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Method of training a golfer to improve his or her putting skills and a device used for such training

Method of training a golfer to improve his or her putting skills and a device used for such training description/claims

This application relates to method of training a golfer to improve his or her putting skills and a device used for such training.

One of the most important strokes used while playing golf is the putt. Since most golfers have to putt on every hole, putting is a substantial part of a golfer's game. The putt is a stroke usually taken on an area of the golf course called a green. The player must essentially determine what line or direction he must putt or stroke his ball to get it into the hole in the least number of tries.

As in most sports, a player needs and uses eye/hand coordination to play the game properly. In baseball, a player looks at the ball and not the bat when attempting to hit the ball. In bowling, a player looks at a spot or the pins when rolling the ball. In basketball, the shooter looks at the basket while making a shot.

With the golf putt, the putter should essentially look at a spot to roll his or her ball over to accurately start it on his or her intended line to the hole. One of the best professional golfers, Dave Stockton, advocates hitting over a spot while putting.

When a golfer aims at a target, the player depends on eye/hand coordination. However, just as many people have a dominant side of the body, meaning right or left hand, leg, or foot, so do they have a dominant eye. A dominant eye is the one which generally provides a person with information used to aim at a target. The dominant eye may not be the eye with the better vision, nor does it necessarily correspond to the dominant hand or foot. This dominant eye will most likely reveal itself to a person when he or she has to aim at a target. A person may experience difficulties in maintaining consistency in hitting a target, such as in putting a golf ball, as a result of the dominant eye misinterpreting the position of his or her target.

The majority of the population is right-eye dominant, which in the case of golf means that a player probably sees the hole to the right of its true location. This miscalculation occurs because the right-eye dominant player will most likely be situated in such a manner as to place their right eye too far inside the ball and the target line. In other words the right eye is positioned farthest from the hole and may not be positioned properly to allow for a completely accurate view of the hole. As a result, the player's view of the hole may be somewhat inaccurate or even distorted, and a player may end up putting too far to the right of the intended target. Thus a player may end up missing the putt because of the miscalculation.

There are some existing devices which are intended to aid in correcting or improving a golfer's putting game of even some other part of a golfer's game. Lasers are currently used on some devices designed to improve putting. One existing device has a laser attachment that fits on the putter itself. This does not work because the laser moves while the user is making his stroke. The movement of the laser does not allow for an accurate and/or stable focal point. Another device is built into a putter on the face. This device is only good until the ball is placed in front of it, then the line disappears. In other words, the ball blocks and intercepts the path of the laser.

Some other existing devices have similar components to the device described in the present application, which also include a post in the ground, a support bar and alignment bar. However, these devices are primarily designed to be used for a full swing and not for a putt. Additionally, these devices do not have a spot to putt over and/or a laser.

The above-discussed embodiments of the present invention will be described further hereinbelow. When the word “invention” or “embodiment of the invention” is used in this specification, the word “invention” or “embodiment of the invention” includes “inventions” or “embodiments of the invention”, that is the plural of “invention” or “embodiment of the invention”. By stating “invention” or “embodiment of the invention”, the Applicant does not in any way admit that the present application does not include more than one patentably and non-obviously distinct invention, and maintains that this application may include more than one patentably and non-obviously distinct invention. The Applicant hereby asserts that the disclosure of this application may include more than one invention, and, in the event that there is more than one invention, that these inventions may be patentable and non-obvious one with respect to the other.

The invention is explained in greater detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows schematically the main components of one possible embodiment example of a training device used to help a golfer improve his or her putting skills;

FIG. 2 is a simplified functional illustration of one possible path of a golf ball as it relates to the device described in the present application; and

FIG. 3 shows an additional possible variation of the components shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 1 shows schematically the main components of one possible embodiment example of a training device used to help a golfer improve his or her putting skills, specifically a rotatable, portable, simple, alignment device used primarily as a putting trainer comprised of a vertical anchoring bar A, support bar B. Clamping knob C, alignment bar D, spot or indicating dot E, a shortened golf tee F, laser guide J, mounting bracket for laser K, and a counterweight 1. First place the device into the green and put a ball under the alignment bar D just in front of the support bar B. The golfer looks from behind the ball toward the hole to determine where he wants to hit the ball to get it into the hole. This is called the “break”. This is determined by many factors: contour of the green, speed of the green and various other factors contribute to the break.

FIG. 2 shows upon determining the break he must now locate the “aim” line. His is a line that is perpendicular to the break line at the instant the putter hits the ball. In some situations where the break is extreme, the ball starts to curve away from the aim line so quickly that it looks as if its not at all perpendicular to the aim line. It is critical that the golfer starts his ball on the aim line and not the break line.

Once the aim line is determined, he adjusts the device to match this aim line. He may use the laser J, or just sight over the alignment bar D. He places his putter face so that it is parallel to the support bar B, (the support bar B is a reference to get his putter face perpendicular to his intended line which is the alignment bar D and strokes the ball under the spot E, while never taking his eye off of the spot E.

By repetition of this stroke, the player is training his eye/hand coordination so that he can repeat this same stroke during the actual game. While playing the actual game, he visualizes the spot he has trained his eyes to look at and his hands to propel the ball over, as if it where superimposed on the top of the green. He may use some reference point somewhere on the green, such as a blade of grass, a bare spot, or some other reference point.

• Provisional Patent
• Utility Patent

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