Abstract:
A training aid for use with golf clubs has a coupler easily interchangeable from one club to another with an attached hand strap for wrapping about the golfer&#39;s hand to restrain the club against slipping from the user&#39;s grip while swinging the club, thereby to encourage a looser and more natural grip on the club.

Description:
[0001]    This application claims priority to the filing date of provisional patent application No. 61/013,312 filed Dec. 13, 2007. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    This invention generally pertains to the field of sporting equipment and more particularly is directed to a training aid for use with golf clubs which are gripped and swung by a player for driving a ball in play. 
         [0004]    2. State of the Prior Art 
         [0005]    Many sports require use of an instrument such as a club, racket or bat, etc. Many people cannot develop a consistent powerful swing with the instrument due to gripping the instrument too tight. This is done in many cases because the player has a conscious or subconscious fear of losing the instrument from his or her grip during the swing. This overly tight grip may keep the player from properly “cocking” their wrist and may result in error prone “guiding” of the instrument. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    This invention is an easily attached safety strap that attaches to the instrument on one end and goes around the wrist on the other. This allows the user to properly cock their wrist, at the right time, by safely loosening or even releasing their grip to practice their swing safely. This kind of practice develops a more efficient, powerful, natural swing without error prone “guiding” caused by too tight a grip. 
         [0007]    The invention is a training aid for use with golf clubs of the type having a shaft of tapering thickness between a club grip and a club head, comprising a coupler releasably attachable to the shaft near or against the club grip, and a hand strap attached to the coupler and adapted for wrapping about a club user&#39;s hand gripping the club grip thereby to keep the club from slipping out of the user&#39;s grip when swinging the club. 
         [0008]    In a presently preferred embodiment the coupler is a retaining collar having an interior dimension sized to encompass the club shaft near the club grip, with a slot in the collar sized for admitting the club shaft radially into the collar at a narrower shaft location spaced from the club grip but for retaining the collar radially on the shaft at a thicker club location near the club grip. The interior dimension of the collar is sized to keep the collar against axial displacement over the club grip while allowing the collar to turn or swivel about the club shaft. 
         [0009]    The hand strap is fastened to the retaining collar, preferably by a releasable swivel connector. The hand strap is preferably adjustable in effective length to permit tightening the strap between the user&#39;s gripping hand on the club grip and the coupler or collar attached to the club shaft. For example, the hand strap may be threaded through a buckle to allow adjustment of the hand strap effective length to a relatively taut, slack-free state between the player&#39;s gripping hand and the club shaft in order to restrain the club grip against slipping significantly through the player&#39;s gripping hand while the club is swung. 
         [0010]    The coupler with the strap is interchangeably attachable to any of multiple golf clubs in a set of clubs each having a shaft of tapering width, so that the same grip training aid can be moved from club to club as different clubs come into play during a game. 
         [0011]    The presently preferred strap is a flat band with two strap sides or faces between two strap edges. One side or face of the strap may be marked for identifying a correct outward facing side of the strap when wrapped about the wrist of the user&#39;s gripping hand. The strap may be further marked for further identifying one strap edge on the outward facing side as a correct club facing strap edge of the strap when worn about the wrist of the gripping hand. 
         [0012]    The invention also encompasses a method for improving a golfer&#39;s two handed grip on a golf club of the type having a club shaft between a club grip and a club head, comprising the steps of releasably attaching a strap to the club shaft; and wrapping the strap about an upper hand of the two handed grip thereby to restrain the club against significant slippage through the two handed grip during swinging of the club by the golfer. The novel method further comprises the step of tightening the strap to minimize displacement of the club relative to the upper hand during swinging of the club by the golfer. The method still further comprises the step of releasing the strap from the club shaft such that the strap is available for use on another golf club in a set of clubs used by the golfer. Preferably the strap is attachable to the golf club by a retainer collar slotted for admitting a narrow portion of the club shaft but sized to hold the collar against release from the shaft on a thicker portion of the shaft near or adjacent to the club grip. 
