GOLFING APPAREL

Abstract

A compression garment for playing golf, wherein at least a portion of the garment is configured to provide compression of a torso of a user and at least a portion of the garment includes a low-friction outer surface.

Claims

1. A compression garment for playing golf, wherein at least a portion of the garment is configured to provide compression of a torso of a user and at least a portion of the garment comprises a low-friction or reduced friction outer surface.

2. The compression garment as claimed in claim 1, wherein one or more panels of the garment are configured to be more stretchable in a first orientation than in a transverse orientation.

3. The compression garment as claimed in claim 1, wherein one or more panels comprise fibers configured to be more stretchable in a first orientation than in a transverse orientation.

4. The compression garment as claimed in claim 1 comprising an arrangement of interactions of fibers of the fabric, so as to lower or reduce friction on an inner surface of the fabric, an outer surface of the fabric, or both an inner surface and an outer surface of the fabric.

5. The compression garment as claimed in claim 1, wherein a low-friction or reduced friction outer surface is located at a respective frontal region of the garment.

6. The compression garment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the garment comprises a chest panel, a back panel and two lateral panels, wherein the lateral panels connect the chest and back panels.

7. The compression garment as claimed in claim 6, wherein (i) the chest panel is configured to be more stretchable in a respective vertical orientation of the garment than in a respective horizontal orientation, (ii) the back panel is configured to be more stretchable in a respective vertical orientation of the garment than in a respective horizontal orientation, or (iii) the chest panel is configured to be more stretchable in the respective vertical orientation of the garment than in the respective horizontal orientation, and, the back panel is configured to be more stretchable in the respective vertical orientation of the garment than in the respective horizontal orientation.

8. The compression garment as claimed in claim 6, wherein (i) the chest panel fibers are configured to be more stretchable in a vertical plane than in a horizontal plane, (ii) the back panel fibers are configured to be more stretchable in a vertical plane than in a horizontal plane, or (iii) the chest panel fibers are configured to be more stretchable in the vertical plane than in the horizontal plane, and, the back panel fibers are configured to be more stretchable in the vertical plane than in the horizontal plane.

9. The compression garment as claimed in claim 6, wherein the chest panel comprises a low-friction or reduced friction outer surface.

10. The compression garment as claimed in claim 1, wherein one or more panels of the garment comprise about 96% polyester and about 4% elastane, or about 95% polyester and about 5% elastane.

11. The compression garment as claimed in claim 1, wherein one or more panels of the garment comprise about 80% polyester and about 20% elastane.

12. The compression garment as claimed in claim 1, wherein one or more panels of the garment comprise about 85% nylon and about 15% elastane, or about 80% nylon and about 20% elastane.

13. The compression garment as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a part- or fully-circumferential compression band.

14. A golf apparel system comprising a compression garment and an outer garment, wherein: at least a portion of the compression garment is configured to provide compression of a torso of a user and at least a portion of the compression garment comprises a low-friction or reduced friction outer surface; and the outer garment comprises a low-friction or reduced friction inner surface.

15. The golf apparel system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the garments are configured to provide low-friction interaction between a respective outer layer of the compression garment and a respective inner layer of the outer garment.

16. A method for manufacturing a compression garment for playing golf, the compression garment comprising: at least a portion of the garment is configured to provide compression of a torso of a user; and at least a portion of the garment comprises a low-friction outer surface.

17. The method as claimed in claim 16 further comprising configuring at least one panel of the garment to be more stretchable in a first orientation than in a transverse orientation or configuring fibers of the panel to be more stretchable in a first orientation than in the transverse orientation.

18. The method as claimed in claim 16 comprising securing a plurality of panels together to form a compression garment, the at least one panel having at least two types of stretch characteristics.

19. The method as claimed in claim 16 comprising securing a further compression band to a torso region of the garment for compressing a lower-chest, sternum or diaphragm region of a user.

20. A golfing apparel outer garment for use with a compression garment, the outer garment is configured to reduce interaction with an undergarment through at least a portion of an inner surface thereof comprising a low-friction or reduced friction surface.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

[0053] The invention will now be disclosed, by way of example only, with reference to the following drawings, in which:

[0054] FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a compression garment;

[0055] FIG. 2 is a rear elevation of the compression garment of FIG. 1;

[0056] FIG. 3 is a front elevation of a further compression garment;

[0057] FIG. 4 is a rear elevation of the compression garment of FIG. 3; and

[0058] FIG. 5 is a front elevation of a polo shirt for use with the compression garments of FIGS. 1 and 2, and FIGS. 3 and 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0059] The compression garment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is a form of vest or singlet, as they are often known, and is hereinafter generally identified by reference 1. The singlet 1 is shown in a flattened condition. Although there are respective front 2 and rear 3 parts of the singlet 1, the singlet 1 is made from a number of panels of material, a number of which extend to appear on both the front 2 and rear 3 of the singlet 1, as can be seen from FIGS. 1 and 2.

