Patent Application
20240316433
The present disclosure relates to a golf practice mat, and more particularly to a practice mat that includes a standing surface that provides multiple options for placing the golfer's feet on a variety of slopes and one or more hitting tiers that each provide multiple options for placing a ball on surfaces of different slopes or elevations.
In order to improve their golf skills, golfers routinely practice hitting golf balls at driving ranges (which require at least five acres), or into nets when space is limited. It is quite common for golfers to have golf nets in their backyards to practice. Sometimes when golfers are practicing, they are able to hit balls that are resting on grass, but because a golf shot in at least some cases damages the turf, it is far more common that golfers practice by hitting their balls off of a flat mat, usually around 5 ft. by 5 ft., covered with an artificial material that resembles actual grass, such as ASTROTURF®. These practice mats are made of durable materials, so that thousands of shots can be hit off of a mat without wearing through the artificial grass material. Mechanical or non-fixed practice mats are also known in the art. Such mats use actuators (e.g., motors, pistons, hinges, hydraulics) to control and modify the orientation of a solid standing and/or hitting surface, in order to provide a variety of stance and ball lie scenarios for the user.
For many decades, the predominant theory of sports coaching, motor learning, motor control, and skill acquisition has been the biomechanical model. The idea has been that for any given motor skill (e.g., throwing a baseball, shooting a basketball, throwing a dart, hitting a golf ball), there is a biomechanically “correct” way to perform the skill, and the learner's job was to acquire these “correct” biomechanical skills. More recently, a new, more efficient approach to skill acquisition has emerged. While the terms and vernacular are still evolving, a very common term for this new style of learning is “ecological dynamics” or “eco-d” for short.
Eco-d training is based on several key principles. The first is that the environment matters. The athlete should not be separated from the environment in which they will execute their sport. When it is not possible to practice in the actual environment, the practice environment should simulate key perceptual variables in the actual environment as closely as possible. The second principle is that-regardless of the motor skill being learned—the athlete should vary their practice from “go” to “go”. A “go” is used as a general term for each time a motor skill is executed. For example, every throw is a “go”; every swing of the baseball bat is a “go”; every basketball shot, or dribble, or pass is a “go”; and every golf swing is a “go”. In contrast, the biomechanics approach to practice often uses “blocked practice,” where many goes are taken in the same way or under the same conditions. Examples include a basketball player practicing by taking many “goes” at free throws, or a golfer hitting many practice shots in a row with the same club, off of a flat surface. Modern skill acquisition research has determined that motor skill acquisition is enhanced when every “go” varies from previous “goes”. In eco-d, a common phrase for this varied practice approach is “repetition without repetition.”
One embodiment provides a golf training device comprising: a standing portion having least one standing surface that is operable to support a golfer and that has a corresponding slope; and a hitting portion comprising multiple hitting tiers that are each operable to support a golf ball and that each have one or more hitting surfaces having a corresponding slope, wherein the at least one of the standing surfaces is not horizontal, such that the front foot of the golfer is at a different elevation than the rear foot of the golfer when the golfer addresses a ball placed on one of the hitting tiers, and wherein at least one of the hitting surfaces is at a different level than the at least one standing surface, such that a ball placed on the at least one hitting surface is above or below the feet of the golfer.
In the first embodiment, each hitting tier may have at least one hitting surface that has a slope that is the same as the slope of the standing surface, and each hitting tier may have at least one hitting surface that has a slope that is different than the slope of the standing surface. Each of the hitting surfaces may be substantially planar. Each hitting tier may have three hitting surfaces, wherein the hitting tiers have slopes that are respectively greater than, equal to, and less than the slope of the standing surface. The standing portion may include multiple standing surfaces that each have a corresponding slope that is different from the slopes of the other standing surfaces. The hitting and/or standing surfaces may be curved and not planar. The standing portion and hitting portion may be permanently coupled into a single mat. The standing portion and hitting portion may be distinct and not coupled. The hitting portion may further include a tier holding portion, wherein each of the hitting tiers is removably coupled to the tier holding portion. The device may not not include any moving parts or actuators. The standing portion may include a first standing surface that is substantially planar and has an angle of between 1 and 15 degrees, a second standing surface that is substantially planar and has an angle of about 0 degrees, and a third standing surface that is substantially planar and has an angle of between −1 and −15 degrees. The hitting portion may include at least two hitting tiers. The standing portion may have a surface that is curved in profile and wherein the hitting portion includes at least two hitting tiers that are curved in profile. The two hitting tiers may include a first hitting tier having an elevation that is below that of the standing surface, and a second hitting tier having an elevation that is above that of the standing surface. The hitting surfaces of the two hitting tiers may have side slopes.
