Abstract:
A first golf glove for one hand has an alignment feature that allows a golfer to place his or her first hand in a repeatable, proper position on the grip of a golf club. Additionally, both the first golf glove and a second golf glove have attachment features and other location features such that a golfer may place and maintain his or her hands in a proper position on the shaft of a golf club. First and second attachment features, one on each glove, allow golfer&#39;s to overlay their gloved second hand over their gloved first hand such that they are placed in a proper, relative position while gripping the golf club. The attachment features further allow an attained grip to be maintained throughout a golf swing giving tactile and/or audible feedback in the event of any attachment separation.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]    The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Serial Nos. 60/397,701, filed Jul. 22, 2002, and 60/471,322, filed May 16, 2003, both of which are incorporated herein by reference.  
         [0002]    The present application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. ______ (Attorney Docket No. 39554-P001US), entitled “A GOLF TEACHING AID,” filed concurrent herewith, which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     
       TECHNICAL FIELD  
         [0003]    The present invention relates in general to methods and apparatus for teaching a golfer proper techniques for swinging a golf club.  
         BACKGROUND INFORMATION  
         [0004]    A good golf swing requires certain basic fundamentals to be successful; one being the way the golfer holds the club commonly referred to as the golf grip. The golf grip is the foundation of a good golf swing. Its primary purpose is to insure that the hands and wrist work together in order to transfer the force of the body and leg actions during the swing to the ball.  
           [0005]    There are three golf grips commonly used: the Vardon (overlapping) grip (named for Harry Vardon), the ten-finger grip, and the interlocking grip. The difference between these three grips involves the placement of the little finger of the right hand and the index finger of the left (the hands are reversed for left handed players). Research suggests that no particular grip has a significant advantage with respects to the distance and accuracy of golf shots made by beginning golfers. Whether the golfer chooses the overlapping, the interlocking, or the ten finger grip, the fundamental principles required for executing a successful golf swing remain the same.  
           [0006]    When a right handed golfer grips a golf club properly, the back of the left hand and the palm of the right hand should align with the club face and should face the target. The golf club is held primarily in the palm of the left hand and the fingers of the right hand. The thumb of the left hand is placed slightly right of the center of a center line of the shaft of the golf club. A “V” is formed by the index finger and the thumb of the left hand when it is placed on the shaft of the golf club. This “V” should substantially point towards the right shoulder. The right hand grips the golf club primarily along the palm side of the fingers. The palm of the right hand rests on the top of the left thumb with the left thumb substantially aligned parallel with the “lifeline” on the palm of the right hand. The golfer&#39;s choice to use the interlocking, the overlap, or the ten-finger grip determines the position of the index finger on the left hand relative to the “little finger” of the right hand. The remaining fingers of the right hand close around the grip of the club with the grip resting primarily within the fingers. The index finger and the thumb close around the shaft and gently touch each other. When the right hand is in the proper position, the thumb and the index finger will form another “V”. This “V” should also point to the right shoulder. When a golfer&#39;s hands grip the golf club properly, his or her hands should be kept firmly but not rigidly together thereby imparting an even, light pressure throughout the hands.  
           [0007]    The golf grip has been touted by many professional golf teachers as the most important part of a golfer&#39;s golf swing. To execute a good golf swing, a golfer must rotate the golf club back away from the golf ball and then accelerate the club head down and through a line connecting the golf ball with a desired target. For the most part, a golfer wants to cause the golf ball to take a straight path towards a desired target. However, if the club head does not impact the ball squarely, spin may be imparted on the ball which may cause the ball to curve in its path depending on the direction of rotation. The kinematics of the club head during a swing may vary widely depending on how repeatable and true is a golfers swing path. The only contact a golfer has with the golf club is by way of his or her hands, therefore, finding and maintaining a correct golf grip is important in executing a good and repeatable golf swing.  
           [0008]    Professional golf instructors know how to position a golfer&#39;s hands on the golf club when they are addressing the ball. However, because of the dynamics of the golf swing, many times it is not obvious if the golfer keeps his or her or her hands positioned correctly during the golf swing. The golfer may believe he is keeping his or her hands in a correct position while the ball flight may indicate that the golfer&#39;s grip is varying. To develop a correct and repeatable golf swing, the golfer needs to be able to grip the golf club correctly every time he addresses the ball and maintain his or her grip throughout the entire golf swing. If the golfer grips the club correctly and acquires the feel of maintaining the correct position during his or her swing, then muscle memory will develop that will ensure a more repeatable golf swing and thus a more repeatable ball flight.  
