GB2427565A

GB2427565A - Golf club alignment device using parallax sighting

Info

Publication number: GB2427565A
Application number: GB0512891A
Authority: GB
Inventors: David Cox
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-06-24
Filing date: 2005-06-24
Publication date: 2007-01-03
Anticipated expiration: 2025-06-24
Also published as: GB2427565B; GB0512891D0

Abstract

Alignment device 1 for aligning a golf club and a golfer comprises target 7 bearing upwardly extending sight 8 defining a first axis to provide parallax sighting, target 7 being mounted on body 5 and rotatable about at least one of second and third axes with the second axis being perpendicular to the first, and means, e.g. mounting sleeve 3 and securing part 2, for attaching device 1 to the club such that sight 8 may be positioned adjacent striking face 13. Target 7 may be slidable parallel to the second and/or third axes, and means (not shown) may be provided for locking target 7 in position. First and second shafts 4, 6 may be provided coincident with the second and third axes respectively, with body 5 adjustably received on first shaft 4, and second shaft 6 projecting from body 5 and adjustably receiving target 7. Second shaft 6 may be parallel to the length of striking face 13, and the second and third axes may be mutually perpendicular. Means, e.g. line 12, may be provided for visually aligning sight 8 with the centre of a golf ball (not shown), and sight 8 may have at least one coloured circle 10 concentric within a vertically displaced, differently coloured circle 11 to provide parallax sighting.

Description

TITLE

GOLF CLUB ALIGNMENT DEVICE

DESCRIPTION

Field of invention

The invention relates to golf club aids and in particular to an alignment device which assists a player holding a golf club in aligning himself into a desired position relative to a striking face of the golf club.

ckground art Golf is a sport in which the relative alignment between a player holding a golf club and the golf club is important in achieving accuracy and thence sporting success.

Small differences in position of the player relative to a striking face of a golf club can make large differences in the shot played. Typically a player aims at aligning himself into a desired position relative to the striking face of the golf club, from which he is able to swing the club and strike a golf ball positioned in front of the player. The desired position is one in which a consistent swing is achieved, resulting in superior control of the golf ball and consequently greater success in sinking the golf ball into a hole.

Each player's desired position is unique, and is discovered by means of trial and error during practice. Once the player has discovered his desired position for a particular type of golf club, he will always try to regain that position so as to ensure consistency of stroke. As will be appreciated, there are many variables involved in the relative positioning of player, ball and club. For this reason, casual players may find it difficult to both find and regain a desired position and therefore their ability at golf may be poor. To help position himself, such players typically place visual or tactile markers such as striped tape on the shaft of the golf club. Whilst useful, these markers do little to help align the head, and in particular the eye, of the player over the golf ball. It is known in ball-striking sports, such as tennis and golf, that the ball, surface of the striking implement and eye of the player should all be in line when the surface strikes the hail. In addition, these modifications are peculiar to a particular golf club and player, and are of little help when one player is using another club which does not belong to him. There is therefore a need for a device which assists the player to align himself relative to the club and which can be used on a range of clubs.

The invention The invention provides an alignment device as claimed in claim 1.

The target member may have a generally upwardly facing surface. A sight may project upwardly or alternatively downwardly into the target member from this surface, so as to define an axis. The sight may be perpendicular to the surface. For example, the target member may be a rectangular block, and the sight may be a cylindrical member projecting upwardly from one of the two largest surfaces of the block. In another example, the sight may be a cone extending downwardly into the surface of the block, with parallax sighting provided by differently coloured rings on the surface of the cone.

Parallax sighting covers all means of visual alignment whereby a first part of the sight and a second part of the sight or the target member, which is spaced from the first part along the first axis, are brought into alignment by the movement of the head of a player holding a club to which the device is attached. When aligned, an imaginary straight line connects the first part, second part and the player's eye.

Either the target member or the body on which it is mounted may be rotated about a second axis, perpendicular to the first axis, into a preferred position. Either may be additionally rotated about a third axis, also perpendicular to the first into the preferred position. Either may be rotatably mounted using a rotatable joint such as a ball and socket joint, although preferably the target member is mounted on and is rotatable about a first smooth cylindrical shaft parallel to the second axis. Preferably the cylindrical shaft is mounted on the body, and the body member itself is rotatably mounted about a second smooth cylindrical shaft parallel to the third axis. Preferably the second cylindrical shaft is mounted on a mounting part which in use is attached on or close to the striking face of the club away from any potential ball-contacting areas.

