Golf instruction device

Dec. 23, 1958

L. A. JESSEN

2,865,635

GOLF INSTRUCTION DEVICE

Filed Aug. 7, 1956

<img file="US2865635A_D0001.tif" />

United States Patent Office

2,865,635

Patented Dec. 23, 1358

2,865,635

GOLF INSTRUCTION DEVICE

Leslie A. Jessen, Chicago, HI.

Application August 7,1956, Serial No. 682,593 - 2 Claims. (Cl. 273—35)

This invention relates to educational devices, and more particularly to instruction means for golf.

For a novice one of the most difficult fundamentals to grasp in the sport of golf is how to correctly grasp a club, address the ball and then swing to strike the ball on the center and full face of the head of the club with the face meeting the ball essentially perpendicular to the intended line of flight of the ball. In essence the present practice whether coached professionally or performed by the player is one of trial and error and exhaustive repetition. Frequently the wrong approach leads to years of frustration from the wrong habits developed in the initial learning stages.

The principal object of the invention is to devise a novel system incorporating means providing a visual aid assisting the player in correctly grasping the club and aligning the center of the head and face of the club with the ball.

The invention particularly contemplates a novel means for use with the visual aids set forth in the previous object which is formed and arranged to have an exaggerated trajectory angularly in a direction of a slice or a hook if not properly struck by the club thus informing the player of even slight deviations from a perfect hit.

More specifically it is an object of this invention to provide a series of longitudinal guide lines on the club handle ineluding a center line and right and left circumferentially spaced graduations from the center line on which the player is adapted to sight lengthwise of the club over the thumb of the lower hand on the club, the player normally sighting on the center line but if he hooks or slices, he corrects by angling the face right or left and sighting along a certain graduation to the right or left of center depending upon the degree of correction he finds necessary as determined by several flight pattern shots.

The invention further contemplates the provision of a novel, preferably tethered, puck which has a sharply pointed impact end or corner to be struck by the face of the club, the corner lying between two converging sides on the puck either of which when struck by the player hitting off center cause the puck to fly at an exaggerated angle rightwardly or leftwardly to simulate a hook or slice if a conventional ball were used in lieu of the puck.

In the embodiments of the invention herein disclosed, each puck presents at least one sharp impact corner flanked by sides which converge thereto. These and other objects of the invention will become more apparent from the specification and drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my novel golf club and puck combination instruction device;

Figure 2 is an enlarged side view of the handle portion of the club with the guide lines inscribed thereon;

Figure 3 is a side perspective view of one form of puck;

Figure 4 is a side perspective view of another form of puck;

Figure 5 is a side perspective view of still another form of puck, and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary enlarged perspective view of the club head portion as seen in Figure 1 and snown addressing the puck of Figure 5.

Describing the invention in detail and having particular reference to the drawings, there is shown a driver golf club generally designated 2 which comprises the usual handle or hand-hold portion 3 on the upper end of a shank 4 which at its lower end is fastened to the heel 5 of a head 6 which has a body 7 terminating at its distal extremity in a toe 8. The head further had a top side 9 and a bottom 10 and front and rear sides 11 and 12, the front side having a striking face 13 which extends transversely of the arc of swing shown fragmentarily at 14 in Figure 6. The face 13 may be inclined upwardly and rearwardly slightly and this angle is conventional as will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art and it will be understood that although the instant invention is shown in association with a driver it also has application to the other woods, as well as other clubs.

The top of the club head is provided with a fore and aft center line 15 which may be relatively broad and white or of other visually readily perceptile contrasting color. For example, if the head were white, the line 15 could be black. The line 15 has a downward extension or portion 16 centered on the face 13 and is intended to serve as a guide for the player to provide a striking area or region for hitting the nose or point or corner 17 of the puck 18 as seen in Figure 1.

