GB2534561A

GB2534561A - Device for practising golf

Info

Publication number: GB2534561A
Application number: GB1501139.8A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Rudland Mark
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2015-01-23
Filing date: 2015-01-23
Publication date: 2016-08-03
Also published as: GB201501139D0

Abstract

A device for the use of practising golf comprises a object 2 with a hollowed core 6; a flowable substance 8; and a hole 4 leading from the surface of the device to the hollowed core, wherein the flowable substance 8 is contained within the hollowed core 6; and the flowable substance is capable of leaving a visible mark. The device is preferably a substantially spherical practice golf ball and can be used to locate the point of contact a golf club face makes on the ball by the flowable substance exiting the hole and leaving a mark on the club face, thereby determining the success of hitting the sweet spot of the club face. The flowable substance may be a powder, liquid or gel.

Description

Device for Practising Golf

BACKGROUND

a. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a practice golf ball and determining the point of contact a ball makes with a golf club on impact.

b. Related Art It is customary knowledge that to master the game of golf, there is a central point on a golf club face at which it is optimum to hit a ball for an advantageous trajectory and maximum velocity. The location of this point of contact a golf club makes with a ball on impact is known as the 'sweet spot' and, in practising golf, it is desired to practise the skill of hitting the ball using the sweet spot.

A number of manufacturers have invested in a variety of means of maximising the sweet spot, but it still remains a goal for golfers to practise hitting a golf ball using the sweet spot. It is thus an object for manufacturers to provide a means of indicating the point of contact a on a golf club on hitting a ball in order for golfers to measure progress in their practice of achieving the optimal shot by hitting the sweet spot.

More recently, these methods have incorporated chemical means to indicate the point of contact between two objects. Notably US 7241237 involves a ball which treats its cover using microencapsulation, such that the microencapsules rupture above a predetermined force threshold. However, such a ball is expensive to manufacture.

Focus has been given to providing devices with means of marking the golf club visibly through non-chemical means. US 5120358 provides a golf practice aid in -2 -which a flowable chalk compound may be placed on a golf ball at the intended point of contact with a club face. Additionally, US 2007197309 discloses a golf practice device including a first upper part and a second lower part, the latter lined with compressed powder. The device removably receives a golf ball, such that half of the golf ball's surface is encompassed in the compressed powder and, on impact with a golf club, the compressed powder acts as a marker to locate the point of contact. However, both of these inventions involve a more than one instrument in order to determine the location of the point of contact.

According to standard golf play, the point of said contact during impact lasts for approximately 500 ps, and with golf swings having speeds of up to 74 ms-1, the resulting thrust ranges up to 9 000 N with corresponding trajectory distances up to 471 m. In order to practise golf, a reduced trajectory is often desired for the same force. Consequently, for the purposes of practising golf, it is favourable to incorporate means for increasing drag on the golf balls, such that the trajectory of a ball after impact is of an appropriate distance for practice and possible indoor play. It is a standard in the field for practice golf balls to be composed of a spongelike material, in order to increase the effects of drag.

The present invention relates to locating the point of contact a golf club makes on a ball to determine the success of hitting the 'sweet spot' and overcoming the above problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a device for the use of practising golf, the device comprising: - a preferably substantially spherical object witha hollowed core; - a flowable substance; and -a hole leading from the surface of the device to the hollowed core, wherein the flowable substance is contained within the hollowed core; and the flowable substance is capable of leaving a visible mark. -3 -

Preferably, the visible mark is removable by cleaning means.

Preferably, the device comprises uniformly distributed circular surface depressions 5 and/or the device is made from foam.

The flowable substance lying in the core of the hollowed core may be a powder and/or gel and/or liquid, wherein chalk is a preferable substance.

In some embodiments, the drag on the device is increased with an integrally adjoined support, wherein the support is affixed to the object at a surface perpendicular to the object surface at which the hole is located. The support comprises at least one leg and it is preferable that the support is a tripod structure, and/or is composed from foam.