For example, when the device is attached to a club, the player can rotate the device into a preferred position in which his head is in a position in which the first part, second part and his eyes are in line. By practising using the club the player will discover a desired position in which his stroke is consistent. He can then adjust the device into a preferred position corresponding to the desired position, and thus readily regain the desired position by using the parallax sighting to align himself.

The target member may be moved along the second or third axes into the preferred position. For example, this may be achieved by simply sliding the target member or body along the first or second smooth cylindrical shafts respectively. It will be understood that there will be one preferred position, which can be obtained by rotating the target sight about the second and / or third axes and / or by sliding the target sight along the second and / or third axes.

The term "adjustably received" will he understood by the skilled reader to include rotational and / or longitudinal movement about and along an axis.

A locking means for locking the target member or body in position may be provided and prevent rotational and / or longitudinal movement about or along the axes. For example, the locking means may be a clamp made integrally with the target member, which wraps around the shaft and is then tightened by means of a screw. Additional locking members may be provided, for example on the body member.

The second cylindrical shaft may be made longer than the first cylindrical shaft. In use the second shaft may lie substantially parallel to the plane of the striking face and above the striking face, so that the target member may slide along the whole length of the second shaft parallel to the striking face. This enables the player to position the target member freely along the striking face, optionally positioning the sight near the ball or at the sweet spot of the striking face.

The second and third shafts may he adjustable in their relative angular orientation, or they may be fixed, for example at 90 degrees to each other. The shafts may be adjustable about another axis.

Further alignment means for aligning the centre of the sight with the centre of a golf hail may be provided. These may comprise a linear visual feature such as a coloured stripe or groove running across an upwardly facing surface of the target member from one side to another and substantially perpendicular to the striking face.

A mounting sleeve for attaching to the striking face of the club may be provided. The mounting sleeve may receive and hold the mounting part, permitting the alignment device to he connected to the sleeve as desired. The mounting sleeve may be mounted to a part of the striking face away from the ball-contacting area and shaft, and aligned with the top face of edge of the striking face. The sleeve may be attached using semipermanent adhesive permitting the sleeve to be attached and detached as desired. In use the first shaft may run away from the striking face so as to hold the rest of the device away from overhanging the striking face.

The sleeve is preferably mounted to the face because the striking face of each and every golf club is substantially flat and is thus a suitable mounting surface.

The upwardly extending sight may have an open or closed circle of one colour painted on it. Preferably when the sight is made from the cylindrical member, the end of the cylindrical member is one colour, and another circle of a different colour is painted around the base of the cylinder on the upwardly facing surface of the target member.

Preferably the colours are contrasting colours, and even more preferably the colour on the end of the cylinder is less visible than the colour on the target member. Most preferably the colour on the target member is yellow and the end of the shaft is black.

Similar colours may be used to provide the visual linear feature on the upwardly fitcing surface of the target member.

The alignment device may be modified so that it can be attached to all clubs including driving and fairway woods, irons and putters.

The alignment device may he made integrally with the club, for example on the back face of the club facing upwardly.

Drawings Figure 1 shows a partial view of a typical golf putter; Figure 2 shows a front view of the device according to the invention when attached to a putter; Figure 3 shows a plan view device according to the invention when attached to a putter; Figure 4 shows a section taken along the line A-A of the device; and Figure 5 shows an end view of the device according to the invention when attached to a putter.

The drawings are schematic only.

A typical golf putter having a head mounted on a shaft is shown in Figure 1. The putter shown has a flat near vertical striking face 13 and a perpendicular upper surface 14. The design of putters is not standardised, so the relative positioning of the striking lace and upper surface can vary substantially from one putter to another putter.

Figure 2 shows the device I according to the invention. The device I is arached to a putter adjacent and above the striking face 13 by means of a mounting part 2. The mounting part 2 is a sheet of rigid plastic which extends downwardly arid is received in a similarly shaped sleeve 3. A means (not shown) for securing the part 2 to the sleeve 3 is provided. The sleeve 3 is attached to a part of the striking face 13 away from the striking area I 5.

