Also, the club head portion having the club-face is not limited in shape and quality of material to any particular ones and may use, for example, a feature for adjustment of balance by attaching or detaching a weight, as conventionally. In brief, satisfactory are whatever club head portions mounting a shaft which is slanted 10 or more with respect to and at the rear side of the club-face. The rear side of the club-face is the opposite side to that for hitting the ball.

The "shaft" is a straight rod-like member having a grip, is not limited in shape and quality of material to any particular ones and may be constructed as conventionally.

The shaft may be mounted directly onto the upper surface or rear surface portion of the club head portion or may be attached thereto through a separately provided member.

Generally, the shaft is connected to a hosel (or neck) formed on the club head portion. The shaft is required to be straight but the hosel may be shaped as desired1 for example, to be straight, bent in V-shape or curved.

The slant of the shaft with respect to the club-face may be satisfactory to be 10. or more. The inventor has found out from tests that the slant of shaft in the range 10 to 50 enables use of the putter without any problems.

Although the larger slants of the shaft allow the player to more readily hit the ball in any targeted directions, the player has to undergo a problem of posture in hitting the ball. Hence, the slant of shaft about 30 is most preferable. The slant of shaft may be adjustable by an angle adjuster mechanism for adjusting the angles at the shaft mounting part on the club head portion. For this purpose, the club head portion may comprise a head part and a separate member having the club-face to provide adjustment of the angles by a connecting part between the head part and the separate member. Further, the lie angles of the shaft are not limited to any particular values and may be those as conventionally.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig.l(a) is a front view showing an example of the putter according to the present invention, and Fig. l(b) a side view of Fig. l(a).

Fig. 2 is a front view of a player addressing with the putter shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a front view of a player differently gripping the putter shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a front view of a player taking-back the putter shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a front view of a player hitting the ball with the putter shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 (a) is a plan view showing the swung putter according to the present invention tracing a circular path, and Fig. 6(b) a plan view showing a conventional putter swung and tracing a circular path.

Fig. 7 is a front view showing a modified example of the putter according to the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a front view showing a further modified example of the putter according to the present invention.

EMBODIMENTS Next, the invention will be detailed with referring to the examples shown in the attached drawings.

Figs. l(a) and l(b) show an example of a putter 1 according to the present invention. An angle L between a club-face 3 on a club head portion 2 and a shaft 4 is set at 30 . The shaft 4 is connected to a hosel 9 formed on the club head portion 2 and has the lie angle of 70 ' . In this example, a sole of the club head portion 2 is formed with a curved surface as shown in Fig. l(a) to prevent the sole from being caught by the green upon the taking-back of club or the hitting of the ball.

Use of the putter 1 is shown in Fig. 2. The player M first addresses in a position more away from the hole than a ball 5 is. That is, the player M is behind the ball 5 with respect to the hole. In this instance, the club face 3 defines an almost vertical surface with the player M grasping a grip 6 of the shaft 4 slanting at 30 . The gripping method may be the same as conventionally with the palm of the right hand (of right-handed player) slightly facing upward.

Gripping method of the grip 6 is not limited to that shown in this example but may be freely selected depending on individual difference, for example, the so-called reversed hands with the player's right hand gripping the upper part of the grip 6 and the left hand the lower part as seen in Fig. 3.

After addressing, the player M straightly pulls backward the club head portion 2 to move it almost horizontally in an opposite direction to the hitting of the ball 5 as shown in Fig. 4. In this case, the club head portion 2 is enabled not to trace a circular path as by the conventional putter but to be pulled backward straightly with the player M being enabled to recognize the situation.

After pulling the club head portion backward to a desired position, the player does, as shown in Fig. 5, hit the ball 5 in a manner of straightly pushing out the ball 5 through the player's both shoulders. Actually, the player using the putter 1 according to the present invention putts the ball 5 in a feeling of giving a stroke to the ball but not striking the same. The player M can intentionally and visually cause the ball 5 to have a straight impact from the club head portion while the player can effectively watch the situation from the back side of the ball 5, simultaneously looking at the hole.

