Pendulum putting stroke training aid

• US 7,727,081 B1
• Filed: 12/08/2006
• Issued: 06/01/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/16/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: William Dean Mcconnell
• Original Assignee: William Dean Mcconnell
• Inventors: McConnell, William Dean
• Primary Examiner(s): Laneau; Ronald
• Application Number:
  US11/636,130
• Time in Patent Office: 1,271 Days
• Field of Search: 473/222, 473/221, 473/252, 473/257, 273/108, 273/108.2
• US Class Current: 473/222
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2024/0012 Comparing movements or motion sequences with a registered reference
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 2210/50 Size reducing arrangements for stowing or transport
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 69/3614 using electro-magnetic, magnetic or ultrasonic radiation emitted, reflected or interrupted by the golf club
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 69/3621 Contacting or non-contacting mechanical means for guiding the swing
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 69/3676 for putting A63B69/3608, A63B69/3661, A63B69/3667 and A63B69/3697 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A63B 71/0686 Timers, rhythm indicators or pacing apparatus using electric or electronic means

Abstract

An apparatus for indicating the proper pendulum putting stroke to a golfer with An elongated display device that is positioned on a floor parallel to the stroke path of the practicing golfer, A display device containing multiple microcontroller module sections, each containing visual indicators spaced uniformly along the length of the sections, Each section being responsive to commands from a peripheral computing device to turn on a specific visual indicator, a peripheral computing device such as a personal computer running a computer program which calculates the putting stroke based on desired distance, green speed, and the golfer'"'"'s personal rhythm rate in beats per minute, A peripheral computing device that after calculating the putting stroke time-position data, commands the display device to turn on and off consecutive visual indicators at a predefined time in such a way as to display a putting stroke path, and show the golfer the proper time-space dynamics to strike a golf ball a desired distance.

Claims

1. An apparatus used to train a golfer how to make a proper putting stroke with a putter by guiding said golfer with a plurality of visual cues indicative of a time position accelerative sequence of said proper putting stroke comprising:

a) An elongated housing of about four feet in length comprising a clear plastic tube about three quarters of an inch in diameter which is placed lengthwise on a putting surface parallel to and a few inches outside the intended stroke path made by said golfer using said putter such that during address the line made by the face of said putter aligns laterally with the middle of said clear plastic tube;

b) A microcontroller module comprising a low cost microcontroller, a serial receive port programmed to respond to a unique address, a printed circuit board of about 1 foot in length and narrow enough in width to fit within said elongated housing, a plurality of uniformly spaced linearly arranged visual indicators mounted on said printed circuit board, a 3 wire serial command bus further comprising a power line, a serial receive data line and a ground line, said 3 wire serial command bus extending from input terminals on one end to output terminals on the other end of said printed circuit board, wherein a plurality of said microcontroller modules are physically interconnected together and mounted within said elongated housing with said output terminals of one module tied to said input terminals of the next to form a subsystem responsive to commands to turn on one of said plurality of uniformly spaced linearly arranged visual indicators over said 3 wire serial command bus;

c) A peripheral computing device comprising a user interface with which to obtain a set of putting stroke parameters and a serial transmit port which connects to said 3 wire serial command bus, said user interface comprises a personal tempo in beats per minute selector, a green speed selector, and a target roll distance selector, wherein said peripheral computing device computes an accelerative sequence of putterhead positions associated with said set of putting stroke parameters and issues resulting commands to said serial transmit port wherein said plurality of uniformly spaced linearly arranged visual indicators show said golfer said proper putting stroke.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said plurality of uniformly spaced linearly arranged visual indicators are LEDs.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 in which said peripheral computing device is a personal computer with a graphical user interface and a host side universal serial bus, the first said microcontroller module within said elongated housing is equipped with a slave side universal bus to serial interface which interfaces said personal computer on the universal serial bus side and said 3 wire serial command bus on the other.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 in which said peripheral computing device is a personal digital assistant.

