Golf Club Grip

Abstract

A unitary golf grip for attachment to the handle of a golf club having three gripping sections including an upper section to accommodate the little finger of the golfer's upper hand; a tapered intermediate section to accommodate the remaining three fingers of the golfer's upper hand; and, a lower section to accommodate the fingers of the golfers lower hand.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Normally a golf club is gripped with both hands at the end of the golf club shaft on a grip portion formed at the upper end of the club. Historically the grip has been formed with a constant diameter or with a grip that tapers toward the club head from the butt end of the club having the larger grip diameter. Little attention has been given to the overall shape of golf grips with the exception that grips have been made with the end or butt section being larger to prevent the club from slipping out of the hands during the execution of a full swing golf shot. Few attempts have been made to properly fit the grip to the physical structure of the hand and fingers. The present invention relates to an apparatus used for playing a game of golf and in particular to a putter type golf club having a unique handle configuration.

Conventional golf grips, having a larger diameter at the upper, butt end surface, create unwanted tension problems that must be compensated for during the execution of a golf swing. Applicant has a history of developing improved golf grip structures as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. D 355,011, D 605,241, and D532,857.

It has been generally agreed among golf teachers that the middle and index fingers of the upper hand are the most critical part of the golf grip. For this reason Applicant was initially led to create an improved golf grip addressing the position of these two upper fingers. This ultimately led to the grip structure disclosed in the Ferris U.S. Pat. No. 7,658,764. It was felt that this patented grip shape would allow the fingers of the upper hand to have a stronger grip on the club during the execution of golf shots and prevent premature release of the lower dominant hand while providing separate feel with each hand as it grips the golf club.

The U.S. Pat. No. 7,658,864 describes a three-section golf grip wherein the uppermost section accommodates the little and ring finger of the upper hand, the intermediate section accommodates the middle finger and index finger of the upper hand and a lower section that accommodates all the fingers of the lower hand. This patent describes a relationship between the uppermost section and the intermediate section having a ratio of 9:12 or 3:4 wherein the uppermost section is approximately 75% of the length of the intermediate section.

Whereas the patented grip of Ferris did provide greater stability and increased performance when striking a golf ball by a golf club employing the patented grip, it became apparent that additional increased performance may be possible based on the study of the dynamics of hand and finger movement during the number of thousands of golf shots made with the grip.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Other prior art patents of interest include Design Pat. No. D 504,928 to Miller showing a golf grip that is tapered upwardly toward the upper end of the golf club; U.S. Pat. No. 3,295,850 to Garrity showing a golf grip having a tapered upper end of reduced diameter; and, U.S. Pat. No. 6,817,956 to Dagenais showing a putter grip including a lower grip portion having a greater diameter than a separate, detached upper section.

To the extent that a golf grip design supports and facilitates natural hand and finger action, it is said to be “ergonomically” shaped. The novel structural features of the golf grip of the present invention, in contrast to all other golf grip shapes, provides an ergonomic shape that better allows the natural movement of the grasping non-dominant, upper hand's closing fingers to uniformly and simultaneously grip the club in an easier, more beneficial ergonomic way. The golf club grip of the present invention is shaped to avoid the creation of the fulcrum and trigger effects previously described above by changing the normal sequential movement of the non-dominant hand's closing fingers onto the grip's surface, to a unified and simultaneous event. This is accomplished with a grip design that reflects the normal anatomy of the upper grasping hand and as such is progressively larger in a proscribed circumferential dimension beginning with the anticipated area of impaction of the little finger and continuing through the anticipated grip impaction area of the index finger.

The invention is an ergonomic golf grip that relieves tension during the gripping process and execution of a golf swing by the placement of all the fingers of a normal human, grasping, non-dominant, upper hand on successively increasing cross sectional diameters of the golf grip, beginning with the little finger and ending with the index finger and thumb; and, with all the fingers of the lower, dominant grasping hand placed on a larger, constant cross-sectional diameter of the grip. The present invention recognizes that the closing movement of the little finger and ring finger of a normal human hand against the palm is different because the little finger is shorter than the ring finger. When both fingers grasp an object of the same diameter, a fulcrum is created and a trigger action between the fingers results.