           [0009]    There is, therefore, a need for a method and apparatus to aid golfers in finding and retaining the correct relative position of their hands at the beginning and throughout the golf swing.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0010]    As a teaching aid, a golfer is provided with golf gloves for their right and left hands. One glove has two attachment features and a location feature and the other glove has two attachment features. The attachment features are made in mating pairs and are designed to couple with sufficient strength that separation after coupling forms tactile and/or audible (preferably both) feedback to a golfer using the golf gloves to grip and swing a golf club. The attachment features allow a golfer to place and maintain his or her gloved hands in a correct position on the shaft of a golf club. The location feature primarily allows the golfer to place the palm of one of his or her hands on the golf club shaft in a desired position. In one embodiment of the present invention, an attachment feature is also placed on the end of the grip of a golf club as the mating element for the glove location feature. For a right handed golfer, the golfer&#39;s left hand glove has first and second attachment features and the location feature and the golfer&#39;s modified right hand glove has third and fourth attachment features. The location feature allows the right handed golfer to place his or her gloved left hand in a desired position relative to the axis of a golf club shaft. In one embodiment, the attachment feature added to the grip of the golf club couples with the location feature and aids in finding and maintaining the golfer&#39;s left hand position on the golf club shaft. Since the attachment features are mated pairs, they allow the golfer to overlay his or her gloved right hand on his or her gloved left hand such that the golfer&#39;s are placed in their correct, relative position while gripping the golf club shaft. The coupling of the first attachment feature to the third attachment feature further allows this correct relative position to be maintained throughout a golf swing. The second and fourth attachment features additionally allow the golfer to couple overlapping fingers of his or her grip and maintain their position during the golf swing.  
           [0011]    In another embodiment the left hand golf glove has a visible line to aid in positioning a golf&#39;s left hand to achieve a proper grip of the golf club. The visible line begins substantially at the “V” formed by the thumb and index finger and proceeds toward a point on the cuff of the golf glove. The visible line is substantially aligned with the lengthwise center line of the grip of the golf club while the “V” points towards the right should when the left hand properly grips the golf club.  
           [0012]    The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]    For a more complete understanding of the present invention, and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 1 illustrates a left hand glove for a right handed golfer according to embodiments of the present invention;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 2 illustrates a right hand glove for a right handed golfer according to embodiments of the present invention;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 3 illustrates another view of a left hand glove for a right handed golfer according to embodiments of the present invention;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 4A illustrates the left hand of a right handed golfer gripping a golf club using a left handed glove according to embodiments of the present invention;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 4B illustrates the position of the left hand of a right handed golfer gripping a golf club, using a left handed golf glove according to embodiments of the present invention, relative to the grip, shaft and club head of the golf club;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 5 illustrates a side view of a right handed golfer overlaying the gloved right hand with the gloved left hand while gripping a modified golf grip using modified golf gloves according to embodiments of the present invention;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 6 illustrates another view of overlaying the gloved right hand with the gloved left hand by a right handed golfer while gripping a modified golf grip and modified golf gloves according to embodiments of the present invention;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 7A illustrates a modification of a golf grip according to embodiments of the present invention; and  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 7B illustrates details of the attachment element used to modify the golf grip of FIG. 7A according to embodiments of the present invention.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0023]    In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without such specific details. For the most part, details concerning specific non-essential materials and the like have been omitted inasmuch as such details are not necessary to obtain a complete understanding of the present invention and are within the skills of persons of ordinary skill in the relevant art.  
         [0024]    Refer now to the drawings wherein depicted elements are not necessarily shown to scale and wherein like or similar elements are designated by the same reference numeral through the several views. In the following detailed explanation, golf gloves according to embodiments of the present invention are shown for a right handed golfer. It is understood that a set of gloves may be provided for a left handed golfer according to embodiments of the present invention by reversing the functionality of the right and left hand gloves. Attachment features are provide in mating pairs (e.g., sometimes designated male and female) such that an overlapping pair of attachment features couple together and require a force to separate, wherein separating a coupled attachment feature pair provides a tactile and/or audible (preferably both) feedback that separation has occurred. In the following, either one of a mating pair of attachment features is referred to as simply an attachment feature with the understanding that an attachment feature on a glove for one hand is designed to mate with an attachment feature on the other glove or in one embodiment with an attachment feature on the grip of a modified golf club.  
