Golf Putter

Abstract

A golf putter wherein the club head includes an arcuate rear surface and a top surface having a recess therein. The arcuate rear surface has a radius of curvature slightly less than the radius of curvature of a golf putting cup. The recess in the top surface is generally in the shape of a semi-circle having a radius of curvature which is slightly greater than the radius of curvature of a golf ball. The semi-circular recess includes a bottom formed by an insert and opens into the rear arcuate surface whereby the club head may be inserted into a putting cup to scoop balls into the semi-circular recess for retrieving balls without stooping. A vertical plane bisecting the semi-circular recess and arcuate rear surface passes through the sweet spot on the front face of putter head, whereby the recess and rear surface facilitate aligning the putter head with the putting cup. The semi-circular recess includes substantially vertical side walls which the player can employ visually to assume substantially the same position relative the putter head each time the ball is addressed for putting and thereby supplement the kinesthetic training of the putting muscles.

Description

This invention relates to golf clubs.

More specifically, this invention relates to an improved putter head which assists the player in lining up his putt.

In yet another aspect, this invention relates to an improvement whereby the player can visually judge his position relative the putter head more accurately and thereby assume substantially the same position in preparation for his putt each time he addresses the ball.

A great many putters of various configurations and with various markings are known to the prior art. Many of these putters have attempted to overcome the problem which almost all golfers have in lining up their putts. Generally speaking, the art of putting well is one that is mastered after many years of assiduous practice. The player sharpens his skills and becomes a more consistent putter largely through repetition and training of his kinesthetic senses. The eye is of assistance in visually aligning the putter head, the ball and the cup in a gross way. However, kinesthesia is largely responsible for the degree of accuracy with which the golfer putts. The golfer, having performed so many repetitions of a putt which has been observed in the past to be correct, knows when he is performing a good putt by the way it feels. One of the hindrances to making a consistently good putt is the difficulty in properly aligning the putter, the ball and the cup through visual means. Another aspect of the visual problems connected with putting is the difficulty inherent in trying to assume the same position relative the putter head in successive putts. If the same position can be dependably assumed on successive putts, then the putt will be more regular and dependable. Thus, the kinesthetic sense of putting developed by the player can be made to operate on the same factors in successive putts, thus yielding a higher percentage of successive putts and reinforcing the kinesthetic learning process.

It is therefor an object of this invention to provide a novel putter head which will assist the golfer in visually aligning the putter head, the ball and the cup.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide such a putter head which will enable the golfer to assume substantially the same position relative the putter head by visual means on successive putts.

It is a further object of this invention to make such a putter head which is of simple and inexpensive construction.

Other, further and more specific objects and advantages of the invention disclosed will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description of the invention taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the front face of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the device taken along the line 2--2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of this invention;

FIG. 4 is a view of the rear face elevation of this invention; and

FIG. 5 is a view of this invention in alignment with a golf ball and a club green cup.

Briefly, the invention provides a golf putter head for use with a standrad golf club shaft. The head has a front face which can be said to have a sweet spot. In golfing vernacular, the sweet spot of the putter head means the spot on the front face where the mass of the club head is centered. In this sense, the same amount of mass is disposed toward the heel and the toe of the club on each side of the sweet spot. Thus, when the golf ball is contacted with the sweet spot, a solid, satisfying contact is made between ball and club and there is no resultant shudder or a tendency to pivot the heel or toe of the club around the point of impact. The club also has a rear face having a perimeter which describes a first arc of the first circle. In the rear face is a recess which has a bottom and a vertical sides. The vertical sides describe a cooperating arc in the second circle intersecting the arc of the rear face. These two arcs are positioned relative each other and the putter head such that a substantially vertical plane bisecting the first arc and the cooperating arc passes through the sweet spot of the front face. Any means for visibly marking at least two cooperating arcs of at least one circle on the putter head will suffice, although refinements as indicated herein are preferred.

In common with other putter heads, the putter may be said to have a toe, a heel, a sole, a neck and a hosel.

The invention also provides a recess which has a contoured bottom which is shaped and sized to receive a golf ball. This is a convenience in scooping a golf ball out of the cup or off the green.

In another aspect, the first arc of this invention has approximately the radius of curvature of a golf cup and the cooperating arc has a radius of curvature slightly larger than the radius of curvature of the golf ball.

