Abstract:
A golf training aid uses a golf glove having a structure to remind the wearer to hold the target wrist unflexed through the contact part of the swing. The structure provides a tactile reminder if the wrist is flexed. The structure may be a strip installed in a pocket or other holder in or on the glove. The pocket and strip may be adjusted to place an end of the strip near a pivot axis of the user&#39;s target wrist.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to the field of sports equipment and especially to equipment for the sport of golf. In particular, the invention relates to a golf training aid. 
     2. Brief Description of the Prior Art 
     A good golf swing underlies all shots, from the teeing area through shots near the green. The fundamental aspects of the swing stay the same, but the length and pace of the swing vary depending on the shot and club. Ideally the head is squarely aligned with the ball at the point of impact. How the player&#39;s wrist is flexed and cocked during the swing affects whether ideal contact is made with the ball. A significant part of learning golf is learning the most efficient and consistent wrist motion for the forward or target hand. For a right handed player, the forward or target hand is the left hand. For a left handed player, the forward or target hand is the right hand. 
     At the moment of impact of the club head with the ball, the shaft of the club, the wrist of the target hand, and the forearm of the target hand should all be aligned along a common axis, as explained herein. The wrist of the target hand should not be flexed forward, i.e., in the direction of the stroke, and should not be flexed backward, i.e., lagging behind the stroke, at the moment of impact. 
     The art has devised a number of devices to achieve the proper wrist position. These devices typically restrain the wrist to hold the wrist, forearm and club shaft generally in alignment along a common axis. The following United States patents are incorporated by reference herein: U.S. Pat. No. 2,154,197, U.S. Pat. No. 2,831,196, U.S. Pat. No. 4,502,688, U.S. Pat. No. 5,180,169, U.S. Pat. No. 5,456,650, U.S. Pat. No. 5,492,331, U.S. Pat. No. 5,511,247, U.S. Pat. No. 5,638,548 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,740,555. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A golf training aid in accordance with the present invention is designed to help a golfer achieve a dependable, repeatable and effective swing. The device of the invention permits the golfer to utilize the full unrestrained flexibility of the wrist of the target hand so that the proper motion can be achieved throughout the backswing, the contact stroke and the follow through. If the wrist is restrained, a full follow through cannot be achieved with the desired fluid motion. As a consequence, the golfer must stop the stroke short of a full follow through or use an awkward finish to the swing, both of which are undesirable. A short swing requires the golfer to decelerate the stroke too rapidly, which may cause an injury or result in a muffed shot. The alternative to rapid deceleration is to play a soft shot, which is also undesirable since the distance of the shot is reduced. 
     Preferably, the device of the invention does not appreciably restrain the motion of the wrist of the target hand. The device of the invention utilizes a golf glove which has been modified in a novel way to provide a tactile reminder which conditions the golfer to align the target forearm, the wrist of the target hand and the club shaft at the moment of impact between the club head and the ball. The tactile reminder is comfortable to wear and does not interfere with finesse or cut shots which require wrist action which deviates from that used in a full swing. 
     In one embodiment of the invention, as described herein, the tactile reminder is a thin strip inserted in the golf glove. The strip is not tightly fixed to the golf glove and may be moved axially along the hand of the golfer to provide an increase or a decrease in the tactile sensation provided by the tactile reminder. 
     It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a golf training aid for teaching or improving a person&#39;s golf swing. It is another object to teach a golfer the proper wrist action in performing a full or distance swing. It is a further object to provide a golf training aid which does not substantially restrict the wrist action during the full stroke of the club and which permits a modified wrist action for finesse or cut shots. Other objects and features of the invention will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter. 
     The invention summarized above comprises the constructions hereinafter described, the scope of the invention being indicated by the subjoined claims. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
     FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a golf training aid in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the plane  2 — 2  in FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a golfer using the golf training aid of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 is a detail view taken from FIG. 3 showing the position of the golfer&#39;s hands at the top of the backswing; 
     FIG. 5 is a further perspective view of a golfer using the golf training aid of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 6 is a detail view taken from FIG. 5 showing the position of the golfer&#39;s hands at the point of contact of the golf club and the ball; 
     FIG. 7 is a further perspective view of a golfer using the golf training aid of FIG. 1; and 
     FIG. 8 is a detail view taken from FIG. 7 showing the position of the golfer&#39;s hands at the top of the follow through. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     A full or distance swing in golf is intended to generate maximum power and achieve maximum distance for the chosen club. The swing starts, after the ball has been addressed, with a backswing. Ideally, the club is drawn back with a straight target arm until the shaft of the club is above the head of the golfer and nearly parallel to the ground without flexing the target hand with respect to the target forearm. In this position the wrist of the target hand is cocked at an angle, that is, the wrist is turned away from the direction of the stroke. 
