Grip training aid for golf clubs

This application claims priority to the filing date of provisional patent application No. 61/013,312 filed Dec. 13, 2007.

1. Field of the Invention

This invention generally pertains to the field of sporting equipment and more particularly is directed to a training aid for use with golf clubs which are gripped and swung by a player for driving a ball in play.

2. State of the Prior Art

Many sports require use of an instrument such as a club, racket or bat, etc. Many people cannot develop a consistent powerful swing with the instrument due to gripping the instrument too tight. This is done in many cases because the player has a conscious or subconscious fear of losing the instrument from his or her grip during the swing. This overly tight grip may keep the player from properly “cocking” their wrist and may result in error prone “guiding” of the instrument.

This invention is an easily attached safety strap that attaches to the instrument on one end and goes around the wrist on the other. This allows the user to properly cock their wrist, at the right time, by safely loosening or even releasing their grip to practice their swing safely. This kind of practice develops a more efficient, powerful, natural swing without error prone “guiding” caused by too tight a grip.

The invention is a training aid for use with golf clubs of the type having a shaft of tapering thickness between a club grip and a club head, comprising a coupler releasably attachable to the shaft near or against the club grip, and a hand strap attached to the coupler and adapted for wrapping about a club user\'s hand gripping the club grip thereby to keep the club from slipping out of the user\'s grip when swinging the club.

In a presently preferred embodiment the coupler is a retaining collar having an interior dimension sized to encompass the club shaft near the club grip, with a slot in the collar sized for admitting the club shaft radially into the collar at a narrower shaft location spaced from the club grip but for retaining the collar radially on the shaft at a thicker club location near the club grip. The interior dimension of the collar is sized to keep the collar against axial displacement over the club grip while allowing the collar to turn or swivel about the club shaft.

The hand strap is fastened to the retaining collar, preferably by a releasable swivel connector. The hand strap is preferably adjustable in effective length to permit tightening the strap between the user\'s gripping hand on the club grip and the coupler or collar attached to the club shaft. For example, the hand strap may be threaded through a buckle to allow adjustment of the hand strap effective length to a relatively taut, slack-free state between the player\'s gripping hand and the club shaft in order to restrain the club grip against slipping significantly through the player\'s gripping hand while the club is swung.

The coupler with the strap is interchangeably attachable to any of multiple golf clubs in a set of clubs each having a shaft of tapering width, so that the same grip training aid can be moved from club to club as different clubs come into play during a game.

The presently preferred strap is a flat band with two strap sides or faces between two strap edges. One side or face of the strap may be marked for identifying a correct outward facing side of the strap when wrapped about the wrist of the user\'s gripping hand. The strap may be further marked for further identifying one strap edge on the outward facing side as a correct club facing strap edge of the strap when worn about the wrist of the gripping hand.

The invention also encompasses a method for improving a golfer\'s two handed grip on a golf club of the type having a club shaft between a club grip and a club head, comprising the steps of releasably attaching a strap to the club shaft; and wrapping the strap about an upper hand of the two handed grip thereby to restrain the club against significant slippage through the two handed grip during swinging of the club by the golfer. The novel method further comprises the step of tightening the strap to minimize displacement of the club relative to the upper hand during swinging of the club by the golfer. The method still further comprises the step of releasing the strap from the club shaft such that the strap is available for use on another golf club in a set of clubs used by the golfer. Preferably the strap is attachable to the golf club by a retainer collar slotted for admitting a narrow portion of the club shaft but sized to hold the collar against release from the shaft on a thicker portion of the shaft near or adjacent to the club grip.

More generally, the invention is a training aid for use with a sport instrument such as a club, bat or racket of the type having a shaft between an instrument head and an instrument grip by a player holding the grip with at least one gripping hand. The training aid has a coupler removably attachable to the shaft near the grip and a hand strap attached to the coupler and adapted for wrapping about the aforementioned hand of the player, the hand strap being adjustable for tightening between the gripping hand of the player and the shaft thereby to substantially prevent longitudinal displacement of the shaft away from the gripping hand during swinging of the instrument by the player.

The invention further contemplates a general method for improving a player\'s hand grip on a club, bat or racket of the type having a shaft between an instrument head and an instrument grip, comprising the steps of attaching a coupler to the shaft near the grip with a hand strap attached to the coupler and adapted for wrapping about a gripping hand of the player, the hand strap being adjustable for tightening between the gripping hand of the player and the shaft thereby to substantially prevent longitudinal displacement of the shaft away from the gripping hand during swinging of the club, bat or racket by the player.

These and other improvements, features and advantages of the present invention will be better understood by reference to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

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Previous Patent Application:
Golf instruction system and method
Next Patent Application:
Golf club
Industry Class:
Games using tangible projectile

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