US3036836A - Adjustable hand grip locator - Google Patents

Description

329,1 J. c. m3 3,033,333

ADJUSTABLE HAND GRIP LOCATOR Filed March 30, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Cl/wss 62/11/33,

IN V EN TOR.

y 29, 1962 J. c. MASCI)N 3,036,836

' ADJUSTABLE HAND GRIP LOCATOR Filed March so, 1959 2 Shets-Sheet 2 3,936,335 Patented May 29, 1962 3,036,836 ADJUSTABLE HAND GRIP LOCATOR James C. Mason, 3521 Line Ave., Long Beach 7, Calif. Filed Mar. 30, 1959, Ser. No. 802,363 4 Claims. (Cl. 273-165) The present invention relates generally to the field of sporting goods accessories, and more particularly to grip indexing devices by means of which it is possible for a player to reproduce a predetermined grip on a golf club, tennis racket, baseball bat or the like.

In the field of sports, no game requires greater accuracy of execution than certain strokes in golf, particularly if the player is serious about being able to play a good, consistent game, for the distance and direction the ball travels are of paramount importance. Inasmuch as the ball is propelled by sudden impact with a club head, and may travel up to several hundred yards as a result thereof, the player has little or no lee-way in the position the impacting face of the club head must be disposed at the moment it contacts the ball.

The true skill in golf is to develop a swing in which the impacting face of the club head is consistently brought into contact with the ball at precisely the same position time after time. Amongst professional players, and the more skilled amateurs it is generally recognized that the first prerequisite to the development of such a swing is correct positioning of the hands in gripping a club. Of equal importance is the position of the feet relative to the ball, the back swing of the club, the swing, shifting of the body weight as the swing progresses, and the follow through. Thus, in learning to play golf under direction of a professional a person has not one thing to remember when hitting a ball, but many.

To shorten the length of time a player must practice to attain even a semblance of good form in swinging a golf club, professional teachers and sporting goods manufacturers have provided innumerable aids which tend to eliminate one or more of the variables above mentioned. One of these so-called aids that has been used in golf, as well as in tennis and other games, is a grip for the club or racket in which ridges and indentations are molded to engage the fingers, and theoretically assure a correct position of the hand or hands on the grip.

Heretofore such molded grips have met with little or no success, at least from the standpoint of the player, for individually the hands of players vary so drastically in strength, size, length of the fingers and thumb, as well as the thickness of the fingers and thumb, that no average preformed grip can be provided that is adapted to fit even a small percentage of the players who could advantageously use one that correctly fit the hand.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide indexing devices that are adjustably mountable upon the grip of a golf club to indicate, to a particular player only, the correct positioning of his hands thereon, which positioning is a reproduction of a previous positioning of his hands on the grip under direction of a professional or by his own experimentation, which he knows will give him maximum control of the club during play.

Another object of the invention is to supply indexing devices that remain in fixed position on the grip of a club after placement thereon, that in most instances will last the lifetime of the grip, yet which can easily be re moved from the grip or adjusted to another position thereon.

A further object of the invention is to furnish indexing devices that can be formed from standard commercially available materials, are of extremely simple structure, require no maintenance attention, and can be sold at a sufiiciently low price as to encourage their widespread use.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide indexing means that not only remind, but require the player to reposition his hands in a previously determined grip, and with such reminder normally calling the players attention to other coordinating acts that must be performed if a good consistent swing is to be attained.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device and method of using same which permit the quick and ready positioning of the indexing devices on a golf club grip.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be better understood from the following description thereof when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings in which various embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view showing the players hands gripping a golf club, and reproducing by use of the inventions a predetermined suitable position and pattern for the hands previously established under the guidance of a teacher or by experimentation;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged perspective view showing two of the inventions in adjusted positions on a golf club grip to assist a particular player for whom said inventions were so disposed to reproduce a previously devised arrangement and positioning of his hands;

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view of a first form of the invention;

FIGURE 4 is a side elevational view of the invention shown in FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is an end elevational view of the invention shown in FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 shows a modification of the first form of the invention;

FIGURE 7 is a front perspective view showing the initial position of a players left hand in contact with a golf club grip on which two of the first forms of the invention are mounted;

FIGURE 8 is a front perspective view showing the players completed left-hand grip properly positioned on the club by means of one of the inventions mounted thereon;

FIGURE 9 is a front perspective view showing the initial positioning of the golfers right hand on the club guided by the second of the inventions mounted thereon;

FIGURE 10 is a front perspective View showing the golfers final right-hand grip on the club, and the forced, but natural positioning of both hands guided by the positioning of two of the first forms of the invention thereon;

FIGURE 11 is a perspective view of a second form of the invention; and

FIGURE 12 is a front elevational view of the second form of the invention.

Although numerous devices have been developed in the past for assistance in consistently gripping a golf club correctly, in actual use they have proved to be of limited value in that they have usually been molded or formed as an integral pant of the golf club. The governing factors determining a gol'fers style of play, and particularly his grip, such as his weight, the size of his hand, the length and circumference of each finger, and the strength of his grip, are by no means constant, but vary widely between individuals. Obviously, under such circumstances no universal grip indicating means can be incorporated as an integral part of a golf club which will truly serve its intended purpose, for the dimensions thereof must necessarily be based on averages, and therefore would be inadequate for a substantial percentage of golfers.

The present invention is adapted to overcome the disadvantages of grip indicating means heretofore available by providing two identical tubular hand locators A and A, best seen in FIGURES 2 to 5 inclusive, that will be described in detail hereinafter and which are fabricated of a resilient material. The locators A and A are adapted to be expanded by means (not shown), and when so expanded may be moved longitudinally as well as circumferentially relative to the golf club grip C. When each of the locators A and A has been disposed in the desired position on grip C, each of the locators thereafter contracts circumferentially to frictionally engage the grip with sufficient force to remain in a fixed stationary position thereon.

