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Putter head with alignment indicator gridRelated Patent Categories: Games Using Tangible Projectile, Golf, Club Or Club Support, Head, PutterPutter head with alignment indicator grid description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060287130, Putter head with alignment indicator grid. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/692,597, filed Jun. 21, 2005 (Jun. 21, 2005). STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT [0002] Not applicable. THE NAMES OR PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT [0003] Not applicable. INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC [0004] Not applicable. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0005] 1. Field of the Invention [0006] The present invention relates generally to golf clubs and, more particularly, to a putter having visual alignment indicator grid on the upper surface of the putter head for improving a player's ability to visualize the optimal line of the putt and, thus, to improve putting performance. [0007] 2. Discussion of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR .sctn..sctn.1.97, 1.98 [0008] Putting is notoriously difficult. This is due not only to the fact that putting greens are rarely truly flat and level, to the fact that the effect of one or more slopes on ball roll is challenging to predict, and to the fact that the stroke itself, however simple it may appear, is subtle and excruciatingly demanding of precision. [0009] In terms of stroke production, putting is unlike any other stroke in the game: It is performed with a relatively motionless trunk and lower torso; there are generally no discernible leg movements; and in current theory even independent arm movements are minimized so as to eliminate all extraneous motion that might undermine accurate alignment of the putter as it strikes the ball. It is now recommended that the force applied in a putting stroke come only from upper torso rotation about the thoracic region of the spine. All other parts of the body remain essentially still. In effect, putting mechanics are reduced to only whatever is necessary and sufficient for delivering the putter head into and through the resting ball along the intended line of the putt with a squarely aligned putter face and with sufficient force to deliver the ball the distance to the hole. Presumably, this ensures the greatest likelihood of keeping the putter square and "on-line." [0010] To the ball-striking purist, however, the rigid and seemingly non-athletic quality of the putting stroke makes it an awkward companion to the powerful and graceful quality of well-executed full swings. The incongruity is so great that putting has been aptly likened to sitting down to play chess in the middle of a tennis match. Consequently, many golfers have wished that putting be wholly jettisoned from the game of golf, including Ben Hogan, who only grudgingly conceded that it ought to be a part of the game. Regardless of the carping and complaining, however, putting is here to stay, and it will continue to be the ruin of many an otherwise fine professional player. [0011] It should be remarked that it is only in putting that the phenomenon of the yips is evident. Byron Nelson retired early in no small part because of a bad case of the "yips." Considerable investigation has gone into determining the cause of this vexing problem, and until recently it was largely a mystery. Now, due to brain imaging studies by Nancy Byl, Ph.D., and Michael Merzenich of the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, the "yips" may have been identified as an instance of learning-induced de-differentiation of the representation of the hand in the primary somatosensory cortex. See, for example, Byl, N N, Merzenich, M M, Jenkin, W M, A primate genesis model of focal dystonia and repetitive strain injury: Ann Neurrology 1996; 47: 509-520; and Byl, N N, Merzenich, M., The neural consequences of repetition: Clinical implications of a learning hypothesis. J. of hand Therapy, 1997; April-June: 160-174. The studies suggest that in some cases, repetitive practice of stereotypical movements involving co-contractions of the muscles of the hand and arm may induce a learning catastrophe resulting in potentially permanent neurological changes giving rise to uncontrollable muscular contractions, including spasms. It is possible that a contributory factor to this malady is the inability of the golfer to easily and clearly see the line of the putt, introducing a level of anxiety in the performance, and thus placing too much emphasis on the feel and the control of the putter. When practiced repetitively in this emotionally heightened environment, the somatosensory map of the action/feel expands too broadly within the brain, and too many neurons are recruited to sense and control the simple action. This undermines appropriate muscular inhibition de-differentiates the appropriate muscular involvement. In effect, too many muscles fire off simultaneously, the hands turn into virtual claws, and the putter is jerked, yanked, "yipped" in a convulsive or spasmodic manner. Obviously, this is not the optimal internal performance climate. And one route to avoiding such extreme conditions is to provide strong visual cues to assist in performing the precise actions more easily. [0012] Countless innovative golfers have contributed to the art and science of putting with inventive contributions to golf club technology. Some have endeavored to enhance a player's ability to develop "feel" for putting by improving the materials and shapes of the putter head, the shaft, and the grip. Some have endeavored to improve a player's ability to "read" a green, or visualize the ideal line of a putt for an