Turning now to the drawings, attention is invited to FIG. 1 which illustrates a novel putter head 1 in persective, with a standard putter shaft to be fitted thereto shown in phantom outline. The location of the sweet spot 2 is marked on the front face of the putter head with an "X." The various parts of a putter head, though not necessary to a description of this invention, are identified as the toe 3, the heel 4, the neck 5 and the hosel 6. The rear face 7 is better illustrated in FIG. 4, as is the sole 8. The front face 9 is a flat surface with a substantially perpendicular orientation to the turf when in an attitude of play. In the presently preferred embodiment of this invention, the front face 9 is slightly open, which means that it slopes toward the rear face 7 from sole 8 to top surface 10.

The rear face 7, observed from above, as depicted in FIG. 3, describes a first arc 11 of a first circle which has a slightly smaller radius of curvature than a standard golf cup. A cooperating arc 12 of a second circle intersects the first arc 11. The circle from which the arc 12 is taken is slightly larger than the diameter of a standard golf ball. It is an experimentally observed fact that in observing a circular or arcuate object or design the eyes are drawn to positions which can be described by reference to a clock as 3:00 and 9:00 o'clock. This appears to be normal with most people. Using this invention the player, in looking dowm on the putter head and golf ball, automatically aligns the golf ball in relation to the putter head such that a line bisecting the first arc 11 (at 3:00 o'clock) and the cooperating arc 12 (at 9:00 o'clock) will also bisect the two arcs formed by the right hemisphere 13 and the left hemisphere 14 of the golf ball 12a, (also at 3:00 and 9:00 o'clock, as illustrated in FIG. 3). The player will also automatically line up the putter head and the golf ball such that the line 15 as shown in FIG. 5 will also bisect the arcs formed by the near semi-circle 16 and the farther semi-circle 17 of the circle formed by the golf cup 18. The line 15 also passes through the sweet spot 2 of the front face 9. The latter phenomenon may be a function of peripheral vision or it may be a visually retained memory of the position of the golf cup. Whatever the physiological explanation for the phenomenon may be, it has been observed to work with most people.

In this preferred embodiment of the present invention, the recess 21 in the rear face 7, as illustrated in FIG. 4, has vertical sides 22 and a contoured bottom 23, which is useful in scooping up the golf ball out of a cup or off the green. To accomplish this, the radius of curvature of the first arc must be smaller than the radius of curvature of the standard golf cup.

A useful function performed by the vertical sides 22 is to assist the golfer in positioning himself the same way relative the putter head for each stroke or putt. In looking down, the player adjusts his stance and his position relative the putter head so that he sees only the to surface 10 and the contoured bottom 23 and none or very little of the vertical sides 22. Thus the kinesthetic training of his putting muscles is supplemented and assisted by mechanical visual alignment.

Standard putter head materials may be used; however, the construction of this novel putter head tends to be somewhat bulkier than ordinary and considerations of weight and comfort may dictate use of lighter weight materials, such as wood or plastic. It has been found convenient to scoop out a recess in the rear face into which a preformed insert 30 can be inserted as may best be seen in FIGS. 2 and 4.

Claims

Having now fullying described my invention and the present embodiment thereof, I claim:

1. In a golf putter including a shaft and a head attached to one end of said shaft, said putter being intended to propel a standard golf ball towards a standard cylindrical putting green cup; said head including:

a. a toe;

b. a heel;

c. a sole extending between said toe and heel;

d. a hosel extending upwardly from said heel and to which one end of said shaft is connected;

e. a curved rear surface extending from said toe to said heel and defined by an arc having a radius slightly less than that of said golf cup;

f. a top surface extending between said toe and said hosel;

g. a recess opening onto said top and rear surfaces, said recess being defined by a surface which is substantially vertical when said head is in putting position and which surface is defined by an arc of a radius slighlty greater than that of said golf ball;

h. two spaced points of intersection on said rear surface where the arc defining said rear surface is intersected by the arc which defines said recess, and

i. a front face extending between said toe and heel and having a sweet spot that lies in the vertical plane which bisects the arcs between said points of intersection when said head is in putting position.

2. The golf putter head of claim 1 in which the recess extends into the head from the top surface to a bottom surface spaced from the sole.