         [0025]    Alignment features are used to aid in attaining a correct grip. While perfect alignment of one element to another is desirable, perfect alignment is rarely attainable. In this disclosure, the term substantially aligned to describe a less that perfect alignment. Substantially aligned means that there is no perceptible misalignment, for example, two lines may be considered substantially aligned if they deviate from parallel by less than 5 degrees. In other cases, a line may be said to substantially begin at a feature where the feature is formed by the intersection of a finger and a thumb on the golfer&#39;s hand. For instance, when the end of the line is directed towards the feature and is less than one-half centimeter away, the line would be said to substantially begin at this feature.  
         [0026]    In the following, the finger closest to the thumb of a golfer&#39;s hand is referred to as the index finger and the finger furthermost from the thumb is referred to as the little finger.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 1 illustrates a left hand golf glove  100  for a right handed golfer according to embodiments of the present invention. Golf glove  100  has a thumb element  104  and finger elements  105 - 108 . Glove area  109  is above the palm of a left hand inserted in golf glove  100 . Location attachment feature  101  may be added to golf glove  100  in glove area  109  above the palm of a left hand inserted in golf glove  100 . Location attachment feature  101  is an element of a separable, mating attachment system (e.g., like Velcro® a well known hook and loop material). Location feature  101  may have a corresponding mating attachment feature (not shown) placed on the grip of a golf club. Location feature  101  directs a right handed golfer where to place the shaft of a golf club to facilitate attaining a correct grip of the golf club by the left hand of a right handed golfer. Attachment feature  102  is disposed on an area of thumb element  104  directly above the top of the thumb of a left hand inserted in golf glove  100 . Attachment feature  103  is disposed on finger element  105  in an area below the palm surface of a finger of a left hand inserted in golf glove  100 . Attachment features  102  and  103  are also elements of a separable attachment system (e.g., like Velcro®). One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that other separable attachment systems such as magnets or non-permanent adhesives, snaps, etc. may be used for attachment features  101 - 103  and still be within the scope of the present invention. Most of attachment feature  103  is shown dotted indicating it is on the glove surface above the top of finger element  105  which is not visible in this view.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 2 illustrates a right hand golf glove  200  for a right handed golfer according to embodiments of the present invention. Right hand golf glove  200  has a thumb element  204  and finger elements  205 - 208 . Glove area  209  is directly above the palm of a right hand inserted in golf glove  200 . Attachment feature  201  is an element added to golf glove  200  in glove area  209  above the palm of a right hand inserted in golf glove  200 . Attachment feature  201  is an element of a separable attachment system (e.g., like Velcro®). Attachment feature  201  is the mating element to attachment feature  102  shown in FIG. 1 and is positioned to facilitate finding and maintaining a correct relationship between the right and left hands of a golfer when gripping a golf club using a left handed golf glove  100  and a right handed golf glove  200 . Attachment feature  202  is disposed on finger element  205  in an area directly below the palm surface of a finger of a hand inserted in golf glove  200 . Attachment features  201  and  202  are also elements of a separable attachment system (e.g., like Velcro®). One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that other separable attachment systems such as magnets or non-permanent adhesives, snaps, etc. may be used for attachment features  201 - 202  and still be within the scope of the present invention.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 3 illustrates another view of a left hand golf glove  100  for a right handed golfer according to embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a knuckle side view of left hand golf glove  100 . Attachment feature  101  and a portion of attachment feature  103  are shown dotted as they are on the palm surfaces of golf glove  100  which are each not visible in this view. The opposite side of finger elements  105 - 108  are also shown in FIG. 3. An optional alignment feature  110  is also shown in FIG. 3. Alignment feature  110  may be added, as shown, to left handed golf glove  100  for a right handed golfer to aid in positioning the left hand on the grip of a golf club (not shown) relative to the club head of the golf club. It should be noted that a subset of the alignment feature may be used on left hand gloves and right hand gloves. It should also be noted that a single glove having only alignment feature  110  may be used as a teaching aid.  