intended force applied to the ball. Some have endeavored to improve putting stroke mechanics by altering the weight distribution of mass in the putter head, or changing the very way the putter is employed. And some have endeavored to improve the player's ability to ascertain at address whether the putter face is properly aligned with the intended line of the putt or whether during the stroke the putter head is traveling on a proper path. It is to this latter class of improvements that the instant invention belongs. [0013] There is little disagreement about the need to"read" a putt well and then to "see" clearly that the putter is properly oriented relative to the intended line of the putt, both at address and as the putter head moves through the ball. There is much disagreement, however, about how this is best accomplished. Historically, the efforts have concentrated in improved reference lines and their placement on the putter head, lighted guides of various kinds; training mats and club guides; and combinations thereof. Recent technology intended to solve the problem of properly aligning a putter is reflected in the following exemplary references: [0014] U.S. Pat. No. 6,837,799, issued Jan. 4, 2005 to Cameron et al, discloses a method of aligning a putter, which includes the steps of providing a putter having a head and an offset hosel, and a flat striking face that includes a removable reflecting surface for receiving and reflecting incident light. Laser light directed down the shaft of the putter is partly reflected from the reflecting surface and is directed to and detected by a reference device the compares the alignment with predetermined reference lines. [0015] U.S. Pat. No. 6,743,112, issued Jun. 1, 2004 to Nelson, shows a golf putter visual alignment aid comprising a rear edge parallel to the front surface of the putter head, and a back body having a flange portion that extends rearwardly and has an upper surface displaced below the top ledge of the putter head. The flange includes a reference line perpendicular to the front surface and rear edge. The face member and back body have contrasting colors. [0016] U.S. Pat. No. 6,409,619, issued Jun. 25, 2002, teaches a putter precision machined to have a concave horizontal face from the heel to toe of the hitting face. The curvature of the concave horizontal face may range from an arc of a five-foot radius circle to an arc of a one-foot radius circle with the center point at the center of the hole. Accordingly, the curvature of the striking face ranges from the reciprocal of five feet to the reciprocal of one foot. Markings on the top surface assist with both aiming and centering the ball in the curvature. The marking is an arc of a concentric circle of the golf ball in front of the putter face and has a radius of curvature which is a function of the radius from the center point of a golf ball abutting the striking face. [0017] U.S. Pat. No. 5,916,035, issued Jun. 29, 1999 to Caiozzo, discloses a putter head having an elongate flat front hitting surface, an arcuate cavity extending from the back surface toward the hitting surface, and a substantially semicircular rear section attached to and extending back from the front section. The rear section has a semicircular lip arranged around the edge, and a keyhole-shaped cutout extending from a rearmost point of the rear section toward a center point of the front section. The putter head has a beveled bottom surface encompassing the front and rear sections. Parallel grooves are arranged on the top surface of the front section. The grooves run in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the hitting surface and are arranged above the arcuate cavity. The grooves define an optimum area for hitting a golf ball. [0018] U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,731, issued Jun. 22, 1999 to Westerman, shows a mallet-style putter head with a blade front surface attached such that its bottom surface is suspended above the bottom surface of the mallet portion for reducing unwanted scuffing of the putting surface during the striking of the golf ball. The mallet portion has its mass uniformly distributed between heel and toe portions of the mallet portion. A shaft extends upwardly from a heel of the mallet portion and includes a double bend spaced from the mallet portion for positioning a shaft handle above the blade portion and providing face balancing to the putter. The mass of the mallet portion is sufficient for reducing torque on the shaft during the striking of the golf ball and provides a desirable feel for the golfer during the putting stroke. Alignment aids include a smoothly contoured channel carried within a top surface of the mallet portion which forms opposing parallel side wall edges transversely spaced by the diameter of the golf ball for aligning the golf ball within imaginary lines extending forward from the opposing side wall edges through the front face. [0019] U.S. Pat. No. 5,830,078, issued Nov. 3, 1998, to McMahan, teaches a putter head having a planar front surface and a rear portion of the club head includes a cantilever portion including a semi-circular arc bisected by a centerline extending substantially perpendicular to the front surface. The semi-circular arc includes a expansion which moves the center of mass of the rear portion a distance rearward of the respective centers of mass of the heel and toe portions and rearward of the combined center of mass of the heel and toe portions. Front and rear sighting lines may also be included along the central axis of the club head at or near the top edge of the head or on the expansion of the cantilever portion. Continue reading about Putter head with alignment indicator grid... 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