Because the present invention recognizes that the distance each finger moves is different, the golf grip is shaped to more completely reconcile the anatomical differences between the fingers of a normal human hand and the areas of the palm where they impact, so that the grasping fingers more simultaneously impact the grip against the palm to increase the efficiency and consistency of a golf swing. Structurally this is achieved with the grip configured to have a lowermost section of constant diameter to engage all the fingers of the lower dominant hand, an intermediate section having a progressively tapering outside diameter to provide a gripping surface for the first three fingers of the upper, non-dominant hand and an upper section to accommodate only the little finger of the upper, non-dominant hand. This configuration allows the fingers of the upper hand, having different lengths, to simultaneously close against the configuration of the two upper grip sections and acts to greatly reduce or eliminate the fulcrum effect and resulting trigger action of the little finger relative to the ring finger.

More specifically, the equalization of the rate of closure of all fingers of the upper hand is achieved by providing a reduced diameter gripping surface for the little finger relative to a larger diameter gripping surface of the adjacent ring finger. This reduction in size of the uppermost section of the grip is sized in length to permit grasping by only the little finger when using a conventional golf gripping technique necessary for the execution of a full golf swing. This grip configuration automatically places the ring finger on the tapered intermediate grip section that has a greater diameter than the grip impaction area of the little finger resulting in simultaneous instead of sequential closing and impaction against the grip surface of the little finger and ring fingers. In addition, the middle finger and index finger also close simultaneously due to the placement of these two fingers on the remaining portion of the tapered intermediate center section of the golf grip whereby all three of the larger fingers of the upper hand engage the tapered intermediate section of the golf grip.

The golf grip of the present invention is an ergonomic design, particularly for the upper, non-dominant hand with a measured incremental progressive circumference increase that ends before it is extended into the grasping area of the lower dominant hand. This grip structure allows the consistent and efficient prosecution of the golf swing. Intrinsic to the ergonomic characteristics of the subject grip are the resultant desirable qualities of increased control, power, consistency, efficiency, and outcome relative to a planned, purposeful, goal-oriented golf swing action.

Another aspect of the design of the subject grip is the creation of measurably increased, tension-free, non-dominant wrist flex. This important faculty increases tension-free extension at address to reduce the set-up wrist/shaft angle and facilitate the execution of a true “one plane swing”; a swing protocol desirable for its consistent accuracy but elusive with the employment of less ergonomically shaped grip forms, including the grip disclosed in my U.S. Pat. No. 7,658,684. The ability of the subject grip to increase non-dominant wrist-flex also facilitates increased overall swing extension resulting in smoother club head release, more powerful impact and higher swing speed with reduced effort. These and other beneficial outcomes are attributable to the ergonomic design of the subject grip and create substantially greater feel through the hands of the golfer when executing a golf shot.

No matter what the overall grip size, the uppermost section of the grip relative to the intermediate section has a ratio of 5:12. Stated in other words the length of the uppermost section is no greater than 50% of the length of the intermediate section and in a preferred embodiment the length of the upper section is approximately 42% of the length of the intermediate section, a significant difference from the golf grip shown and described in my U.S. Pat. No. 7,658,684 where the uppermost section is almost twice the size, at 75% of the intermediate section. In addition, the lower most section is at least the same size and preferably slightly larger than the uppermost section and intermediate section combined. In a typical embodiment of the grip of the present invention, the ratio of the uppermost section and intermediate section relative to the lowermost section is 17:20.

Using these relative proportions, a typical size golf grip in accordance with the present invention has a lowermost section of approximately 5 inches, an intermediate section of approximately 3 inches and an uppermost section of 1.25 inches. This creates the 5:12 proportional ratio between the uppermost section and the intermediate section whereby the intermediate section is just under three times larger than the uppermost section.

It is appreciated that various golfers have different sized fingers. Therefore the grip is sized to individual structural differences of the fingers of particular golfers such that the same relative proportion is maintained between the uppermost section and the intermediate section. Therefore no matter how large or small the overall grip size may be, the uppermost section of the grip accommodates only the little finger and the intermediate section accommodates the remaining three fingers, the ring finger, the middle finger and the index finger, of the golfer's upper hand. Similarly, the lowermost section of the grip is sized to accommodate all the fingers of the golfer's lower hand no matter how large or small the golfer's hands may be. With grips that are smaller or larger to accommodate golfers having different sized hands, it will be appreciated that the length measurements of each of the three sections of the golf grip, in inches, will vary either larger or smaller as long while maintaining the relative size of each section in the same proportion to allow the placement of the fingers as described above.