5. A computer readable medium useful in association with a computer which includes a processor, a memory, a timer, a user interface and a serial port, the computer readable medium including computer instructions which are configured to cause the computer to create and transmit a timed sequence of commands over a serial command bus to a plurality of microcontroller modules each which controls a plurality of uniformly spaced linearly arranged visual indicators, said plurality of microcontroller modules being mounted within an elongated housing comprising a clear plastic tube and having an interface to said serial command bus for the reception of said timed sequence of commands in order to guide a golfer on how to strike a golf ball a target roll distance with a preferred putting stroke by:

a) Inputting a green speed, said target roll distance, and a personal tempo rate in beats per minute from said golfer;

b) Computing an initial speed of said golf ball required for said target roll distance based on said green speed;

c) Computing a putter clubhead speed necessary to strike said golf ball said target roll distance based on said green speed;

d) Computing an acceleration constant based on said personal tempo rate in beats per minute;

e) Computing an equivalent maximum pendulum putter clubhead height off the ground using said acceleration constant to yield a maximum speed equal to said putter clubhead speed necessary to strike said golf ball said target roll distance based on said green speed;

f) Computing a backswing length and a downswing length based on said equivalent maximum pendulum putter clubhead height;

g) Generating a table of on times for each of a selected subset of said plurality of uniformly spaced linearly arranged visual indicators that fall within said backswing length, wherein said table of on times sets the time delay between visual indicator command transmissions;

h) Transmitting visual indicator activation commands in time based on the contents of said table of on times in order to accurately space transmissions and show said golfer how to execute a preferred putting stroke that will roll golf ball said target roll distance based on said green speed and said personal tempo rate in beats per minute.

6. The method of claim 5 in which said a plurality of uniformly spaced linearly arranged visual indicators are leds.

7. The method of claim 6 in which said computer readable medium is a personal computer comprising a graphical user interface.

8. The method of claim 7 in which said serial command bus is a universal serial bus port.

9. A computer system comprising:

a processor;

a memory operatively coupled to the processor;

a serial command bus;

a user interface operatively coupled to the processor; and

a visual indicator controller module which, when executed in the processor from the memory and which, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to create and transmit a sequence of commands over a serial command bus to a plurality of microcontroller modules each which controls a plurality of uniformly spaced linearly arranged visual indicators said plurality of microcontroller modules being mounted within an elongated housing comprising a clear plastic tube and having an interface to said serial command bus for the reception of said sequence of commands in order to guide a golfer on how to strike a golf ball with a preferred putting stroke by

a) Inputting a green speed, a roll distance, and a personal tempo rate in beats per minute from said golfer,

b) Computing an initial speed of said golf ball required for said roll distance based on said green speed;

c) Computing a putter clubhead speed necessary to strike said golf ball said roll distance based on said green speed;

d) Computing an acceleration constant based on said personal tempo rate in beats per minute;

e) Computing an equivalent maximum pendulum putter clubhead height off the ground using said acceleration constant to yield a maximum speed equal to said putter clubhead speed necessary to strike said golf ball said roll distance based on said green speed;

f) Computing a backswing length and a downswing length based on said equivalent maximum pendulum putter clubhead height;

g) Generating a table of on times for a selected subset of said uniformly spaced linearly arranged visual indicators that fall within said backswing length and said downswing length from said plurality of visual indicators;

h) Activating said selected subset of said uniformly spaced linearly arranged visual indicators in an accelerative sequence by transmitting visual indicator commands spaced apart in time based on the contents of said table of on times over said serial command bus to said plurality of microcontroller modules within said elongated housing in order to show said golfer how to execute a preferred putting stroke that will roll said golf ball said roll distance based on said green speed and said personal tempo rate in beats per minute.

10. The computer system of claim 9 in which said computer system is a personal computer comprising a graphical user interface.

11. The computer system of claim 10 in which said serial command bus is a universal serial bus.