Another embodiment provides a golf training device comprising a standing portion having a standing surface that is operable to support a golfer, wherein the standing surface has a curved profile; a first hitting tier that is operable to support a golf ball, wherein the first hitting tier has a curved profile and an elevation that is below that of the standing surface, such that a ball placed on the first hitting tier is below the feet of the golfer; a second hitting tier that is operable to support a golf ball, wherein the second hitting tier has a curved profile and an elevation that is above that of the standing surface, such that a ball placed on the second hitting tier is above the feet of the golfer; and a third hitting tier that is operable to support a golf ball, wherein the third hitting tier has a curved profile and an elevation that is level with the standing surface, such that a ball placed on the first hitting tier is level with the feet of the golfer, and wherein the front foot of the golfer is at a different elevation than the rear foot of the golfer when the golfer addresses a ball placed on one of the hitting tiers. The first hitting tier may have a downhill side slope that provides an infinite number of ball placements ranging from about 1 inch below the level of the standing surface to about 4 inches below the level of the standing surface, and the second hitting tier may have an uphill side slope that provides an infinite number of ball placements ranging from about 1 inch above the level of the standing surface to about 4 inches above the level of the standing surface.
A further embodiment provides a method of golf training, comprising providing a practice mat according to one of the embodiments described herein, standing on the standing portion, and repeatedly placing a golf ball on the hitting portion and hitting it therefrom, wherein each ball placement is on a different one of the multiple hitting surfaces of the hitting portion, wherein the method is performed without moving and without adjusting the mat.
Embodiments described herein provide a golf practice mat. The mat and its characteristics are inspired by the observation that actual golf courses are never flat. Real golf courses have contours to greater or lesser degrees, so they are never entirely flat. The inventive golf practice mat simulates the natural contours found on every golf course and which every golfer will encounter on every shot. The mat makes it as easy as possible for the golfer to vary each go, thereby applying the principles of eco-d training to the sport of golf.
Whenever a golfer is hitting a ball there will be two surface areas to consider. The first is the surface for standing: Under almost all normal conditions, when a golfer swings a golf club his feet will apply various forces to the surface the golfer is standing on. These forces include the downward force of the golfer's weight, along with various horizontal forces, such as sliding and twisting. The surface area where the golfer stands must be stable and strong enough to withstand these forces without shifting.
The second surface is the surface for hitting: Under almost all normal conditions, when a golfer swings a club, the impact of the clubface on the ball and/or the ground around the ball is substantial. As mentioned earlier, when playing on natural turf, it's often the case that every time the golfer swings, the clubface will damage the turf. The turf that is cut from the ground during a swing is called a “divot”. In general, artificial golf practice mats (existing and as claimed herein), are strong enough to resist the strike of the clubhead, so when using most practice mats, no divots are created. But the mats must be strong and durable to sustain thousands of swings without degrading.
Terms A-C define three contours for the X-axis, and terms D-F define three contours for the Y-axis. Combinations of these terms can be used to define nine (3×3) basic contour situations that the golfer will encounter.
The mat 100 and tiers 110, 120, and 140 include the following nine contour combinations (the numbers 1-9 below and in
In the ball below the feet tier 110:
The player stands in various portions of the standing portion 101 of the mat 100. The broadest part of the surface of the standing portion 101 is level with ball position #5, above. The slanted areas on the surface of the standing portion 101 allow the player to create uphill or downhill slopes for their feet.
Within each of the above-enumerated nine basic contour situations there are an infinite number of minor variations, for example the uphill or downhill slope could range from 2 degrees (imperceptible) up to perhaps 10 degrees, and/or the ball could be anywhere between a half inch above or below the feet to 4-6 inches above or below the feet. The contour mat will allow the golfer to explore all of these infinite variations on the nine basic contour situations. These and other features described herein support key principles of eco-d training, including practice variability and environment simulation. The described mat allows a golfer to make many repetitions in a time-efficient manner, because the golfer need only adjust his position on the mat slightly to strike the ball from various different positions on the mat. Each position varies from the others, such that the repetitions can be performed “without repetition,” further supporting the eco-d training approach.