A primary object of the present invention is the provision of an ergonomic golf grip to facilitate ease and consistency of the golf swing.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a golf club grip having an improved ergonomic shape allowing the fingers of the upper hand on a golf grip hands to operate simultaneously during the execution of a full swing golf stroke.

These and other objects will become apparent with reference to the following specification and drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the golf grip of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along lines 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along lines 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the golf grip of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the golf grip attached to the upper end of a full length golf club.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 5, a full swing golf grip 100 in accordance with the present invention is shown attached to a golf club 102 on a shaft 104 at the opposite end of a club head 106. The grip 100 preferably is a unitary, single molded unit typically made of rubber or similar, generally flexible composite material. The grip 100 is generally cylindrical in shape and has a hollow interior. The grip 100 includes an opening 108 at the lower end to enable it to be placed over the golf club shaft 104 and a cap 110 at the top or butt end that covers the upper end of the shaft 104.

The grip 100 is formed in three separate, interconnected gripping sections, including an upper section 112, a lower section 114 and an intermediate or transitional section 116 between the upper section 112 and the lower section 114. The upper section 112 has a first non-tapered, constant outer diameter along the entire length of the upper section 112, as shown in FIG. 2. The lower section 114 has a second constant outer diameter, larger than the first diameter of the upper section 112, along the entire length of the lower section 114, as shown in FIG. 3.

The intermediate section 116 is tapered with a gradually decreasing diameter from the larger diameter of the lower section 114 toward the smaller diameter of the upper section 112 such that the diameter of the intermediate section 116 progressively decreases toward the upper end of the grip 100.

The upper section 112 is sized to accommodate the uppermost finger only, that is, the pinky or little finger of the golfer's upper hand when gripping the golf club 102 in a normal ball striking position. The intermediate section 116 is sized to accommodate the remaining fingers of the upper hand, that is, the ring finger, the middle finger and the index finger. The lower section 114 of the grip 100 accommodates all the fingers of the lower, dominant hand and is slightly less than the total length of the grip 100.

No matter what the overall grip size, the uppermost section 112 of the grip 100 relative to the intermediate section 116 is in a ratio of 5:12 and the uppermost section 112 and intermediate section 116 relative to the lower most section 114 is at least in the ratio of 1:1 and preferably sized where the lowermost section 114 is slightly larger than the length of the uppermost section 112 and the intermediate section 116 combined. It will be appreciated the lowermost section 114 may be even longer without departing from the essence of the present invention that creates simultaneous closing of the fingers of the upper hand during a golf shot.

Preferably the overall dimensions of the grip 100 are conventional although it will be appreciated the total length of the grip 100 and the length of the grip sections may vary slightly in keeping within the ratios of the relative proportions of the sections. In a preferred embodiment, the grip 100 has a cap 110 approximately one quarter of an inch or slightly longer to insure the golfer's hands do not slip off the club 102 should the grip 100 become slippery. The upper section 112 preferably is approximately 1.25 inches. This length fits the upper finger of the greater majority of golfers.

The length of the uppermost section 112 is no greater than 50% of the length of the intermediate section 116 and in a preferred embodiment the length of the upper section 112 is approximately 42% of the length of the intermediate section 116 and maintains this relative proportion no matter how large or small the overall size of the golf grip 100. The lower section 114 preferably is at least the same size as the upper section 112 and intermediate section 116 combined and may be slightly larger.

In a preferred embodiment, that fits a majority of golfer's hands, the upper section is approximately 1.25 inches, the intermediate section 116 is preferably three inches in length to fit the remaining three fingers of the golfer's upper hand, and the lower section is four to five inches to fit all the fingers of the golfer's lower hand.

The outside diameter of the upper section 112 is preferably 0.75 inches along the entire length. The lower section 114 has an outside diameter slightly less than 1.00 inches. The tapered intermediate section 116, between the upper section 112 and the lower section 114, tapers at a rate between 0.02 inches to 0.03 inches of diameter per inch of length. In the present embodiment, the rate of taper is 0.0263 inches per inch of length. The taper of the intermediate section 116 is constant along the length thereof presenting a linear gripping surface.