     During the stroke the wrist is uncocked until, at the moment of impact between the club head and the ball, the forearm of the target hand, the wrist of the target hand and the shaft of the club are aligned along a common axis, as further described herein. If the wrist of the target hand is flexed at the moment of impact, the club face will not properly contact the ball and the shot will usually be erratic. 
     Referring to FIG. 1, a golf training aid  10  of the invention is shown. Training aid  10  includes a glove  12  which is shown as a glove for the left hand or target hand of a right handed player. As shown in phantom in FIG. 1, glove  12  has a pocket  14  installed in the interior of the glove. A tactile reminder  16  is received in pocket  14 , as shown. 
     With continuing reference to FIG. 1 in combination with FIG. 2, tactile reminder  16  is a thin strip of a generally rectangular shape. Tactile reminder  16  may be formed of a stiff material such as a rigid or semi-rigid material, for example, plastic, wood, or even metal, though other materials could be used. It is preferred, however, that the material be plastic and semi-rigid so that tactile reminder  16  has enough flexibility that it does not poke the golfer&#39;s wrist enough to make it sore during a full round of golf. Pocket  14  and tactile reminder  16  are sized to permit sliding adjustment of tactile reminder  16  in pocket  14  and to retain a particular adjustment until deliberately moved. The resilience of glove  12 , such as a leather glove, will normally hold the adjustment once set by the user. 
     The periphery of tactile reminder  16  may be curved or rounded at the corners, if desired, to permit ease of insertion of tactile reminder  16  into pocket  14 , and to permit ease of adjustment. It will be appreciated that the exact shape and placement of tactile reminder  16  is not highly critical. An effective layout for tactile reminder  16  is shown in FIG.  1 . With glove  12  on the hand of the user, not shown in FIG. 1, and with the fingers comfortably extended, pocket  14  for tactile reminder  16  may extend from near a wrist margin  18  of glove  12  to a position  20  near the first knuckle of the user. As noted above, tactile reminder  16  is adjustable along an interior  22  of pocket  14 . As shown in FIG. 1, tactile reminder  16  has an axis  24  which is generally parallel and partially aligned with an index finger  26 . As shown in FIG. 6, glove  12  is preferably sized to place wrist margin  18  of glove  12  adjacent to a pivot axis  28  of the user&#39;s wrist  30 . 
     In use, a golfer  33  places golf training aid  10  on his or her target hand  32  with tactile reminder  16  installed in pocket  14 . The position of golfer&#39;s target and a rear hand  32 ,  34  at the address of a ball  36  and also at the moment of impact between a club head  38  and a ball  36  is shown in FIG.  6 . In this position ideally, a target wrist  30  of golfer  33  is not flexed and a target forearm  40 , target hand  32  and a shaft  42  of a club  44  are generally aligned along a common axis. 
     A closure  46  of glove  12  is fastened to provide a slight sensation of touch between target hand  32  of golfer  33  and tactile reminder  16 . A proximal end  48  of the tactile reminder  16  is placed adjacent to pivot axis  28  of target wrist  30 , but does not extend so far as to interfere with the range of motion of wrist  30 . The sensation of touch in the vicinity of wrist  30  increases or decreases, as wrist  30  is flexed, depending on the direction of flexure. 
     As shown in FIG. 3, golfer  33  moves club  44  through the backswing to the top position. At the top position target wrist  30  is cocked toward the interior or a thumb side  50  of target hand  32 , shown in FIG.  4 . In the position shown in FIG. 4, target forearm  40  and shaft  42  of club  44  form an angle A. Wrist  30  of target hand  32  is not flexed and target hand  32 , target forearm  40  and shaft  42  of club  44  lie generally in the plane in which the stroke will develop. 
     From the top of the backswing shown in FIG. 3, golfer  33  develops the stroke by swinging club  44  downward in an arc to the contact point shown in FIG.  5 . If golfer  33  flexes wrist  30  of target hand  32  during the downward swing the golfer will experience a slight sensation of increased or decreased pressure from tactile reminder  16 , particularly in the vicinity of pivot axis  28  of wrist  30 . The sensation provides a subtle, but effective reminder to hold wrist  30  unflexed. As known in the art, the elbow of target hand  32  holds the target arm straight during the backswing and the stroke through ball  36 . 
     After club head  38  contacts ball  36  golfer  33  continues the swing of club  44  to the follow through position shown in FIG.  7 . At the top of the follow through wrist  30  of target hand  32  may flex. The light contact and placement of the tactile reminder  16  permits this flexure to occur without discomfort. 
     In view of the above, it will be seen that the several objects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results attained. As various changes could be made in the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. For example, tactile reminder  16  is shown as being installed in pocket  14  in the interior of glove  12 . It will be appreciated that tactile reminder  16  may be received on the exterior of glove  12  and that it may also be held in sliding clips or on pins. Tactile reminder is shown as a flat strip, but it could be circular in cross-section or have other cross-sections. It could also be a plurality of elongated members such as rods or tubes.