US2608409A - Golf swing trainer - Google Patents

Description

26, 1952 D. F. PINKERTON 2,603,409

GOLF SWING TRAINER Filed Sept. 30. 1949 INVENTOR DALE E PINKERTON ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 26, V 1952 oFFicE GOLF SWING TRAINER Dale FuPinkerton, Alexandria, Va., assignor to Aleane Cloward Pinkerton, Alexandria, Va.

Application September 30, 1949, Serial No. 118,896

Claims. (01. 2735-35) The present invention relates to improvements in golf swing trainer and has for an'objeot to provide a means for the application of weight to v a golf club-without disturbing its balance in order that the user of the club may in practice be obliged to overcome the greater inertia of'the superadded weight which will tend to slow his swinging stroke and to otherwise inculcate in him correct swinging movements of the club.

Golfers are prone to hit from the top of the backswing without first unwinding the body and the shoulders in an initial movement and golfers in their hurry to hitthe ball will uncock the wrists either at the top of the back-swing or at an early stage of its movement. All of which are faults contributing to lack of distance, slicing and hooking and certainly these faults prevent the proper speeding of the golfclub head when it reaches that'part of the arc of its movement at which the ball is addressed. The added weight of the 'new device will subconsciously impress on the trainee that these faults are being committed and will assist rectifying the same so as to smooth the golf swing and enable it to be carried out in a manner prescribed for the best results.

The invention also contemplates the use of a training device of simple form readily applicable to and removable from the club and which will in no way interfere with the striking surface of the club so that. practice balls may actually be hit with the device in place on the club.

A still further object of the invention is incident to theposition of the weight mass on the golf club whereit occupies a situation with .its Weight symmetrically distributed with respect to the axis of the golf shaft along which the centrifugal force is developed incident to the golf swing. I

With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention will be more fully described hereinafter, and will be more particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto. I

In the'drawings, wherein the symbols refer to like or corresponding parts throughout the several views,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a golf shaft and-club head showing applied thereto a golf swing training device constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is an end elevational view of the same Figure 5 is a transverse section taken on the line 55 in Figure l.

3 2 p Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing a modified form of the training device, and

"Figure 7 is a transverse section taken on the line 1-1 in Figure 6.. Referring more particularly to the drawings, I0 designates a shaft, H the head and [2 the whipping about the shank between the shaft and 'head, all as in accordance with conventional construction.

In one of its forms the improved training device is or may be constituted of a block of rubber or other resilient material having an outer wall 13 of any desired configuration; for instancea frusto-conical end with flat or other shapedto and bottom walls 14 and 15 respectively. b

Preferably coincident with the axis of the cone is a frusto-conical bore or opening 16 extending to and through both lower and upper bases [5 and M of the conic frustum. The lower portion of the bore IE maybe made downwardly flaring if desired. A radial or other slot I1 is made in the rubber block opening through the outer wall or lateral surface [3 of the cone and also opening through both lower and upper bases l5 and I4. At its inner end the slot ll opensthrough the bore IS. In other words the mass of the rubber block is incised substantially radially, the width of the incision being of any desired dimension less than the diameter of the shaft [0 and shank I 2 of the golf club. g

In the use of the device, the rubber block may be distorted by'applying substantially tangential forces at opposite sides of the slot 11, such forces being applied manually, for the purpose of open-'- ing the slot 11 wide enough to slip the block over the shaft l0; following which procedure the block or mass is moved down on to the shank I2 with its bore I6 including the lower flaring portion thereof frictionally or resiliently gripping the shank portion, the external whipping providing and excellent grip for this purpose. The diameter of the bore I6 at one portionat least is preferably slightly less than the external diameter of the included portion of the shank l2 whereby the slot ll will be maintained abnormally open to a greater degree than that to which the stress inherent in the rubber body biases such slot ll;

this being for the'purpose of taking advantage of the resilient stress inherent in the resilient body to at all times maintain firm gripping engagement with the shank l2 and its external whip.- ping. This avoids looseness between thet'raining device and the golf club which would be unde sirable and would give potential rise tojrelative movements between these parts incident to the swinging of the golf club Which attains a high acceleration particularly in and about the club head thus developing a rather high centrifugal force whichin the p SGI t construction is taken advantage. of by the position of the mass onthe shank and the construction of such mass with its flaring and frusto-conical bore and by reason of the re ilient material out of which this block is made; inasmuch as the centrifugal force will tend to move the mass outwardly on the shank thus tending to open the slot 11 wider and place the mass under progressively greater resilient stress which therefore hugs the shank tighter'in proportion to the centrifugal force. developing in. the mass. 7