The device may be refillable, whereby the flowable substance is injected into the hollowed core through the hole. Some embodiments have an opening stopped by a plug attached by temporary means.

In use, following the impact of a golf club against the device, the visible mark may then be observed on the golf club, such that the location of the point of contact may be evaluated for the success of hitting a golf ball on its optimum trajectory.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a device for practising golf in a first embodiment, comprising a ball; Figure 2 is a cross-sectional side view of Figure 1; -4 -Figure 3 is a golf club; Figure 4 is a cross-sectional side view of a golf club descending on a stationary ball; Figure 5 is a cross-sectional side-view of the impact of a golf club on a stationary ball; Figure 6 is a cross-sectional side-view of a golf club and ball after impact, with the ball following a trajectory; Figure 7 is a perspective view of a ball comprising uniformly distributed circular surface depressions; Figure 8 is a perspective view of the device in a second embodiment, comprising a ball and an integrally adjoined tripod support; Figure 9 is the device in a second embodiment, comprising an integrally adjoined single-legged support.

Figure 10 is a cross-sectional view of the device in Figure 1 including a plug; Figure 11 is the plug shown in Figure 10; and Figure 12 is a perspective view of the device, indicating an inner channelled hollowed core. -5 -

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention concerns a device and its use in determining the point of contact a ball makes with a golf club on impact.

A device for practising golf comprises a substantially spherical object such as a ball 2 and is shown in a first preferred embodiment in Figure 1. The ball 2 is compressible, such that it regains its spherical shape following compression. The ball 2 comprises a hollowed core 6 filled with a flowable substance 8 and a hole 4 in the surface of the ball 2 penetrating through the ball 2 only as far as the hollowed core 6, as illustrated in Figure 2.

The hollowed core 6 is an internal cavity of any shape or size within the ball 2. Most preferably, the hollowed core 6 is spherical, as illustrated in Figure 2. In another example, the hollowed core 6 may be of a cylindrical structure, such that it is observed as a channel running through the ball 2, as demonstrated in Figure 12.

As shown in Figure 6, the flowable substance 8 is capable of making a visible mark 80, and preferably such that said visible mark 80 may be removed by means of wiping, cleaning and/or washing. The flowable substance 8 is preferably made from a powder, such as chalk, and/or a liquid and/or a gel.

A golf club 12 is illustrated in Figure 3 comprising a shaft 4, a club head 16 located at one end of the shaft and at least one flat face 18 on the club head 16. In use, as demonstrated in Figures 4 to 6, the golf club 12 is swung by gripping the shaft 14 to impact a stationary ball 2, such that the flat face 18 comes into contact with or near the hole 4 on the ball 2. The force of the said impact should be great enough to force the flowable substance 8 to evacuate the ball 2 through the hole 4 and visibly mark 80 the flat face 18 of the golf club 16. Since only a small amount of the flowable substance 8 is required to mark visibly 80 the golf club flat face 18 and accounting for an impact time of 500 ps, the force required in swinging the golf club 12 is minimal to cause such a visible mark 80. -6 -

The hole 4 preferably has a small diameter, for example less than 2 mm, to act as a means of efficiently localising the visible mark 80 of the contact point of impact. Additionally, the said diameter should allow the ball 2 to efficiently contain the flowable substance 8 when the ball 2 is not experiencing an impact.

The ball 2 is preferably foam 10, in order to reduce the distance of the trajectory. A foam ball 2 experiences a compression 40 on impact, such that less energy from the force on impact is transferred into propelling the ball 2 into motion. Additionally, foam 10 will act to increase the drag experienced during flight.

The ball 2 in Figures 1 and 2, preferably comprises an additional feature of surface depressions 110, as demonstrated in Figure 7. The ball 2 preferably has a multitude of shallow uniformly distributed circular surface depressions 110, in accordance with regular golf balls, usually ranging from 250 to 400 surface depressions in total, and having a depth less than 1 mm.