Fig. 6(a) shows the putter 1 swung and tracing a circular path. When the club is pulled backward from the addressing position shown by the solid line to the taking-back position shown by the two-dot chain line through a circular path, the club face 3 apparently faces in a quite different direction with respect to the ball 5. The player M can surely recognize the fact during taking back of the club.

In detail, the player M can look down the fact obliquely to recognize that the club-face 3 is moved away from the ball 5 while being changed in the facing direction with respect to the ball 5. Hence, the player M is enabled to take back the club always straightly, watching the club head portion 2 together with the ball 5.

Also, when the player does, after taking back the club straightly, cause the club head portion to trace a circular path or rotate the player's wrists in the course toward the hitting of the ball, the club face 3 is changed in the facing direction with respect to the ball 5 to be away therefrom and the club head portion 2 itself is moved into a different direction from the ball 5 (as shown by the one-dot chain line). The player M can surely recognize the fact, too.

In use of the conventional putter 10 shown in Fig.

6(b), the club face 11 always faces to the ball 5 in the taking-back straightly or through a circular path as shown by the two-dot chain line. Resultantly, the player cannot recognize the difference in the taking-back. Also, even when the club head portion traces a circular path in the course to the hitting position of the ball, the face 11 faces to the ball 5 and the club head portion 12 itself is moved toward the ball 5, resulting in occurrence of the awkward pulling leftward of the ball or causing the ball to slice.

Fig. 7 shows a modified example of the putter 1 accord ing the present invention in which a part of a hosel 9 for connecting the shaft 4 with the club head portion 2 is parallel to an axis extending perpendicularly to the club face 3 (the part of hosel is called "a horizontal axis 7" hereunder). In the example, the angle between the shaft 4 and the club face 3 is 20 " . The player M is enabled to recognize positions of the club face 3 in the horizontal and vertical directions by looking at the horizontal axis 7.

Also, as shown in Fig. 8, an axial line 8 may be applied on the upper surface of the horizontal axis 7, using a color readily recognizable by the player M. In the example, the line 8 is applied also on the upper surface of the club head portion 2 as being parallel to the club face 3 to allow the player to further readily recognize the facing directions of the club face 3.

EFFECTS As seen from the above, the putter according to the present invention has been designed to allow the players to putt in the manner drastically different from that of the conventional putters, and structurally solve the defect created in the conventional art that the facing directions of the club face vary upon the hitting of the ball. The putter of the invention is so constructed that the player addresses with the ball being placed nearer the hole than the player's feet are, and hits the ball in the situation, so that the player is enabled to hit the ball surely in any targeted directions and the amateurs or beginners in golf can make putting in desired directions. Also, since the invention causes the ball to be nearer the hole than the player's feet are upon the addressing, it provides such advantages that the player when determining putting directions can look at the hole from the back side of the ball to thereby accurately and quickly recognize the target lines and hit the ball in that situation.

The invention may be summarised as follows: A putter comprising a club head portion having a club-face for hitting a golf ball and a shaft connected to the club head portion, the shaft being mounted to the club head portion at the rear side of the club-face in such manner of having an angle of 10 or more from a vertical plane which is defined by a specific surface of the club head portion including the club-face with a sole of the club head portion being positioned at its lower end.

Claims

1. A putter comprising a club head having a club-face for hitting a golf ball and a shaft connected to the club head, the shaft extending rearwardly of and at an angle of 10 or more to a plane defined by the club-face.

2. A putter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shaft is connected to a rear side of the club head.

3. A putter as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the club head has a sole disposed so as to allow the putter to be used with the club-face substantially vertical.

4. A putter substantially as described herein with reference to and as illustrated in Figures la and lb, Figure 7 or Figure 8 of the accompanying drawings.