Practice Weight Attachment for Golf Clubs and Method of Weighting Same

This invention relates in general to weighted attachments for golf clubs to facilitate practice, and more particularly, to attachments for wooden-headed clubs, such as the driver.

It is well known in the prior art to attach a rigid weight to the shank or head of a golf club to facilitate practice in swinging the club. Many of these prior art weights are not easily attached or removed. Others are attached in a manner which would scratch or otherwise damage the club head. Still others are held in position with spring clips or elastic material in a manner which might come loose during use and present a hazard. Others are forced against the club head or shank under great centrifugal force, making them ultimately difficult to remove without a hammer or other special tool. Furthermore, many of the prior art devices comprise weights which are nonadjustable.

Accordingly, it is the principal object of the present invention to provide an improved practice weight attachment for golf clubs which can also serve as a club head protective cover thereby making it available at all times, especially on the first tee or even during an actual golf round if desired; thus allocating special times for practice sessions is unnecessary.

A more particular object is to provide a golf club attachment with means for adjusting the added weight. Most high handicap players do not swing rhythmically but rather hit at the ball very much in the manner of someone swinging an axe to chop a tree down with no thought being given to following through after impact with the ball. In the absence of follow-through, the ball literally bounces off the club head face rather than being driven, thus sacrificing both direction and distance. If the added weight is to aid the user to acquire and maintain a rhythmic swing and follow-through, it follows that he should feel comfortable with the added weight, and should therefore be able to adjust the amount of weight to suit his particular capability.

Another object is to provide a golf club attachment which is inherently safe, which cannot fly off under the substantial centrifugal force created when the club is swung.

Another object is to provide a weight attachment which can be conveniently and quickly applied and removed on the golf course.

Another object is to provide a weight attachment for golf clubs which will not damage the head, but will actually serve as a protective covering.

These and other objects, features and advantages are realized in the golf club attachment of the present invention which takes the form of a flexible cover having two compartments, a zipper-closed bag in which weighted chips or pellets are stored, which rests on the upper surface of the club head, and a lower, partly open compartment which is designed to accommodate the club head. The cover is attached to a collar that has a tapered bore, the bore being substantially the same as the taper of the club head shank. This collar has a longitudinal, tapered slot or opening, the taper also being substantially the same as the club head shank, but slightly smaller diametrically than the bore of the collar. Thus this collar can be slipped onto the upper, or thinner section of the club shank and then dropped down where it fixedly engages the lower or thicker section of the club shank. In this fixed position, this collar engages at least 240 or 250 degrees of the club head shank's circumference and therefore cannot be dislodged. The centrifugal force created when the club is swung tends to make this collar grip the club shank tighter rather than tending to dislodge it. The cover, being attached to this collar, is also, therefore, positively held in place.

Inasmuch as the attachment of the present invention doubles as a golf club protective cover, it is available with the club at all times, especially on the first tee, even during a golf round if desired; and for this reason, it is not necessary to allot special times for practice sessions. Moreover, the attachment of the present invention is not intended as a muscle builder, but rather as a means for acquiring and maintaining a rhythmic swing and follow-through; hence, means is provided for adjusting the added weight to suit the capability and comfort of the individual user. The weight is adjusted, as desired, by adding or subtracting weights, pellets or sand from the zippered compartment.

These and other objects, features and advantages can be better understood from the detailed specification hereinafter with reference to the attached drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective showing, viewed from the front left, of the practice weight attachment for golf clubs, of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective showing from the rear of the practice weight attachment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side elevation of the practice weight attachment of FIGS. 1 and 2, mounted on the head of the driver golf club, with the top cover of the attachment broken away to show metal pellets in the interior and with the slip-on collar shown in the release position in phantom.

FIG. 4 is a perspective showing looking down on the slip-on collar of the practice weight attachment of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a side elevational showing the slip-on collar of FIG. 4 in mounted and removal positions on the shank of the driver golf club.

Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings, the practice weight attachment 10 of the present invention is seen to have an appearance similar to that of a conventional cover used on wooden drivers and other wooden-headed golf clubs. It comprises two compartments, an upper bag or pocket 11 closed by a conventional zipper 12, which contains the weighted metal pellets 20, and a lower pocket 13 having a rearwardly-extending opening 13a for accommodating the golf club head 17. (See FIGS. 2 and 3)

In the present illustrative embodiment, the upper bag or pocket 11 is, say 31/2 inches (8.8 centimeters) in overall width and 43/8 inches (11 centimeters) long, being slightly rounded at its outer end to conform to the shape of the wooden driver head. It may be formed, for example, of any well-known flexible material, such as leather, imitation-leather, plastic, such as polyvinyl chloride or polyvinyl acetate, or of heavy fabric. The horizontally-disposed top sheet 11a is substantially flat except for a conventional zipper opening 12, which runs down the center, away from the club shank 16. The side, or lateral wall 11b of the bag or pocket 11 may take the form of a strip of the same or similar material described above, about 13/8 inches (31/2 centimeters) wide at the center, which is seamed or bonded around its upper edge to the edge of sheet 11a. The lower edge of the lateral wall 11b is seamed or bonded about half way around at its forward end to the bottom piece 11c, which forms a pocket with a slightly rounded contour having an open end which is directed rearwardly. Pocket 13 may also be of material similar to the part 11a and 11b, or alternatively, it may be of different material. 11c forms the bottom wall of the pocket 11 and the upper wall of the pocket 13, and may be of the same or different material than that described with reference to 11a, 11b and 11c; but in any case, some type of flexible fabric strong enough to support the weighted material interposed into the pocket 11. In the present illustrative embodiment, the seams and edges have decorative binding or cording to improve the appearance and prevent fraying; but such cording is not necessary to the function of the practice weight attachment.

It will be seen from FIGS. 2,4 and 5 of the drawings, that the upper end of the sheet 11c is permanently clamped in place by a semiannular compression ring 14 against the outer cylindrical surface of the cylindrical collar 15, the latter being preferably formed of a lightweight, rigid plastic such as tetrafluoroethylene (TEFLON) or other rigid lightweight material such as aluminum. In the present embodiment, the collar 15 is cylindrical in shape, approximately 13/8 inches (31/2 centimeters) in diameter, 7/8 inches (2.4 centimeters) long, having a longitudinally tapered slot and tapered bore. The width of the slot 15a should approximate the width of shank 16 above the tapered neck 16a so that it readily slips onto the latter. The inner bore of the collar 15 should be tapered in a manner similar to the taper of the neck 16a, so that when it is forced down it fits snugly onto the neck 16a, as shown in FIG. 5. Thus, when it is wished to apply the practice weight attachment to a given golf club driver, the collar 15 is slipped into place on the narrowest part of the shank 16, and forced down to secure it in place. To remove the attachment, collar 15 is forced upward, as shown in phantom in FIG. 5. To insure easy removal, the weight of the collar 15 should be kept to a minimum since the centrifugal force created when the club is swung increases with increased weight. Excessive weight could increase this centrifugal force to a point where the collar 15 would be driven onto the club shank 16 with sufficient force to make it difficult to remove while also damaging the club head as with some of the prior art weight attachments. As previously pointed out, in the present illustrative embodiment, the collar 15 may be of tetrafluoroethylene (TEFLON) which has a density within the range of about from 131 to 143 pounds per cubic foot. Alternatively, aluminum or its alloys, which have densities ranging from about 160 to about 172 pounds per cubic foot can also be used for this purpose. In fact, any material could be used which has a density not exceeding about 175 pounds per cubic foot.

It will be apparent that the structural details of the cover 10 may be substantially varied from those shown in the drawings, or described by way of illustration. For example, although 11c is shown to be attached to collar 15 by a metal compression ring 14, it is contemplated that other well-known means of bonding the two together can be substituted, such as the use of latex-based adhesive, epoxy, or the like.

Referring to FIG. 3, which shows the pocket 11 filled with weighted pellets of lead, or the like, it is apparent that the weight of the device can be adjusted to individual taste by adding or subtracting pellets. In order to more securely hold the pellets in position, cotton batting, or other fiberous material, can be intermingled with the pellets in pocket 11. It will be seen that instead of metal pellets, one can use other heavy materials, such as sand or small stones, or even chips or slabs of metal, or single pieces of metal, heavier or lighter ones being substituted, as desired.

The device of the present invention is seen to have a number of advantages over golf club weight attachment of the prior art, in that it is simple to fabricate and to use. It is easy to slip into place and to remove. It does not present any safety hazard, in that the centrifugal force resulting from the golf club swing would be exerted in a direction to hold the attachment in place, and not to dislodge it. The weight to be added is readily adjustable, merely by adding or subtracting pellets to the bag 11. Further, the weight attachment serves a double purpose of acting as a cover to protect the club head during non-use.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to a specific embodiment, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the details of the embodiment shown by way of illustration, but only by the scope of the appended claims.