In another embodiment of the invention, a device comprising a ball 202 with the same features of ball 2 preferably has an additional structural feature of a support 222, 224, as illustrated in Figures 8 and 9. The support 222, 224 is an integrally adjoined support on the ball 202 in order to act as both a tee conventionally used in golf, as well as to act as a means of increasing the drag and reducing the distance travelled by the ball 202 following impact. The support 222, 224 is preferably adjoined by permanent means, such as glue, to the ball 202 on a surface of the object perpendicular to the point at which a hole 204 has been made, such that when standing, the hole 204 faces a plane parallel to the ground. The support comprises at least one leg, wherein the leg(s) of the support 222, 224 are preferably made from a foam material, and, when there is more than one leg, these legs may be identical and protruding from a single location on the ball 202 surface. It is preferable for the support 222, 224 to be of a tripod structure 222, as illustrated in Figure 8, providing a stable yet lightweight support. -7 -

The structure of a ball 2 with a hollowed core 6 and hole 4 may be constructed by drilling through a foam ball 2, such that the drill does not break through the opposing side of the ball 2, in order that a central cavity can form a hollowed core 6. The ball 2, once drilled, preferably resembles a bowl shape with a narrow 5 opening 36, wherein the resultant opening 36 may be plugged with a foam plug 32, as shown in Figures 10 and 11. The plug 32 is preferably of the same dimensions as the opening 36 and is adjoined to the ball 2 using attachment means 34. The attachment means 34 may be permanent, such as glue, or alternatively, the attachment means 34 may be temporary, such that the plug 32 10 can be removed as required. A hole 4 may then be created at any point on the surface of the ball, and may lie in the centre of the plug 32.

If the attachment means 34 is permanent, the hollowed core 6 is preferably filled with a flowable substance 8 before the opening 36 is stopped with the plug 32.

Alternatively, if the attachment means 34 is non-permanent, then the hollowed core 6 may be filled with a flowable substance 8 when the plug 32 is temporarily removed and the ball 2 is now refillable. Another method of refilling the hollowed core 6 with flowable substance 8 involves injecting the ball 2 with said flowable substance 8 through the hole 4.

A method of using the ball 2 to practise golf comprises placing the ball 2 on the ground, such that the hole 4 lies on a plane parallel to the ground. The golf club 12 may be swung by the shaft 14 to hit the stationary ball 2, such that the flat face 18 comes into contact with the area surrounding the hole 4 with force substantial enough to cause the flowable substance 8 lying in the hollowed core 6 to evacuate the ball 2 through the hole 4 and leave a visible mark 80 on the flat face 18. Following the impact of the golf club 12 on the ball 2, the visible mark 80 may be observed to measure the location of the point of contact between the ball 2 and the flat face 18. -8 -

Claims

CLAIMS1. A device for the use of practising golf comprising: an object with a hollowed core; a flowable substance; and a hole leading from the surface of the object to the hollowed core, wherein the flowable substance is contained within the hollowed core; and the flowable substance is capable of leaving a visible mark.
2. A device according to claim 1, in which the object is substantially spherical.
3. A device according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the visible mark is removable by cleaning means.
4. A device according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the surface of the object comprises uniformly distributed circular surface depressions.
5. A device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the flowable substance is a powder.
6. A device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the flowable substance is a liquid.
7. A device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the flowable substance is a gel.
8. A device according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising an integrally adjoined support, wherein the support is affixed to the device at a point where the surface of the object is perpendicular to the surface of the object at which the hole is located.
9. A device according to claim 8, wherein the integrally adjoined support has -9 -at least one leg.
10. A device according to claim 9, wherein the integrally adjoined support has three legs.
11. A device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the device includes an opening which is plugged.
12. A device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the device is composed of foam.
13. A device substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.