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 grip for a golf club having an axial length and that is configured to be griped by a dominate and a non-dominate hand of a golfer, the grip comprising: a dominate hand portion configured to receive the dominate hand of the golfer; a non-dominate hand portion coaxially aligned and integral with the dominate hand portion, and the non-dominate hand portion being configured to receive the non-dominate hand of the golfer; the non-dominate hand portion further comprising: a butt end section that is spaced from the dominate hand portion; a transition section having a first outer diameter that tapers from about 1.0 inches to about 0.75 inch; the butt end section having a first axial length, relative to an axis of the grip, that is no greater than 1.25 inch; the transition section having a second axial length, relative to the axis of the grip, that is about 3 inches; and the outer diameter tappers at a rate between about 0.02 inches and 0.03 inches per inch of axial length.

2. The grip of claim 1, wherein the dominate hand portion has a second outer diameter and the butt end section has a third outer diameter that is smaller in size than the second outer diameter.

3. The grip of claim 2, wherein the second outer diameter is about 1 inch.

4. The grip of claim 3, wherein the third outer diameter is about 0.75 inch.

5. The golf grip of claim 1, wherein the dominate hand portion has a third axial length, relative to an axis of the grip, that is about 5 inches.

6. The golf grip of claim 1, wherein the dominate hand portion has a third axial length, relative to an axis of the grip, that is greater in length than the second and first axial lengths.

7. A grip for a golf club having an axial length and that is configured to be griped by a dominate and a non-dominate hand of a golfer, the grip comprising: a dominate hand portion that has a first outer diameter that is about 1.0 inches and is configured to receive the dominate hand of the golfer; a non-dominate hand portion coaxially aligned and integral with the dominate hand portion, and the non-dominate hand portion being configured to receive the non-dominate hand of the golfer; the non-dominate hand portion further comprising: a butt end section that is spaced from the dominate hand portion the butt end section has a third outer diameter that is about 0.75 inches; a transition section having a first outer diameter that tapers from the dominate hand portion to the butt end section; the third outer diameter tapering from about 0.75 inches to about 1.0 inches; the butt end section having a first axial length, relative to an axis of the grip, that is about 1.25 inches; the transition section having a second axial length, relative to the axis of the grip, that is about 3 inches; and the first outer diameter tappers at a rate 0.0263 inches per inch of axial length.

8. The grip of claim 7, wherein the dominate hand portion has a second outer diameter and the butt end section has a third outer diameter that is smaller in size than the first outer diameter.

9. The grip of claim 8, wherein the first outer diameter is about 1 inch.

10. The grip of claim 9, wherein the third outer diameter is about 0.75 inch.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

[0028] FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a golf grip in accordance with the present invention.

[0029] FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along lines 2-2 of FIG. 1.

[0030] FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along lines 3-3 of FIG. 1.

[0031] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the golf grip of FIG. 1.

[0032] 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

[0033] 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.

[0034] 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.

[0035] 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.

[0036] 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.

[0037] 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.

[0038] 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.

[0039] 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.

[0040] Obviously, many modifications and variations of the present disclosure are possible in light of the above teachings and may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described while within the scope of the appended claims. Individual elements or features of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described.