         [0013]    More generally, the invention is a training aid for use with a sport instrument such as a club, bat or racket of the type having a shaft between an instrument head and an instrument grip by a player holding the grip with at least one gripping hand. The training aid has a coupler removably attachable to the shaft near the grip and a hand strap attached to the coupler and adapted for wrapping about the aforementioned hand of the player, the hand strap being adjustable for tightening between the gripping hand of the player and the shaft thereby to substantially prevent longitudinal displacement of the shaft away from the gripping hand during swinging of the instrument by the player. 
         [0014]    The invention further contemplates a general method for improving a player&#39;s hand grip on a club, bat or racket of the type having a shaft between an instrument head and an instrument grip, comprising the steps of attaching a coupler to the shaft near the grip with a hand strap attached to the coupler and adapted for wrapping about a gripping hand of the player, the hand strap being adjustable for tightening between the gripping hand of the player and the shaft thereby to substantially prevent longitudinal displacement of the shaft away from the gripping hand during swinging of the club, bat or racket by the player. 
         [0015]    These and other improvements, features and advantages of the present invention will be better understood by reference to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0016]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a grip training aid according to this invention; 
           [0017]      FIG. 2  is a top-plan view of the coupler or retaining collar of the grip training aid of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0018]      FIG. 3  is a side elevational view of the retaining collar of the grip training aid of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0019]      FIG. 4  is a longitudinal section of the retaining collar taken along line  4 - 4  in  FIG. 3 ; 
           [0020]      FIG. 4A  shows how the grip training aid of  FIG. 1  is releasably attached to a typical golf club by radially admitting the shaft into the slotted retaining collar and then sliding the slotted collar upwardly towards the club grip to a thicker location of the club shaft; 
           [0021]      FIG. 5  shows how the hand strap of the training aid is wrapped about the wrist of the upper gripping hand of the golf club user; and 
           [0022]      FIG. 6  shows a typical two-handed grip on the golf club of a right handed golfer showing how the hand strap is worn around the wrist of the upper gripping hand and the strap extends along the club grip to the retaining collar below the club grip. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0023]    A presently preferred embodiment of the invention is used on a golf club and has an adjustable strap that goes around the wrist of the golfer gripping the club. In this embodiment the strap attaches to a 0.75″ long by 1″ diameter O.D. 0.6″ I.D. metal tube, with a 0.4″ slot in the side that allows it to fit onto the lower part of the club shaft. It slides up the tapered shaft to the grip where it can&#39;t come off. The end of the tube that comes in contact with the grip is tapered inside to outside for 0.3″ to act a compression fit to prevent the grip from being pushed up the shaft during use. When the strap is adjusted properly, the golfer&#39;s hands fit the grip normally. Since (typically) all clubs in a golfer&#39;s bag have the same grip, the strap can be used quickly and easily to attach to any of the clubs without any further adjustment and no damage to the clubs. 
         [0024]    With reference to the accompanying drawings wherein like elements are designated by like numerals,  FIG. 1  shows a grip training aid, generally designated by numeral  10 , according to the present invention. The training aid  10  is used with commercially available golf clubs for the purpose of improving the golfer&#39;s swing when driving a golf ball with the club. 
         [0025]    A typical golf club, generally designated by the letter C, is shown in  FIG. 4A . Club C has a club shaft S between a club grip G and a club head H. The club shaft S is usually of circular cross-section and of tapering thickness between the club grip G and club head H, having greatest thickness immediately adjacent to the lower end g of club grip G, and smallest thickness near the top end h of the club head H. 
