Golf Glove

Abstract

A glove made from a suitable flexible, resilient material has a plurality of cavities or pockets to receive the hands and fingers of both hands of a golf player. The pockets are so arranged as to dispose the fingers in interrelating and interdigitating juxtaposition, and are molded to conform with the form of a golf club handle.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a device designed to improve a golfer's game, and more particularly to a device to assist a golfer to properly position the hands and fingers of both hands and to retain such position while gripping the handle of a golf club.

2. Description of the prior art

A number of attempts have been made in the past to assist a golf player to position the hands and fingers of both hands while grasping the handle of a golf club, but such devices have failed to retain such position, especially when the fingers are sharply bent to grasp the handle of a golf club. In many of such prior art devices the tighter the player grasps the handle, the more likely he is to change the relative positions of his fingers and thereby defeat the very purpose of the device.

Golf professionals repeatedly emphasize the importance of obtaining and retaining the proper grip on the handle of a golf club during both the downswing and follow through motion of the club. The failure to do so is a contributing factor to hooks, slices, topping the golf ball, and otherwise failure to properly strike the golf ball with the head of the golf club.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of this invention to provide a novel golf glove adapted to receive the hands and fingers of both hands of a player to position the fingers to properly grasp the handle of a golf club.

It is a further object to provide a novel golf glove having finger receiving pockets which are interrelated to receive the fingers of both hands to position the fingers to properly grasp the handle of a golf club.

It is a still further object to provide a novel golf glove having finger receiving pockets to receive the fingers of both hands of a player, the glove being molded and preformed into a form in which the finger receiving pockets readily grasp the handle of a golf club, the material of the glove being sufficiently rigid to retain the shape yet being sufficiently flexible to enable the wearer to retain a tight grasp on the club handle. In this form, the glove provides a tunnel between the palm of the hand and the pockets for the fingers in their preformed gripping position to receive the handle of a golf club.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment of a novel construction of a glove for golfers adapted to receive both hands of a player. The glove is made from a suitable light-weight material having the desired flexible and resilient characteristics to enable the wearer to grasp and "feel" the handle of a golf club.

The glove is provided with two large hand receiving pockets, one for each hand, and each hand receiving pocket branches into five smaller pockets, one for each finger and thumb. The finger receiving pockets are relatively disposed and interrelated so that, when the glove is worn by a player, the fingers of the player's hands are relatively disposed and properly positioned to grasp or "grip" the handle of a golf club. The entire glove is molded to the proper shape to position the thumbs and fingers of both hands in the proper golf club handle gripping position, yet is sufficiently flexible and resilient to permit the hands and fingers limited relative movement to satisfy the player's particular feel on the club handle.

While the glove may be made from various materials, it is preferred to employ rubber, which can readily be molded to the desired form, and which can be prepared to provide the desired flexible and resilient characteristics.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a clearer understanding of the invention, reference is directed to the detailed description which follows and to the several figures of the annexed drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevation view of the novel golf glove shown in a golf club gripping position;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view through the glove of FIG. 1, illustrating the relative arrangement of the finger receiving pockets; and

FIG. 3 is a vertical section along the line 3--3 of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention, and particularly to FIG. 1, the numeral 10 designates the novel golf glove in its entirety, comprising a single glove body 11 adapted to receive the right hand 12 and the left hand 14 of a player.

It should be remembered that the drawings illustrate a golf glove for a right handed player. For a left handed player the arrangement would call for a mirror image of the particular arrangement shown.

The glove 10 is provided with a partition 15 dividing the glove body 11 into a pair of hand receiving pockets 16 and 18 for receiving and right and left hands 12 and 14, respectively.

Referring to FIG. 2, each of the pockets 16 and 18 branches into five finger receiving pockets. The pocket 20 branches from the right hand pocket 16 and receives the right hand thumb to position that digit above a club handle 40, and the pocket 22 branches from the left hand pocket 18 and also positions the left hand thumb above the club handle 40 directly to the rear of the right hand thumb. The right hand pocket 16 further branches into the finger receiving pockets 24, 26, 28 and 32 to receive the forefinger, second finger, ring finger and little finger, respectively, of the right hand, and the left hand pocket 18 branches into the finger receiving pockets 30, 34, 36 and 38 to receive the forefinger, second finger, ring finger and little finger, respectively, of the left hand.

It should be noted that the fingers and thumbs of both hands are interrelated within the glove in the usual position employed by a golf player when grasping a golf club handle. In this position the right hand thumb pocket 20 is in advance of the left hand thumb pocket 22, so that the left hand thumb nests between the joints of the right hand thumb, forming an interlock between these two digits. There is no glove material between the face walls of the right and left hand thumbs and the golf club handle, so that the faces of these two digits can directly engage the club handle 40, to better control the position of the club during the swing and to obtain the "feel" of the club. The pocket 30 for the left hand forefinger is interdigitated between the pockets 28 and 32 for tee right hand ring finger and the right hand little finger, respectively, forming a second interlock between the fingers within the glove. As shown in FIG. 2, the glove is also open at the palm portion of both hands, thus permitting the palms of the player's hands to directly grasp the club handle 40.

The glove is made of any suitable material having the desired characteristics which can be molded or otherwise preformed to the golf club handle enveloping position. Rubber is suggested, which has these characteristics, and which, when so preformed or molded, retains such shape but yet is sufficiently rigid to retain its molded shape yet is sufficiently flexible and resilient to accommodate the hands of different sizes and permits slight adjustment of the hands within the glove to suit the individual's particular grip. When so molded, the glove, when fitted on a player's hands and the hands maintained in a position to engage the handle of a golf club, provides a tunnel 42 having an inlet 44 and an outlet 46 within the molded finger receiving pockets through which the handle of a club can pass, as shown in the drawing.

Claims

I claim:

1. A golf glove comprising a single body member including dividing means forming a pair of separate pockets to receive each hand of a player, each pocket including branch pockets to receive the thumb fingers of the hand, said branch pockets being interrelated, when worn by a player, to dispose the hands and fingers of the two hands in a golf club playing position, and forming a tunnel to receive the handle of a golf club.

2. A golf glove as defined in claim 1, in which at least one finger receiving pocket for one hand is interdigitated relative to two finger receiving pockets for the other hand.

3. A golf glove as defined in claim 1, in which said body member is made from a molded flexible and resilient material.

4. A golf glove as defined in claim 3, including an opening in the face wall of each of the thumb receiving pockets whereby the face of the thumbs of a player may directly engage the handle of a golf club.

5. A golf glove as defined in claim 3, including an opening in the face wall of each of the thumb receiving pockets and in the wall of each of the hand receiving portion of the pockets, whereby the face of the thumbs and the palms of the hands of a player may directly engage the handle of a golf club.