[0060] The singlet 1 has, in general, a chest panel (or chest panels) 4, a back panel 5, and lateral or side panels 6 and 7. The panels are connected through various seams which extend along the length of adjacent panels. As is common with clothing, the seams are stitched for connection of the panels 4 to 7. The singlet 1 also comprises a neck region opening 8, for receipt of the head and neck of a wearer, arm region openings 9 and 10, for receipt of the arms of a wearer, and a waist region opening 11, for receipt of a waist of a user. As can be seen from FIGS. 1 and 2, the chest panel 4 is intended to cover a frontal chest-region of a wearer and extends from the head region opening 8 to the waist region opening 11. It also extends towards and into the arm region openings 9 and 10. As for the back panel 5, it is intended to cover a central back region of a wearer and the tops of their shoulders, and extends from the waist region opening 11, upwards and over the shoulders of a wearer around the head region opening 8, and joins with the chest panel 4. Each of the lateral panels 6; 7 is intended to extend from the chest panel 4 around a side of a wearer and connect to the back panel 5, and extend from the waist region opening 11 up to the arm region opening 9 or 10, where it terminates. The chest panel 4 is connected to end portions of respective side panels 6; 7 through arcuate seams 12, each seam 12 extends from the arm region opening 9 or 10 to the waist region opening 11. The curvature of the seam 12 defines a convex cut-out in the chest panel 4, into which the end portion of the side panel 6 or 7 extends. The back panel 5 is connected to opposite ends of the respective side panels 6; 7 through seams 13 having an irregular sinusoidal (or wavy) form, which seams 13 extend from the arm region openings 9; 10 to the respective waist region opening 11. The back panel 5 is connected to the chest panel 4 through seams 14, having an irregular sinusoidal (or wavy) form, and the seams 14 extend from the head region opening 8 to the respective arm region openings 9; 10. A grip-strip 15 is located on the seam at the waist region opening 11 of the singlet 1, on an inner circumferential surface thereof, so as to prevent riding up of the singlet 1 in use.

[0061] The chest panel 4 and back panel 5 are manufactured from a material which is more stretchable in a vertical orientation of the garment (a plane running on or parallel to a line between the head region opening 8 and the waist region opening 11), than in a horizontal orientation (a plane running on or parallel to a line between the respective arm region openings 9 and 10). The chest panel is manufactured from a material which is 80% polyester and 20% elastane and has a gsm of 240. Each of the side panels 6; 7 are manufactured from a material which is 96% polyester mesh and 4% elastane, having a gsm of 170. The back panel is manufactured from a material which is 85% nylon and 15% elastane, having a gsm of 210.

[0062] The chest panel 4 is manufactured to have a low-friction or reduced friction outer surface, across which panel 4 the arms of a user taking a golf swing might rub. As an alternative or in addition, one or both side panels and/or the back panel may also be manufactured to have a low-friction or reduced friction outer surface.

[0063] Alternatively, other blends of nylon, polyester and elastane, or other materials, may make up the panels of the singlet 1, if care is taken to provide corresponding stretch characteristics and low-friction surfaces on the singlet 1.

[0064] The singlet 1 is both comfortable to wear and the outer surfaces thereof are smooth, silky, have a sheen, or are non-catch materials, so as to reduce any friction between the singlet and any outer garment.

[0065] The singlet may be manufactured essentially in line with a known manufacturing method for clothing, for example a method for manufacturing a vest and, so, this will not be discussed in detail.

[0066] In a further alternative, the compression garment may be a form of T-shirt or shirt having sleeves.

[0067] FIGS. 3 and 4 show a compression garment, hereinafter identified by reference 20, which is based upon the singlet 1 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and, as the two singlets 1 and 20 include various common features, only the differences will be described in detail.

[0068] FIGS. 3 and 4 show a further singlet 20, which includes a zip 21, which extends from the head region opening 8 to the waist region opening 11. The singlet 20 also includes an additional chest compression band 22 which is located to lie across the diaphragm or sternum of a wearer of the singlet 20. In FIG. 3, the compression band 22 is shown as a shaded line extending across the front 2 of the singlet 20; however, the compression band could be located on an outer-surface or an inner-surface of the front 2 of the singlet 20, and still achieve the same compressive effect.

[0069] The features of the singlet 20 and singlet 1 are interchangeable.