         [0026]    With reference to  FIGS. 1 through 4  of the drawings, the training aid  10  has a retaining collar  12  which is attached to a hand strap  14  by means of a swivel connector  16 . As better seen in  FIGS. 2  though  4 , the retaining collar  12  has a generally annular or ring shaped collar wall  18  with an interior collar surface  20 . In horizontal or axial cross-section the collar wall  20  is circular in curvature as best seen in the top view of  FIG. 2 . In vertical or longitudinal section, shown in  FIG. 4 , the collar interior surface  20  tapers in diameter from the top  20   a  to its bottom  20   b . The taper of inner surface  20  is preferably chosen to match the taper of the club shaft S. In the vicinity of the top end  20   a  the inner surface  20  flares outwardly at an increased rate to form a rounded shoulder  22 . The collar  12  further has an external rib  24  which provides support and strength for a boss  26 . The collar  12  with rib  24  and boss  26  may be machined as a one piece, unitary element from a block of material such as aluminum or other relatively strong and rigid material. 
         [0027]    Boss  26  has a hole therethrough (not shown) extending axially parallel to the longitudinal axis of inner surface  20 . A quick release swivel connector  16  mates to this hole and passes through boss  26  as best seen in  FIG. 3 . Swivel connector  16  may be a commercially available key chain swivel connector, for example, of a type which is commercially available as Article No. 9500 from S. Axelrod Company, 7 West 30 Street, New York, N.Y. 10001. Briefly, the swivel connector  16  has a spring loaded plunger  16   a  which when depressed into connector sleeve  16   b  radially retracts a ball detent with the throughhole in boss  26 . The throughhole has a stepped inside diameter to provide a detent shoulder which prevents the sleeve  16   b  from pulling out of boss  26  while the detent ball of connector  16  is in its normal radially extended position. Pushing the plunger  16   a  into connector sleeve  16   b  retracts the ball detent and allows the connector  16  to be detached from collar  12 . Operation of such swivel connectors  16  is well known and does not require further description herein. 
         [0028]    The plunger  16   a  of the swivel connector  16  has a ring  16   c  at its upper free end. Ring  16   c  passes through a diametric hole in plunger  16   a  and is free to swivel about the axis of this diametric hole, i.e., side to side relative to the plane of ring  16   c . Furthermore, plunger  16   a  is free to turn or swivel about its own axis within connector sleeve  16   b  and consequently also relative to the retaining collar  12 . 
         [0029]    Hand strap  14  is a continuous length of strong, pliable material such as a woven synthetic material. The strap is a flat band with opposite strap sides or strap faces  14   a ,  14   b  between two opposite strap edges  14   c ,  14   d . One end of strap  14  is fastened to a buckle  28  and a free end  15  of strap  14  is threaded through the buckle  28  to form two loops connected by the buckle; a lower loop between ring  16   c  and buckle  28  and a free upper loop freely extending from buckle  28 . The looping of strap  14  through buckle  28  allows the strap  14  to be adjustable in effective length, and permits adjustment of each of the two loops of the strap relative to each other. For example, the effective length of the lower loop (i.e. the distance between buckle  28  and ring  16   c ) can be lengthened or shortened by suitable repositioning of the buckle  28  along the strap  14  in a well known manner. Likewise, the free end  15  of the strap can be pulled through the buckle  28  for shortening or lengthening the free upper loop of the strap extending above buckle  28  in  FIG. 1 . A combination of these adjustments can be made to achieve a desired net length of the hand strap  14  and of the relative sizes of the two loops of hand strap  14 . 
         [0030]    The annular wall  18  of retainer collar  12  is interrupted by an axially extending slot  30 . The slot  30  has a width measured in a circumferential direction of the collar  12  sized to admit the thickness of club shaft S at a location spaced from the club grip G and nearer to the club head H. The club shaft S is admitted into collar  12  in a radial direction as suggested by arrow A in  FIG. 4   a . Collar  12  is then slid upwardly along club shaft S as suggested by arrow B in the same figure until the shoulder  22  abuts against the lower edge g of club grip G, a condition illustrated in  FIG. 5 . As collar  12  is slid upwardly on shaft S the thickness of shaft S increases to a shaft width greater than the width of collar slot  30 , thereby preventing the collar  12  from separating radially from the club shaft S. 
