Golf Club Grip

Abstract

A golf club grip structured to create simultaneous closing and impaction of the fingers of the golfer's upper hand during the execution of a full swing golf shot. The grip includes a constant diameter lower hand area and an upper hand section including an upper constant diameter section to accommodate the golfer's little finger and a second lower section having a gradually increasing diameter to accommodate the remaining three fingers of the golfer's upper hand.

Claims

1. A golf club grip for attachment to a golf club shaft formed of lower and upper hand areas wherein the improvement comprises: said lower hand area of said grip having a generally cylindrical shape to accommodate all the fingers of a golfer's lower hand; said upper hand area of said grip formed in two sections including an upper section and a lower section; said upper section of said upper hand area having an outer diameter being constant along the entire length thereof; said lower section of said upper hand area being a tapered transitional section connecting said lower hand area and said upper section of said upper hand area; said upper section of said upper hand area characterized by having a size providing sufficient gripping space to accommodate only the little finger of the upper hand of a golfer; said lower section of said upper hand area characterized by having a size providing sufficient gripping space to accommodate the remaining three fingers of the upper hand; and, said upper section of said upper hand area having a length of approximately 1.25 inches and said lower section of said upper hand area having a length of approximately 3.0 inches.

2. The golf grip of claim 1 wherein said lower hand area has a first outer, constant diameter; and, said upper section of said upper hand area has a second constant diameter smaller than said first outer constant diameter of said lower hand area.

3. A golf club grip for attachment to a golf club shaft wherein the improvement comprises: a lower hand area of said grip having a first outer diameter; an upper hand area of said grip having an upper section and a lower section; said upper section of said upper hand area having a second outer diameter smaller than said first outer diameter of said lower hand area; said second outer diameter being constant along the entire length thereof; said lower section of said upper hand area being a tapered transitional section connecting said lower hand area and said upper section of said upper hand area; said upper section of said upper hand area characterized by having a size providing sufficient gripping space to accommodate the little finger of the upper hand of a golfer; said lower section of said upper hand area characterized by having a size providing sufficient gripping space to accommodate the remaining three fingers of the upper hand; said lower hand area having a size providing sufficient gripping space to accommodate all the fingers of the lower hand; and, said upper section of said upper hand area having a length of approximately 30 percent of the length of the upper hand area; said lower section of said upper hand area having a length of approximately 70 percent of the length of the upper hand area.

4. The golf grip of claim 3 wherein the length of said upper section of said upper hand area is no greater than approximately 42 percent of the length of the lower section of said upper hand area.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a golf grip in accordance with the present invention.

[0027] FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along lines 2-2 of FIG. 1.

[0028] FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along lines 3-3 of FIG. 1.

[0029] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the golf grip of FIG. 1.

[0030] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the golf grip attached to the upper end of a full-length golf club.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0031] Referring to FIGS. 1-5, a full swing golf grip 100 in accordance with the present invention is shown attached to a golf club 102 on the upper end of a shaft 104 at the opposite end of a club head 106. The grip 100 is preferably a single, unitary, molded member made of rubber or a similar flexible composite material. The grip 100 is generally cylindrical in shape and has a hollow interior. An opening 108 at a lower end of the grip 100 enables the grip 100 to be placed over and secured to the shaft 104 using adhesive or suitable tape. A cap 110 at the top end of the grip 100 covers the upper end of the shaft 104.

[0032] The grip 100 is formed in two parts including an upper hand area 111 and a lower hand area 114. The lower hand area 114 is cylindrical in shape and is formed with a constant outer diameter along the entire length of the lower hand area 114 as seen in the drawings.

[0033] The upper hand area 111 is formed with a generally cylindrical, upper section 112 having a non-tapered, constant diameter that is smaller than the diameter of the lower hand area 114. The upper hand area 111 further includes a lower section 116 that is tapered with a gradually increasing diameter from the smaller diameter of the upper section 112 toward the larger diameter of the lower hand area 114. A suitable cap 110 provides a closure for the upper hand area 111 of the grip 100.

[0034] When the golf club 102 is used in a normal way to strike a golf ball, the upper section 112 of the upper hand area 111 is structured to accommodate only the uppermost, little finger of the golfer's upper hand. It follows that the lower section 116 of the upper hand area 111 is structured to receive and accommodate the remaining three fingers of the golfer's upper hand, namely the ring finger, the middle finger and the index finger. The lower hand section 114 of the golf grip 100 accommodates all the fingers of the golfer's lower hand during the execution of a full swing golf shot.

[0035] The upper hand area 111 is sized to accomplish the aforementioned finger placement whereby the upper section 112 of the upper hand area 111 is no larger than 1.25 inches in length and the lower section 116 of the upper hand area 111 is approximately three inches. Thus, the upper section 112 of the upper hand area 111 is approximately 30% of the total length of the upper hand area 111 and the lower section 116 of the upper hand area 111 is approximately 70% of the total length of the upper hand area 111. Stated in other terms, the length of the upper section 112 of the upper hand area 111 is approximately no larger than 42% than the length of the adjoining lower section 116 of the upper hand area 111 creating an approximate length ratio of 5:12 between the upper section 112 and the lower section 116 of the upper hand area 111.

[0036] The placement of the golfer's fingers on the above described grip 100 provides an ergonomic connection between the golfer's hands and the golf club 102 and allows the fingers to close and tighten on the grip 100 in a sequential manner, reducing tension and permitting a smooth movement of the golf club during the swing to achieve precise and consistent contact with the golf ball.

[0037] Whereas the present embodiment has been described in terms of conventional grip sizes, it will be appreciated that the grip may be made smaller or larger to accommodate different hand sizes of various golfers as long as the relative size of the grip sections are maintained. Other modifications may be made in keeping within the spirit and scope of the following claims.