The block or mass will possess a weight, for instance of the order of two ounces, which is in addition to the particular weight of the golf club employed and consequently while generally the feel? of any particular golf club to which, the device is applied will not. be greatly, if at all, altered by the. application .of the device, nevertheless additional weight added to the golf club which will have. a number of desirable. at-

tributes particularly as a training'implement. For instance the weight will naturally slow the .swingingmovement, of the golferto avoid hurrying his stroke which is a fault in the orthodox golf swing. Again a few practice swings with the improved device applied just before teeing off will make the club feel much lighter in the hands of the golfer afterthe device has been removed and when the golfer addresses his ball for the drive, this advantage being akin to that derived by baseball players in making'preparatory swings with two; bats.

, After such practice or preparatory swings have been executed, the player may easily detach, the device from the club and for this purpose the lower base It at the tapering shank of the club head ll affords a large striking surface for the hand. or for anyimplement in dislodgingthe block upwardly along the reduced section of the shank-'12, whereby the block may be quickly slid to such reduced section or to. the smaller diameter of'the shaft l whereupon the device may bepulled radially from such shaft through the Slot H or the slot may be consciously and forcibly opened to permit the separation of the mass from the club. a

It will be apparent that the device will not mar the head H of the club. It is also located out of the way of the striking face E8 of the club head so that it does not interfere with hitting a practiceball. The device is small and can be conveniently carried in'the ball pocket of a golf bag. It will fit any club regardless of size or shape of head. The device may be made entirely of'rubber or synthetic rubber or any resilient material or compositions of the same.

The device is economical of manufacture and is. simply appliedand removed. 7

Referring more particularly to Figures 6 and 7, a modification is herein shown in which the massis globular rather than frusto conical. The spherical ball is indicated at l3 and the slot at I 1 .In this instance the segments at opposite sides of the slotll may be held together to prevent the. slotll from abnormally gaping. -A simple form of. device for this purpose is the strap [Qwhich may be madeof a different or softer rubber than the mass of the training device and incorporated therewith permanently at one side of the slot H as by vulcanization or bythe use of cement, This strap I9 is long enough" to bridge th slot l1! and to overlap a fastening membervzll whichmay be embedded in the mass of'the rubber device and have an end projecting radially from the sphere in position to have snapped over it the eyelet 2| carried by the free 4 end of the strap l9, which eyelet complements the fixed fastener 20 and forms an interlocking couple therewith. The eye and the free end of the strap l9 may be separated from the fastener 20 by simply pulling the free end of the strap radially outward. The strap [9 may stretch within desirable limits.

While it is greatly preferred that rubber or some. resilient material be employed as the material for'the training device, it is possible that .asimilar device may be made from wood, metal or some other non-resilient material in which event some such device as the fastening strap l9 would be employed to hold a hinged section of the device in. place, suchsection. being swingable outwardl to. a l andremove the. device to andfrom the golf club.

Although I have, disclosed herein the, best form of the invention. knownto me at this time, I reserve the. right to all such modificatlonsand changes as may comecwithinsthescope of the following claims.

What I claim is:

1. A golf swing training device for use with a golf club having a head, shaft and shankconnecting shaft to head comprising 7 a, resilient weighted mass having opposing ends andhaving a bore therethrough. and through the ends, said boreformed to resiliently grip said shank of .a golf club above thehead, and said mass having a radial slot extending from end to end to communicate said bore with the outside edge of the mass so that the mass can be passed. transversely onto the shank said masshaving one end rectly above the, headwhen situated .on. the shank.

ZLA golfswingtraining device as claimediin claiml characterized by the factthat. a resilient r p bri es said slot and is sec red. on either side of said slot to prevent abnormal opening of said slot.

3. A training device for golf clubs comprising a resilient block having opposing ends and having a bore extending through'the block and through the ends and adapted to be wedged downwardly upon the shank of the golf club, said block having a single slot parallel to the bore extending from end to end and communicating with said bore to admit-application to and'removal from the shank of a club.

4. A training device as claimed in claim '3 characterized by the fact that the bore is substantially tapering to closely fit the shank and its whipping. a v

5. A training device as claimed in claim 3 characterized bythe fact that a locking means bridges said slot and is secured on opposite sides of said slot to prevent abnormal opening ofsaid slot.

DALE F. PINKERTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS.

Matzie umen", May 1.7,:1949

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