         [0031]    Once the collar  12  is installed as just explained, the golfer, player or club user then inserts his or her hand through the free upper loop of hand strap  14  as shown in  FIG. 5 . The upper loop of hand strap  14  is wrapped around the wrist of the golfer&#39;s hand L with buckle  28  generally contained between the palm P of golfer&#39;s hand L and club grip G. The shoulder  22  of collar  12  provides an abutment against the lower end g of the club grip G and prevents collar  12  from further upward movement over the club grip G and anchors strap  14  relative to golf club C against upward pulling force by the club user&#39;s hand. 
         [0032]    Retaining collar  12  is free to turn on the club shaft to accommodate pulling force transmitted through the hand strap  14  or simply in response to manual positioning of the collar by the golfer, allowing orientation and positioning of the boss  26  about the shaft circumference to keep the strap  14  from wrapping around shaft S and facilitate a relatively straight connection of strap  14  along the club shaft S between collar  12  and the user&#39;s gripping hand on the club grip G. 
         [0033]    The golfer then completes his or her two handed grip on golf club C in a normal manner. The golfer&#39;s strong or dominant hand is normally the lower hand in the two-handed grip used by golfers, while the weaker hand becomes the upper hand in the two-handed grip.  FIG. 6  illustrates a typical two handed grip of golf club C by a right handed golfer. The overall or effective length of hand strap  14  is adjusted such that there is little and preferably no substantial slack in the hand strap looped around wrist W of the player&#39;s upper gripping hand L as the strap extends downwardly from the wrist alongside the club grip G to its attachment at ring  16   c  of swivel connector  16  and thus to the retaining collar  12 , which itself is in abutment against club grip G as has been previously explained thereby keeping taut the hand strap  14 . Proper length adjustment of strap  14  helps to correctly position the golfer&#39;s upper hand along club grip G, lending consistency to the golfer&#39;s grip on the golf club C. The lower gripping hand R in  FIG. 6  grips the club grip G in normal fashion below hand L. The hand strap  14  generally extends along the club grip G between the fingers F and the ball B of lower gripping hand R. As a result the hand strap  14  including buckle  28  do not appreciably interfere with the golfer&#39;s hand grip on club grip G, and the golf club C is used and swung in a normal manner for driving a golf ball with the club head H. For a left-handed golfer, the dominant left hand will normally be the lower griping hand in which case the strap  14  is worn around the wrist of the upper right hand in such player&#39;s two-handed grip on club C, reversing the positions of the hands shown in  FIG. 6 . 
         [0034]    The hand strap  14  wrapped around wrist W serves to reassure the player from fear of losing the club C during the swing and encourages the player to lighten his or her hand grip on the club, thereby leading to a more natural and effective swing. The device  10  used in this fashion trains the golfer, particularly novice golfers, to relax their grip on the club and not over grip as is common tendency among novice golfers. 
         [0035]    It will be appreciated that the grip training aid  10  is easily installed and removed from conventional, commercially available golf clubs without modification or damage to the club. A single training aid  10  can be easily and conveniently moved from one club to another in a set of multiple clubs typically carried by golfers as different clubs come into play during a game. 
         [0036]    The hand strap  14  may be provided with indicia such as a directional arrow  34  shown in  FIG. 6 , printed or otherwise applied to an outer side or face  14   a  of the hand strap, the arrow pointing towards a particular side edge  14   c  of the hand strap, to facilitate use of the training aid  10  by visually indicating to the player a correct outward facing side of the strap  14  as well as a correct club facing edge  14   c  of the same strap, so that once the length of the strap has been correctly adjusted this length for a particular player and a particular set of golf clubs, the strap length is maintained by wearing the strap  14  in a consistent manner on the player&#39;s hand. 
         [0037]    The training aid  10  can be modified in various ways without loss of function. For example, it is contemplated that the hand strap  14  could be held together by appropriate use of adjustable Velcro fasteners in lieu of buckle  28 . 
         [0038]    While a particular embodiment of the invention has been described and illustrated for purposes of clarity and explanation it must be understood that still other changes, modifications and substitutions will be apparent to those having only ordinary skill in the art without thereby departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.