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Divot indicating golf practice devicesRelated Patent Categories: Games Using Tangible Projectile, Golf, Practice Projectile Addressing Surface (e.g., Driving Mat, Etc.)Divot indicating golf practice devices description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060128493, Divot indicating golf practice devices. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] The present application is related to, incorporates by reference and claims the priority benefit of U.S. Provisional Application 60/529,048 filed Dec. 11, 2003. FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] The present invention relates to golf practice devices adapted to provide an indication of where a golf club strikes a mat (and/or, in some cases, the path the club head traverses across such a mat) during the process of hitting a golf ball. BACKGROUND [0003] In golf, many factors influence the flight characteristics a golf ball after being struck by the face of a golf club. Among these factors are the path of the club head prior to and during impact with the ball, the club head speed and the portion of the golf ball struck by the golf club. In order to achieve optimum flight characteristics, it is often desirable for the clubface to make contact with the golf ball just prior to or at the same instant as the leading edge of the club head strikes the underlying turf. This simultaneous (or near simultaneous) impact results in a pinching of the golf ball between the clubface and the turf, allowing the golfer to impart backspin to the ball through the action of the grooves on the clubface. Golfers refer to this process as "hitting down on the ball" or hitting the ball with a downward swing. [0004] In a proper golf swing, after making contact with the ball/turf the club head will generally continue down and forward for some distance, resulting in a cutting of the turf that was in front of the golf ball, before rising to complete the swing arc. Golfers refer to this action as "taking a divot". Ideally, the divot is relatively shallow and short (golfers sometimes liken the size of an ideal divot to the length of a U.S. dollar bill). By examining the divot relative to the former location of the golf ball a golfer can learn to adapt his or her swing so as to ensure that the bottom-most point of the swing arc coincides with the location of the golf ball resting on the turf, resulting in the pinching action discussed above. [0005] Unfortunately for many golfers, however, learning to consistently hit down on the ball is not an easy process. Sometimes the tendency is for golfers to try and "get under" the ball (i.e., to use the golf club to scoop the ball off the turf) in order to lift it into the air. Such action tends to cause a weak wrist flip through impact, resulting in shots that are either "fat" (meaning that the club strikes the ground behind the ball causing a loss of momentum) or "topped" (meaning that the club strikes only the top portion of the golf ball, resulting in top spin being imparted to the ball, which tends to minimize the distance the ball will travel). As a result, many hours of practice must often be devoted to developing a mechanically correct swing in order to achieve the proper pinching action between the clubface, the ball and the ground. [0006] As a result of the need for practice, golfers often frequent practice centers (e.g., driving ranges and the like) in order to work on their swings. Because of the number of golfers that utilize these centers, however, it is often impractical for the operators thereof to permit golfers to practice on natural grass. Instead, the practice center operators typically install synthetic turf practice mats from which the golfers may hit golf shots. [0007] Many forms of golf practice mats have been developed and used over the past few decades. An example of such a golf practice mat is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,451,683 of Oliver. Oliver's practice mat differed from those before it by incorporating synthetic turf bristles that were pivotally secured to a backing member. This was done in an effort to reduce wear, as it had been determined that non-pivotal bristles tended to wear out rather quickly under the repeated action of being struck by a golf club. By incorporating the pivoting bristles some resiliency was provided while preserving the feeling of striking golf balls off of natural turf. [0008] The idea of providing a practice mat that mimics the feeling of striking a golf ball on natural turf has resulted in the creation of many different varieties of mats. For example, artificial grasses of varying heights have been combined with shock pads of varying thicknesses and, in some cases, with other forms of shock absorbers to create many different forms of golf practice mats to simulate different turf conditions. Unfortunately, because these mats are synthetic they do not allow the golfer to take a divot when hitting a golf shot. Thus, the golfer cannot determine where the bottom of his or her swing arc truly is, relative to the location of the golf ball on the mat. A valuable feedback mechanism in learning to develop a proper golf swing is therefore lost. [0009] Recognizing that understanding the location and shape of a divot can be a valuable learning tool, others have attempted to overcome the shortcomings of conventional golf practice mats. A recent example is the divot practice mat described in U.S. Patent Application 2003/0087708 of Tiffin. The Tiffin mat consists of a mark retaining surface having simulated golf balls imprinted thereon and secured to a secure base. The mark retaining surface is described as a "no carbon required paper, carbon paper, or wax containing surface". Thus, this divot indicating mat is unlike conventional golf practice mats in that it eschews the use of turf-like fibers. [0010] To use the Tiffin mat, a golfer places a real golf ball on top of an image of a ball imprinted on the mat and hits it. During this process, as the golf club head strikes the mark retaining surface it leaves a mark, thus simulating a divot. By comparing the divot location to the image of the golf ball on