The puck 18 (Figure 3) is preferably made of elastomer material such as natural or synthetic rubber of a hardness of a tire tread but may be of plastic of the character of nylon and has a thin wafer body preferably about one-eighth inch thick and an inch or inch and a half across its widest breadth. It has preferably, though not necessarily, flat top and bottom sides 19 and 20 and lateral or side edges 21 and 22 which merge into and converge toward the point 17. In the instant embodiment of Figure 3 the far side 23 of the puck with respect to the point 17 is convex and merges at opposite extremities with the adjacent ends of the sides 21 and 22. The sides 21 and 22 are preferably, though not absolutely necessarily, arranged at an acute angle and it will be appreciated that within certain practical limits the more acute the angle the more exaggerate will be the trajectory of the puck upon the player striking either side 21 or 22 and not squarely hitting the point 17. The puck is connected at its base side 23 to a tethering means in the form of a string 25 which is tied at one end through an opening 26 in the puck and at its other end to an anchor 27 which may be a stake driven into the ground. The string or cable is long enough and may be of the nature of a fishing line so that it is light enough not to materially affect the flight of the puck and yet serve to retrieve it.

Figure 4 shows another form of puck designated 30 which in principle is the same as that of Figure 3 except for its configuration which has a square body or wrier providing four corners 31, 32, 33, and 34, the puck being fastened through an opening 35 therein at corner 34 to the tethering means 25 identical to that of the previous embodiment. The puck 30 also is about one eighth inch in depth and cross-dimension of the form shown in Figure 3 and in addition to the flat top and bottom sides 36 and 37 has the four sides 38, 39, 40 and 41 which merge and converge toward the adjacent corners as best seen in Figure 4. The corners or noses 31, 32, and 33 may be used as striking points for the club.

Figure 6 illustrates a puck 50 having a body of fusiform configuration with outwardly bowed sides 51 and 52 which merge into the sharp noses 53 and 54 at opposite ends. The end portions 55, 56 of sides 51 and 52 merge at an acute angle into point 53 and the end por2,865,635 tions 57, 58 of these sides converge to point 54. This puck is also about one eighth inch thick and has waferlike body and formed of the same materials as the other pucks .and fastened at one side through a hole 59 to the tethering means 25.

Referring now to Figures 1 and 2 it will be observed that the handle portion of the shank is provided with a center longitudinal elongated guide line 60 and right and left laterals or parallel guide lines 61, 62, and 63, 64 respectively which are spaced circumferentially of the handle preferably on the order of one sixteenth inch or. one thirty-second inch. The center guide line is oriented with the face of the club in such manner that the ordinary player in grasping the club lays the thumb 65 of his lower hand 66 on the club, that is the rig .t hand for a right handed player, on the center line 68 as he sights on this thumb from a normal playing position. This automatically disposes the club with its face at right angles to the intended line of flight cf the ball to be struck provided the player swings correctly. If after the player hits the puck several times and notices that it tends to fly leftwardly, or hooks, he then turns the club in a clockwise direction as viewed by the player of Figure 1 until his .thumb aligns with the first guide mark 63 and if more correction is required, he turns the club and aligns the thumb with line 64. Similarly if the player slices, he aligns his thumb 65 with lines 61 or 62 depending upon the degree of correction required. Thus it will be seen that the player not only has a ready reference to make minor adjustments of the club, but is provided with a novel means which in exaggerations informs the player of what corrections to make. The canting of the club to the right or left is not intended as permanent corrections for faulty swing, stance, etc. but merely as informative to the player of his faults and the permanent corrections in position, stance etc. are readily indicated inasmuch if the player shoots to the left or right consistently, he will be aware cf the fact that he is not, for example, facing the ball properly.

In practice the player positions his hands 65 and 90 upon the handle of club 2 as shown in Figure 1. He is presumed to have at least a fundamental knowledge of stance, swing, etc. He then addresses the puck he has tethered and placed upon the grass 91 with its nose facing the club. The player intends to align the line 15, 16 with the nose of the puck and an imaginary center line extending from the nose outwardly away from the puck. If desired, these lines splitting the corners cculd be provided on the pucks. The player then takes a swing and if he hits the puck squarely on the nose, the puck will fly straight out. If not, it will veer to the right or left. After several shots the player makes the corrections heretofore indicated.

It will be understood that a novel and simple means is provided to guide the novice in playing golf and that the specific emboidments herein discussed and disc'.o ed are intended merely as exemplary and not in limitation and that the scope of inventions herein disclosed is to be gauged only by the breadth of the appended claims.