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 4A illustrates the left hand of a right handed golfer gripping a golf club grip  401  using a left handed golf glove  100  according to embodiments of the present invention. Attachment element  102  is shown in a position relative to a center line  409  of golf club grip  401 . Center line  409  is a real or imagined line drawn parallel to the center line through the length of the club shaft  402  (see FIG. 4B) and substantially perpendicular to a line parallel to the face  410  of the club head  403  (see FIG. 4B). The left hand inserted in left handed golf glove  100  is positioned such that alignment feature  110  is substantially aligned with center line  409 . Positioning attachment feature  102  using alignment feature  110 , further facilitates placing a right handed golfer&#39;s left hand on the golf club grip using golf glove  100  according to embodiments of the present invention. Alignment feature  110  is placed to be substantially in line with the center line  409  of grip  401 . Clasp  407  is a standard element used to secure golf glove  100  to a hand inserted into golf glove  100 .  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 4B is a detailed view illustrating the position of the left hand of a right handed golfer gripping a golf club  402 , using a left handed golf glove  100  according to embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 4B shows the position of the left hand relative to the grip  401  and club head  403  of golf club  402 . Alignment feature  110  is aligned with center line  409  which is substantially perpendicular to a line (not shown) parallel with club face  410 . Alignment feature  110  is also shown extended with imaginary line  411  to a point  408  along the forearm (not shown) of a golfer using golf glove  100  to grip golf club  402 . This aids in positioning the gripped golf club  402  relative to the golfer&#39;s upper body when using embodiments of the present invention.  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 5 illustrates a side view of a right handed golfer overlaying the gloved right hand (golf glove  200 ) with the gloved left hand (golf glove  100 ) while gripping a modified golf grip  401  on golf club  402  according to embodiments of the present invention. Golf grip  401  may be modified with attachment feature  501 . Attachment feature  501  is circumferentially attached around the end of golf grip  401 . A portion of the circumference of attachment feature  501  is designed to couple with corresponding location feature  101  (not shown in this view). While alignment feature  110  is used to place the left hand in golf glove  100  in a desired position relative to grip  401 , the coupling of attachment feature  501  with location feature  101  functions to hold this attained position during an actual golf swing.  
         [0033]    Attachment feature  201  on golf glove  200  couples with attachment feature  102  when the hands in golf glove  200  and golf glove  100  are properly placed when gripping golf grip  401 . Attachment element  202  on golf glove  200  likewise couples with attachment feature  103  on golf glove  100  when fingers in finger element  205  and finger element  105  overlap completing the grip of golf club  402 . All the features of golf gloves  100  and  200  and modified grip  401  operate to find (e.g., alignment features  101 ,  501 , and  110 ) and maintain (e.g., attachment features  102 ,  202 ,  501 ,  103 ) a golfer&#39;s hands in a desired, correct position during the golf swing while providing tactile and/or audible feedback (preferably both) if the golfer&#39;s grip moves thereby separating (completely or partially) any coupled attachment features (e.g.,  102  and  201 ,  103  and  202 , or  101  and  501 ).  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 6 illustrates another view of overlaying the gloved right hand (golf glove  200 ) on the gloved left hand (golf glove  100 ) by a right handed golfer (arms only shown) while gripping a golf grip  401  according to embodiments of the present invention. Golf club  402  has a golf grip with attachment feature  501 . Left hand golf glove  100  is placed such that attachment feature  101  couples with a mating element (not visible) of attachment feature  501 . Attachment feature  102  is positioned on grip  401  by placing thumb element  104  using the aid of alignment feature  110  (not shown in this view). Right hand golf glove  200  is placed over left hand golf glove  100  coupling attachment features  102  and  201 . Attachment features  202  and  103  (not shown in this view) couple when respective finger elements  205  and  105  overlap completing the grip of golf club  402 .  
         [0035]    [0035]FIG. 7A illustrates the modification of a golf grip  401  using attachment feature  502  according to embodiments of the present invention. Attachment feature  501  has two sections, coupling section  701  and non-coupling section  704 . The limited size of coupling section  701  insures that coupling attachment feature  501  to attachment feature  101  (not shown) places the gloved left hand (using golf glove  100 ) of a right handed golfer in a desired position relative to the face  410  (not shown) of golf club  402  (not shown). See FIG. 4B. Attachment feature  501  has a width  703 .  
         [0036]    [0036]FIG. 7B illustrates details of the attachment feature  501  used to modify the golf grip  401  of FIG. 7A according to embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 7B illustrates the length  702  and width  703  relative to coupling section  701  and non-coupling section  704 .  
         [0037]    Although the present invention and its advantages have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.