US3542369A - Golf practice mat - Google Patents

Description

United States Patent Inventor Kenneth W. Anderson 23 Avon Road, Wellesley, Massachusetts 02181 Appl. No. 718,529 Filed April 3, 1968 Patented Nov. 24, 1970 GOLF PRACTICE MAT 1 Claim, 5 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl 273/186, 273/187, 273/195 Int. Cl. A63b 9/36 Field of Search 273/187, 207,183,186, 195, I96, 197, 198

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 638,920 12/1899 Grant 273/207 Par 0/ j sw/n/a Primary Examiner-George J. Marlo Attorney-Roberts, Cushman & Grover ABSTRACT: A portable practice mat made of felted sisal fibers has its ends faced by a plastic material. A tee with a wide base extends upward through a centrally located hole in the mat. lndicia on the plastic material shows the direction of the target and the path that the head of the club should follow .to drive a ball from the tee to said target. Additional indicia shows the proper position of the golfers feet.

Patented Nov. 24, 1970 Iron Wood F'ELTED 6784A F/EEES Par/1 or sum 6 n a w r BACKGROUND or THE INVENTION Visual and mechanical aids and guides are available for helping to develop the correct stance and swing in the game of golf to achieve skill in driving the ball to the desired-destination, some of which are useful and others of which are so troublesome to carry and to set up for'use as not to be popular. The present golf aid is intended to be so simple and easy to carry along with the usual golf paraphernalia and also so easy to use that it will recommend itself not only to the amateur but also to the regular golfer to correct bad habits he may have fallen into which spoilhis game.

SUMMARY As herein illustrated, the device is a mat of rectangular configuration comprised'of sisal fiber, or the like,'and has fixed to its center on the longitudinal center a tee, at its opposite ends on the centerline indicia indicating the target direction, and also at said ends indicia at the near and far sides of the centerline back and front, respectively, which indicate the path through which the head of the club should be moved to propel a ball set on the tee in the direction of the target.

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the mat as it would appear resting upon the ground or other level surface showing a ball teed up at its center, showing the direction of the target and showing the direction through which the head of the club should be moved to drive the ball from the tee in the direction of the target;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the mat showing in dot and dash lines the toe of the golfer in two different positions, one for employing irons and the other when employing woods for driving the ball;

H6. 3 is a side elevation showing the path of movement of the head of the club; I

H0. 4 is a fragmentary plan view,to much larger scale, showing the binding at one end of the mat and a grommet at the corner for receiving an anchoring pin; and

FlG. 5 is a section taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 4 showing an anchoring pin driven through the grommet at the corner of the mat.

The practice mat 10, as shown herein, is rectangular, having spaced parallel, longitudinal sides 12-12 and spaced parallel ends 14-14. The mat is comprised of sisal fiber or an equivalent material; is approximately 8 inches wide; approximately 3 feet long; and approximately three-sixteenths of an inch thick. Since the mat is flexible and its dimensions are relatively small it is evident that it can be easily folded or rolled into a compact package small enough to carry around in the pocket of a golf bag.

The ends of the mat are faced on the top side with a smooth waterproof plastic material 16 approximately 2 inches wide, secured thereto by means'of a suitable waterproof adhesive and the corners contain grommets 18 suitable for receiving anchoring pins 20 by means 'of which the mat may be secured at its four corners to the ground.

Midway between the opposite sides and ends of the mat there is fixed a tee 22 which comprises a circular base 24 situated at the underside of the mat and a flexible neck 26 extending therefrom upwardly through a hole in the mat. Preferably the neck 26 is hollow and flared at the top to provide a firm seating for the ball.

At the opposite ends of the mat on the longitudinal centerline, that is the line midway between the opposite sides, there are placed indicia 28 which may be painted areas applied by stenciling directly to' the surface of the facing 16 or may be pieces of sheet material adhesively attached thereto. The line passing through these two indicia, which is marked a in FIGS. 1 and 2, represents the direction of the target to which the ball is to be driven, to wit, the next green. Additional indicia 30 and 32 located at the rear end of the mat and at the forward end of the mat and at the near and far sides of the median line :1 denote the pathalong which the head of the club should be swung to drive the ball from the tee in the direction of the target. This line passes through the vertical axis of the tee and is marked b as shown in FIGS. 1. 2 and 3. The indicia 30 and 32 may be applied in the same fashion as the indicia 28; however, they are preferably made sufficiently different in configuration and/or color so that the golfer is not confused by their proximity.

On the near side of the mat as shown in FlG. 2 and just forwardly of the tee there are two indicia. one marked iron and the other marked wood" and these indicate the current position for the toe of the left foot of the golfer when standing in a position addressing the ball.

The device is of very simple construction, may be used by right-and left-hand golfers by merely reversing it end-for-end,

is compact enough so that it may be carried in the pocket of a conventional golf bag and can be manufactured inexpensively enough to be available to anyone who wishes to improve his game.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only and that, this invention includes all modifications and equivalents falling within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An article of manufacture capable of being easily folded or rolled into a compact package for use in improving the game of golf comprising a flexible flat, substantially rectangu lar mat of felted sisal fibers, said mat containing at the intersection of its longitudinal and transverse median lines a hole, a flexible tee having a base larger than said hole and a stem extending upwardly therefrom mounted with its base at the underside of the mat and with its neck extending upwardly throughthe hole substantially perpendicular to the upper surface of the mat, means at opposite ends of the mat for securing it to the ground, each of said opposite ends including a strip of plastic material forming a facing on said mat, primary indicia adjacent the opposite ends of the mat on said plastic strips and lying on said longitudinal median line and defining, in conjunction with the tee, a line'of sight longitudinally of the mat, an extension of which would pass through the intended target, and supplemental indicia on said plastic strips adjacent the primary indicia at the near and far sides of said line of sight, that at the near side being located on a line extending traversely to the longitudinal median line and passing through theprimary indicia atthe end of the mat toward which the head of the club approaches the tee on the down swing and that at the far side being located on a line extending traversely to the longitudinal median line and passing through the primary indicia at the end of the mat away from which the head of the club leaves the tee on the up swing, said supplemental indicia on said plastic strips, in conjunction with the tee, defining a line intersecting said line of sight at the tee along which the head of the club should travel to produce flight of the ball in the direction of the line of sight and hence the target.

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