When comparing the contoured golf practice mat to the “mechanical” mats mentioned earlier, there are several important distinctions. First, unlike mechanical mats, the contoured mat allows for uninterrupted practice. In other words, the golfer can move from “lie” to “lie” without having to stop practice and make adjustments. Second, unlike mechanical mats, the contoured mat has no moving parts, making it far more durable and reliable. Mechanical mats, relying as they do on motors, and pistons and actuators and such, will require the same sort of maintenance, tuning, and repair overhead as all other mechanical machines. Also, the contoured practice golf costs a fraction of what mechanical mats cost, as the described contour mat has no moving parts in a typical embodiment.
The illustrated embodiment of
The three most common practice environments that make use of practice mats area driving range, an outdoor practice net, and an indoor practice net. A driving range allows many players to practice at once. In this situation, the driving range has a row of individual locations or “stalls”, one for each golfer. As mentioned earlier, most practice facilities (driving ranges), use golf mats as opposed to allowing the golfer to hit shots on grass. Each stall at a driving range has its own mat, and each stall has a limited width, typically 9 to 15 feet. Because golfers can hit golf balls more than 300 yards and because golf shots frequently end up far left or right of the golfer's desired target, driving ranges typically require between 6 and 15 acres.
Outdoor and indoor practice nets a provide an alternative to a full driving range. Since true driving ranges require so much space, it is very common for golfers to set up large nets into which they can hit their practice shots. The net is typically located only a few feet in front of the golfer and is wide enough to catch shots that go left or right of the desired direction. Indoor nets are similar to the outdoors net, only located indoors. Indoor and outdoor practice net environments are roughly the same size, 10-20 feet wide, and might include various electronic sensing devices and electronic visual projectors that can capture the golfer's swing, how the ball is struck, and can visually simulate (e.g., project onto a screen), how that shot would have flown if not hit into a net.
When a golfer is practicing using an existing flat mat or this contoured mat, the mat itself is stationary. In addition, the mat is typically large enough so that the golfer is standing on the mat near one edge, and hitting balls that are resting on the mat, near the opposite edge. Given the size of golfers, and the length of golf clubs, that means that a typical mat is at least 5 feet wide, to allow for the feet and the ball to all be on the mat at the same time. Therefore, regardless of the practice environment, the golfer will hit all of their shots without having to move the mat between shots. This is a critical requirement of the UX while practicing. Ideally, the golfer has to do very little setup between shots. To that end, from shot to shot, the contour mat allows the golfer to place balls in any nine of the contour situations (and their variations), without having to move themselves off the mat or move their mats to different locations. In other words, the contour mat works for all existing practice setups. No extra space is required.
The golfer will be able to use the contour mat in any existing, common practice environment, with the added benefit (not provided by existing flat mats), of allowing the golfer to practice hitting shots from all nine of the contour situations they will experience when playing actual golf. This allows the golfer to easily practice using the eco-d principles of simulating the environment and practice variability, while minimizing the setup effort required between shots. In summary, the UX provides an ideal, variable practice environment.
There are many variations and embodiments of the contoured practice mat, some of which are described below.
Surface and/or base material variations. There are many variations of the surface material used for the mat. Materials such as rubber or foam or plastic can be used and various turf simulations can be achieved, such as short grass or long grass. In addition, there are many variations on the base material used under the surface to achieve the contours described above. The base of the contour mat could be constructed from rubber or foam or plastic or other materials.
Contour variations in number and/or geometry: The contour mat can range from very simple (e.g., providing only two or three different contour situations) to very complex (e.g., providing all nine of the contour situations and variations described above) In addition, any number of contour geometries can be embodied to achieve the ideal, variable practice environment described above, including: flat surfaces at different slopes, or curved surfaces that can achieve a wider variety of slope conditions.
X and Y Axis configurations: The mat can be embodied in many different X and Y axis configurations. For example, the “ball below feet” tier could be the closest tier to the golfer, or the middle or farthest. The “uphill lie” portion of the mat could be to the right, left or between the level lie and downhill lie portions.
Right-handed, left handed, or ambidextrous mats: The mat can be embodied to work only for left handed golfers or for right handed golfers, or for both.
Tier slope/grade variations: Each tier can have a unique range of uphill and downhill slopes/grades. For example, a “standard” embodiment might provide grades ranging (in infinite gradations), from 10 percent downhill, through to 0 percent (level), and then through to 10 percent uphill. Also, each tier can have a unique range of sidehill grades. For example a “standard” embodiment might provide grades ranging (in infinite gradations), from 0 percent to −10 percent grades on the “ball below the feet” tier, and from 0 to +10 percent for the “ball above the feet” tier. For uphill, downhill, and sidehill grades, grades steeper than 10 percent could be embodied, although 0 to 10 percent grades are the most common on actual golf courses.