The locators A and A are identical, and each in the first form thereof is a thick-walled tubular member which is preferably molded from a resilient material such as rubber, or the like. A bore 11 extends longitudinally through member 10, which bore in transverse cross section is substantially smaller than the minimum transverse cross section of grip C. The external surface of member 10 develops at the ends thereof into two oppositely tapered ring- shaped surfaces 14 and 14a.

Integrally formed with tubular member 10 is an indicator or indexing member 15 which is positioned at a slight elevation thereabove to define a longitudinally extending flat surface 16. Indexing member 15 projects beyond surface 14a to provide a wedge or V-shaped flexible pointer 17. One end of surface 16, as can be seen in FIGURES 3 and 4, is tapered in a manner to merge with the aforementioned tapered surface 14. The overall effect of the surface configuration of member 10 above described is to provide a hand locator A or A that can be readily gripped by the thumb and fingers of a players hand in an easy and natural manner, and due to the tapered surfaces 14, 14a will not cut into the hand even after prolonged period of play. A modification of tubular member 10 is disclosed in FIGURE 13 wherein a recess 19 is formed in a manner to define dual resilient end sections 20, 20a respectively.

The resiliency of tubular member 10 is not of a character that permits manual expansion and adjustable positioning thereof on the club shaft 12. As a matter of fact, although the material forming tubular member 10 is resilient to a certain extent, positioning of the devices A or A on the club shaft 12 must be accomplished by powerful expanding means that form no part of the present invention.

After placement on grip C, locators A or A frictionally engage grip C with sufficient force to withstand any action to which they will be subjected by the player's hands when the club on which they are mounted is in use. The locators A and A will remain in position on grip C indefinitely due to the resiliency of the material forming same.

A second form of locator L is shown in FIGURES 11 and 12, which is preferably molded from a resilient material such as rubber or the like. Locator L includes a tubular member 44 having a bore 46 extending therethrough that is smaller in transverse cross-sectional area than that of grip C on which it is to be mounted. On the external surface of member 44 the ends thereof develop into two oppositely tapered ring- shaped surfaces 48 and 48a. An indicator or indexing member 50 is integrally formed with member 44 and positioned at a slight elevation thereabove to define a longitudinally extending fiat surface 52. Indexing member 50 projects beyond surface 48a to provide a V-shaped flexible pointer 54. The sides and ends of that portion of pointer 54 overlying the external surface of member 44 taper downwardly and outwardly in a continuous wall surface 56 to blend with the external surfaces of member 44 and tapered surface 48a. Wall surface 56, as can best be seen in FIGURE 15, also tapers downwardly and outwardly to blend with the tapered surface 48.

The second form of locators L and L are used in the same manner as locators A and A, and can be mounted on or removed from grip C by radially expanding the 10- cators by means not shown.

After the locators A and A or L and L have been disposed on the grip C for a correct positioning of the players left hand H and right hand H, correct repositioning of the hands on grip C is assured by following the sequential steps shown in FIGURES 7 to 10 inclusive. This correct repositioning of the hands is assured, irrespective of whether the Vardon, interlocking or baseball grip is used.

The player engages the grip C with left hand as shown in FIGURES 7 and 8, with the pointer 17 situated between the thumb and forefinger. Due to the raised positioning thereof above the grip C, the pointer and the balance of the locator is capable of receiving pressure from the thumb and forefinger to prevent relative movement of the hand and grip C.

After the left hand H has been correctly positioned (FIGURES 7 and 8) the right hand H is caused to overlap the thumb of the left hand H, with the thumb of the right hand then placed over the tubular portion of locator A. A portion of the lower surface of the right hand thumb is in pressure contact with pointer 17 of locator A. Locators A and A cooperate with grip C to not only place the players hands H and H in the correct position thereon, but serve to prevent longitudinal or rotational movement of the hands relative to the grip during the swing of the golf club of which it is a part.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in my invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is shown in the drawings and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An indexing attachment for a golf club to assure repositioning of the hands of a particular player in a predetermined placement on the grip of said club without defacing said grip, comprising: two tubular members formed of a material which is suiiiciently resilient to permit forceful expansion thereof to the extent that a grip can be inserted within said tubular members, said members when so forcefully expanded capable of being independently moved longitudinally and circumferentially relative to one another to permit said predetermined placement of said members, with the resiliency of said material also being such that when said expansion forces are released said members frictionally engage said grip with sufiicient force to prevent displacement thereof relative to said grip during normal use of said club; and two pointers longitudinally positioned on the exterior surfaces of said members and in raised relationship therewith, said pointers including portions that project axially from the ends of said members which serve both visually and by touch to indicate the positions for said hands of said particular player to occupy in reproducing said predetermined placement.

2. A device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said pointers provide projecting flexible thumb-and-finger-engaging elements.

3. A device as set forth in claim 2 wherein the outer extremities of said thumb-and-finger-engaging elements terminate in apexes.

4. A device as set forth in claim 3 wherein each of said tubular members has a transverse recess formed therein that divides each of said tubular members into two longitudinally spaced circumferentially extending portions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 715,225 Whitner Dec. 2, 1902 1,997,364 Holden Apr. 9, 1935 2,038,840 Hall Apr. 28, 1936 2,223,437 Yeager Dec. 3, 1940 2,422,065 Anselmi June 10, 1947 2,780,464 Ashley Feb. 5, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 239,706 Great Britain 1925

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