Whereas the present embodiment has been described in terms of conventional sizes, it will be appreciated the grips may be made smaller or larger to accommodate various golfers as long as the relative sizes of the sections are maintained. Other modifications may be made in keeping within the spirit and scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. A unitary golf club grip for attachment to the shaft of a golf club comprising: three gripping sections including; a lower end section of said grip having a first outer diameter constant along said lower end section; an upper end section having a second outer diameter constant along said upper end section, said second outer diameter being smaller than said first outer diameter; an intermediate section located between said upper end section and said lower end section, said intermediate section having an outside diameter progressively tapering between said upper end section and said lower end section toward said upper end section; said upper end section having a relative length smaller than said intermediate section; said lengths of said upper end section and said intermediate section characterized by having a proportionate ratio of 5:12; said lower end section having a length at least equal to the length of both of said upper end section and said intermediate sections combined; said upper end section further characterized by having a size providing a gripping surface to accommodate the upper finger of a golfer's upper hand; said intermediate section characterized by having a size providing a gripping surface for the remaining three fingers of the upper hand; and, said lower end section characterized by having a size providing sufficient gripping surface to accommodate all the fingers of the golfer's lower hand.

2. The unitary golf grip of claim 1 wherein said upper end section has a length that is less than 50% of the length of said intermediate section.

3. The unitary grip of claim 2 wherein said upper section has a length of approximately 42% of the length of said intermediate section.

4. The unitary golf grip of claim 1 wherein said intermediate section, located between said upper end section and said lower end section, is further defined by a change in outer diameter from one end to the other of the intermediate section at a rate ranging between 0.02 to 0.03 inches per diameter per inch of length.

5. The unitary golf grip of claim 4 wherein said change in outer diameter is 0.0263 inches per diameter per inch of length.

6. The unitary golf grip of claim 1 wherein the length of said upper end section is 1.25 inches and the diameter of the upper end section is 0.75 inches; the length of said lower end section is at least four inches and the diameter is approximately 1.0 inch; and, the length of said intermediate section is three inches.

7. The unitary golf grip of claim 5 wherein the diameter of said intermediate section tapers between 0.75 and 1.0 inches.

8. A unitary golf club grip for attachment to the shaft of a golf club comprising: a lower end section of said grip having a first outer diameter constant along said lower end section; an upper end section having a second outer diameter constant along said upper end section, said second outer diameter being smaller than said first outer diameter; an intermediate section located between said upper end section and said lower end section, said intermediate section having an outside diameter progressively tapering between said upper end section and said lower end section toward said upper end section; said upper end section having a relative length smaller than and less than 50% of the length of said intermediate section.

9. The unitary golf grip of claim 8 further defined by said upper end section having a length approximately 42% of the length of said intermediate section.

10. The unitary golf grip of claim 8 further defined by said upper end section having a size to accommodate the upper finger of a golfer's upper hand; said intermediate section characterized by having a size providing a gripping surface for the remaining three fingers of the upper hand; and, said lower section characterized by having a size providing sufficient gripping surface to accommodate all the fingers of the golfer's lower hand.

11. The unitary golf grip of claim 8 whereby said intermediate section located between said upper end section and said lower end section is further defined by a change in outer diameter from one end to the other of the intermediate section being at a rate ranging between 0.02 to 0.03 inches per diameter per inch of length.

12. A unitary golf club grip for attachment to the shaft of a golf club comprising: a lower end section of said grip having a first outer diameter constant along said lower end section; an upper end section having a second outer diameter constant along said upper end section, said second outer diameter being smaller than said first outer diameter; an intermediate section located between said upper end section and said lower end section, said intermediate section having an outside diameter progressively tapering between said lower end section and said upper end section toward said upper end section; and, said upper end section having a relative length smaller than said intermediate section; said lengths characterized by having a proportionate ratio of 5:12 whereby the length of said upper section is approximately 42% of the length of said intermediate section.

13. The golf grip of claim 12 being further defined by said lower section having a length at least equal to the length of both of said upper section and said intermediate sections combined.