One piece or “inserts” design: The mat can be embodied as a single piece, or it can be designed so that golfers can add or subtract inserts as desired to vary the slopes/grades of the mat. For example, if a standard embodiment of the “ball level with feet” tier provides a range of grades from −10 percent though +10 percent, an “insert” could be added between the base of the mat and the turf, to vary the range of grades for that tier.
Kits: A kit can be used instead of the entire mat so that do-it-yourself golfers (DIYers), can convert an existing flat mat to a contour mat using inserts. For example, a kit could include templates or jigs so that the DIYers could cut base materials to the proper shape and then attach an existing flat map on top of the base. In typical embodiments, the existing flat map would be cut into strips, one strip for each tier.) Bases could be constructed using any number of materials such as wood, or rigid foam. Mats could be attached using any number of approaches including straps, glue, or Velcro.
Multiple piece: Instead of a single mat that accommodates the golfers feet and the various golf ball placements, a multiple mat solution could be provided, allowing separate mats for the feet, and/or for the various contours to be achieved.
Larger mats: The normal practice mat size is 5′×5′. Larger mats, such as 7′×7′ can be embodied. Larger mats could provide an even more natural simulations of the contours encountered on golf courses.
Portable models: The practice mat could be embodied as one or more smaller contoured mats that can be placed on top of existing mats. This would, for example, allow a golfer to bring a portable model with them when they travel to other golf courses or driving ranges.
Toe Up and/or Toe Down: The standing surfaces of the mat can be level or sloped. For example, it's quite natural when hitting a ball above your feet, that your toes would be above your heels, so a variation of the mat might be configured so that when the golfer is hitting balls above their feet, their toes are also above their heels. The reverse would be true when the ball is below the golfer's feet.
While an great number of variations are possible, the following describes some example embodiments to further illustrate and describe aspects of the invention.
The hitting portion includes three tiers 110, 120, and 130. Tiers 110, 120, and 130 respectively simulate the ball below feet, ball level with feet, and ball above feet conditions. Each tier provides one or more surfaces for the placement of the ball. For example, tier 130 includes hitting surfaces 131-135. Each hitting surface is in this embodiment planar or substantially planar. Curved surfaces may be employed in other embodiments. In this example, each tier includes 5 hitting surfaces, providing a total of 15 different basic ball placement options, and for each of these 15 ball placement options, changing the ball position slightly will change the degree of slope between the golfer's feet. Also, in this example, each tier provides the same or substantially the same contour profile but at different elevations, so as to simulate the ball placement below, at or above the golfer's feet. Other embodiments may include a greater or lesser number of tiers and/or tiers with a greater or lesser number of hitting surfaces.
Each tier differs in elevation, with tier 110 having the lowest elevation and tier 130 having the highest elevation. Elevation is a measure of distance from the ground plane to a particular point (e.g., the highest point, the lowest point, the center point, one of the end points) of a given tier. Elevation can also or instead be expressed as the average height of a given tier, measured from one end of the tier to the other. The elevation at the ends of tier 120 is substantially the same as the starting elevation of the ends of the standing portion. Note that in other embodiments, the beginning and ending elevations of a tier may not be the same.
Different ranges of side slope are contemplated, including 2 to 8 degrees, −2 to −8 degrees, 1 to 15 degrees, −1 to −15 degrees, and the like. The side slopes provide for an infinite number of distinct ball placements ranging from about 1 inch above/below the golfer's feet to about 4 inches above/below the golfer's feet. Other embodiments may use shallower/steeper side slopes (or narrower/wider tiers) to afford a lesser or greater range of ball placement elevations, such as 0 to 4 inches, 0 to 6 inches, 0 to 8 inches, 1 to 5 inches, 1 to 6 inches, or the like.
Side slopes as used in mat 250 more effectively simulate conditions found on real golf courses, where a ball that is below the golfer's feet (on tier 261) will typically be on a slope away (downwards) from the golfer, or where a ball that is above the golfer's feet (on tier 262) will typically be on a slope towards (upwards) from the golfer. A side slope allows for an infinite number of distinct ball elevations between the lowest and highest points of the side slope, measured with respect to the level of the standing portion. Note that while linear side slopes have are shown here, other embodiments may use curved side slopes.
Note that the hitting tiers 503 and 504 respectively have downhill and uphill side slopes, such as those discussed with reference to
While embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, as noted above, many changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is not limited by the above disclosure.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/453,696, entitled “Contoured Golf Practice Mat,” filed Mar. 21, 2023, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63453696 | Mar 2023 | US |