which the actual ball had been placed, the golfer can determine whether or not the bottom of his or her swing had coincided with the location of the ball. While the Tiffin mat thus allows a golfer to get some visual feedback about the nature of his or her golf swing, it does not allow the golfer to obtain the feeling of striking a golf ball off of natural turf, as is provided by conventional golf mats. [0011] Another approach to providing visual feedback regarding a golf swing is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,717,349 of Bohnen. Bohnen describes a divot indicating golf practice mat made of flexible strands of metal wire supported on a rigid base. The golfer places a golf ball atop the metal strands and then proceeds to hit the ball with his or her golf club. When the golf ball is struck, the metal strands bend in the direction of travel of the golf club head and remain so bent, allowing the golfer to observe a simulated divot. To reset the metal strands into an upright position, the golfer operates a resetting panel, through which the metal strands extend vertically upward. By raising and then lowering the resetting panel, the metal strands are returned to their original vertical orientation with respect to the base and the golfer may then repeat the hitting process. [0012] By using metal wire strands in place of artificial grass, the Bohnen mat provides a less than ideal environment for golfers wishing to practice their swings. Such metal wires likely will not emulate natural turf to the same degree as modern synthetic turf practice mats. Moreover, golfers may be unwilling to subject their expensive golf clubs to repeated impacts with a metal wire golf mat for fear of damaging or scratching the club head and/or clubface. This is especially true in the case of forged golf clubs made from soft metals. Further, the Bohnen mat provides no indication of where the golf ball was located prior to impact so that even though a golfer can observe a simulated divot after striking the ball, there is no way for the golfer to tell whether the divot was taken at the proper place relative to where the ball had been located. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION [0013] In one embodiment, the present invention provides a divot indicating golf practice device, including a mat made up of synthetic turf fibers (e.g., polypropylene, polyethylene, or nylon fibers) that emulate natural grass and that is configured with one or more indicators or alignment marks arranged so as to provide visual feedback to a golfer regarding a location of impact between a golf club head and the mat relative to a location of a golf ball upon the mat prior to being struck. The mat may include one ore more divot-indicating portions or channel areas arranged so as to permit rotation of the mat so that only one such area is used at a time. Moreover, the mat may include one or more areas of irregular height so as to simulate uphill lies, downhill lies, side hill lies and so on. [0014] In general, the synthetic turf fibers may be treated so as to show a location of a simulated divot when stuck by the golf club head. This may be accomplished by, in some cases, the fibers having one side that is colored differently than another side thereof and/or the fibers may be treated so as to change color when heated due to friction. In other cases, the synthetic turf fibers may include a grain configured to provide a visual indication of where the golf club head strikes the mat. In other embodiments, the mat may include a liquid reservoir adapted to provide liquid to the synthetic turf fibers so as to keep the fibers slightly moist. When struck, the moist fibers will show the path of the club head therethrough/across. [0015] A further embodiment of the present invention provides a golf practice mat, having synthetic turf fibers that emulate natural grass and are configured to (i) provide a visual indication of an impact of a golf club head with the mat by changing from a relatively upright orientation to another orientation under influence of the golf club head, and (ii) permit removal of said visual indication when the synthetic turf fibers are returned to the relatively upright orientation. As indicated above, the mat may include one or more divot-indicating portions with the one or more indicators are arranged relative thereto so as to permit placement of the golf ball therein. [0016] Another embodiment of the present invention provides a golf practice mat having a mat area and a storage area configured for storing sand. A layer of sand may be spread over the mat area (which may be made up of synthetic turf fibers), and a golf ball placed atop the layer of sand. Striking the golf ball using a golf club will then produce a simulated divot in the layer of sand. [0017] In a further embodiment, a golf practice device includes a hollow member filled with a mixture of fine aluminum powder and beads, and a transparent face configured such that the fine aluminum powder will adhere to an inside surface thereof until being dislodged therefrom due to an impact with an outside surface of the face. Such a golf practice device may also include a golf ball alignment aid on either of the inside surface or outside surface of the face. [0018] In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a golf practice device having a board configured with a magnetophoretic face plate adapted to receive golf club head impacts, and honeycombed internal chambers containing a liquid medium having magnetic particles suspended therein is provided. The magnetic particles may be approximately 10 microns in size and made of magnetic oxides or magnetic alloys. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0019] The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and not limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which: Continue reading about Divot indicating golf practice devices... Full patent description for Divot indicating golf practice devices Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Divot indicating golf practice devices patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. 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