[0070] Each of singlets 1 and 20 may be used with any form of outer garment so as to provide both compression and ease of movement for taking a golf swing, or perhaps may be used by themselves, although a preferred result is achieved through using the singlet 1 or 20 with a modified polo shirt, which provides the optimum ease of movement whilst providing compression. FIG. 5 show a modified polo shirt, hereinafter identified by reference 30, which includes a number of key modifications. The polo shirt 30 includes a drawstring 31 which may be used to tighten or loosen the bottom of the polo shirt. When tightened, the drawstring 31 gives the polo shirt the impression of being tucked in, which is useful for clubhouse etiquette, and the drawstring may be loosened so as to provide maximum ease of movement when taking a golf swing. In addition, the material from which the polo shirt is manufactured is carefully selected so that it has, on its inner-layer, a low-friction or reduced friction surface, which is either smooth, silky or has little if any catches or rough material which might otherwise affect friction. An inner-surface of the polo shirt 30 is manufactured to provide a low-friction surface, especially in regions corresponding to the low-friction surfaces on the outer surface of the singlet 1 or 20.

[0071] The polo shirt may be manufactured essentially in line with a known manufacturing method for clothing, for example a method for manufacturing a standard polo shirt and, so, this will not be discussed in detail. However, additional steps would need to be taken so as to include the drawstring.

[0072] As such, it is understood that, when a user wears the combination of singlet and specific polo shirt, there is an improvement in the swing speed of the user. Swing speed is also understood to be improved through the use of the singlet in combination with a different outer garment—although it is understood that the improvement would be less. The following was designed to substantiate the former.

Example 1

[0073] By way of a non-limiting example, the performance of an individual wearing a singlet of the type disclosed above and a modified polo shirt have been compared to the same individual wearing a normal polo shirt which, by convention, would be tucked in. The following test has been designed to specifically compare swing speeds.

[0074] For the test, ten balls were hit by a professional wearing a standard Adidas® 100% cotton golf polo shirt which was tucked in and a further ten balls were hit by the same professional whilst wearing the compression garment and loosened modified polo shirt of the present invention.

[0075] In this example, the modified polo shirt was manufactured from a material being 95% polyester and 5% elastane, and the compression garment was manufactured from a material being 80% nylon and 20% elastane for the chest panel, 85% nylon and 15% elastane for the back panel, and 96% polyester mesh and 4% elastane for the side panels, which panels were shaped and connected in the manner described in relation to FIG. 1. Both garments were arranged to employ their stretch characteristics in the same direction, in the vertical sense of the garments from neck to waist regions thereof.

[0076] The club used was a Wilson® staff 7 iron for all shots and the ball was a Srixon® driving range ball. The system used to obtain the results was a GC2 Launch Monitor, as available from Foresight Sports. In particular, the measured data relates to ball speed; horizontal and vertical launch angles; spin and spin axis.

[0077] The results were normalised to remove those shots that had an rpm of greater than 900 rpm, which resulted in the six sets of data for comparison shown in Table 1.

[0078] The function of a launch monitor is unaffected by the club, ball or even if there is a head wind, as it works by radar analysis of the speed of impact between the club and the ball and, therefore assumes it is a perfect day and a new ball every shot. Accordingly, this means that the results achieved are normalised with respect to external factors of wind speed etc. and means that the test is appropriate for the purpose of comparing swing speed and its perceived dependence on the clothing worn.

TABLE-US-00001 Standard Clothing Present Invention Ball Carry Swing Speed Ball Carry Swing Speed 161 yards 115 175 yards 117 158 yards 113 171 yards 120 167 yards 116 169 yards 118 166 yards 115 170 yards 119 169 yards 117 175 yards 120 170 yards 116 175 yards 120

[0079] Table 1, provides a comparison of ball carry and associated swing speed results as obtained from a professional golfer, who undertook comparative tests wearing a normal polo shirt and prior art compression top ‘standard clothing’, and, secondly, wearing the compression garment and modified polo shirt of the ‘present invention’.

[0080] According to the data provided in Table 1, the swing speed is, on average, improved by over 3%, and it is believed that this is provided by the compression garment and modified polo shirt of the present invention.

Example 2

[0081] A further test, similar to that of Example 1, was undertaken and comparisons made between the performance of an non-professional golfer wearing a singlet of the type disclosed above and a modified polo shirt, and the same golfer wearing a normal polo shirt under which was worn a standard sports compression vest—the polo shirt being, by convention, tucked in.

[0082] The same test procedure was followed and the non-professional golfer showed improved swing speed when wearing the singlet and modified polo shirt.