A first shaft 4 projects outwardly from an upper end of the mounting part 2 and away from the striking face 13. This shaft 4 is parallel to a second axis. A body 5 is tightly mounted on the first shaft 4. The body 5 can be slid along and rotated about the first shaft 4, and can be locked in position. The curved double ended arrow shows the possible rotational movement.

A second shaft 6 projects outwardly from the body 5 and perpendicular to the first shaft 4, so that the second shaft 6 runs parallel to the uppermost edge of the striking surface 14. On other putters (not shown), the uppermost edge may not be straight, so the second shaft 6 would be aligned parallel to the striking face 13 instead. This second shaft 6 is parallel to a third axis. The second shaft 6 is longer than the first shaft 4 to allow the target member 7 to be positioned freely along the length of the striking face 13.

The target member 7 is slidably and rotatably mounted on the second shaft 6. It can be locked in any chosen position, provided there is sufficient clearance between the putter and the lower surface of the target member 7. The target member 7 is a parallelepiped, having two large parallel surfaces facing upwards and downwards. A cylindrical targeting sight 8 projects vertically upwards from the upper surface 9 of the target member 7. The sight 8 is parallel to and defines a first axis.

In Figure 3 the method of parallax sighting can he appreciated. The uppermost surface of the sight is one colour 10 and the base of the sight is surrounded by a circle of another colour 11. By aligning the top of the sight centrally within the circle 11 around the base a player can be sure that his eyes and the top and base of the sight are in one line. Because the relative positioning of the sight 8 un the club can he fixed in a preferred position after trial and error, the player can repeatedly regain a desired position by using this optical alignment. Colours do not have to be employed; any feature permitting such alignment is sufficient.

The circle 11 on the uppermost surface 9 is bisected by a line 12 running perpendicular to the striking face 13. This is another alignment feature, enabling the player to align the centre of the sight adjacent a golf ball, which itself is adjacent the end of the line 12. The sight 8 is not positioned directly adjacent the striking face 13 to leave a space around the base of the sight to permit the parallax sighting to work.

Arrows show the possible range of movement of the target member 7 and body 5 along their axes.

Figure 4 shows the body memberS mounted on the first shaft 4 and mounting part 2. * S. * S S S.. S

Figure 5 shows the target member 2 facing upwardly, and the ways it can rotate about * S..

the second shaft 6.

S..... * S

S * S S. S * SS *5 S

S S S

c206001 doc

Claims

1. An alignment device for aligning a striking face of a golf club and a player holding the golf club, the alignment device comprising a target member having an upwardly extending sight in use defining a first axis to provide parallax sighting, the target member being mounted on a body and being rotatable about at least one of second and third axes into a preferred position, the second axis being perpendicular to the first axis; and an attachment means for attaching the alignment device to the golf club such that the sight may be positioned adjacent to the striking face.

2. An alignment device according to claim 1, wherein the target member is slidable parallel to the second axis into the preferred position.

3. An alignment device according to claim I or claim 2, wherein the target member is slidable parallel to the third axis into the preferred position.

4. An alignment device according to any preceding claim, wherein a locking means for locking the target sight into the preferred position is provided.

5. An alignment device according to any of claims I to 4, wherein first and second shafts coincident with the second and third axes respectively are provided, with the body being adjustably received on the first shaft, and the second shaft projecting from the body and adjustably receiving the target member.

6. An alignment device according to claim 5, wherein the second shaft is positioned parallel to the length of the striking face of the club.

7. An alignment device according to any preceding claim, wherein the second and third axes are mutually perpendicular.

8. An alignment device according to any preceding claim, wherein further alignment means for visually aligning the centre of the upwardly extending sight with the centre of a golf ball placed adjacent the striking face is provided.

9. An alignment device according to claim 8, wherein the further alignment means comprises a linear visual feature across an upwardly atcing surface of the target member.

10. An alignment device according to any preceding claim, wherein the attachment means comprises a mounting sleeve for fixing to the golf club, and a mounting part of the body which is tightly received within the mounting sleeve.

I 1. An alignment device according to any preceding claim, wherein the upwardly extending sight has at least one circle in one colour concentric within a vertically displaced circle of another colour, thus providing parallax sighting.

12. An alignment device as described herein with reference to the drawings.

13. A golf club incorporating the alignment device according to any preceding claim.

14. A golf club according to claim 13, wherein the mounting sleeve is fixed to the club by a semi-permanent adhesive.