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Frankly, I had never even considered the shape of the inside of a golf club shaft until today. Naturally, the inside of a shaft must be round, right? Not true. This week an interesting patent application published that is directed specifically to non-circular bores of a golf shaft. The application published as USPN 20090215550 titled “Matrix Composite Golf Club Shaft and Mandrel” and describes the invention as….

This week Acushnet had an interesting putter patent application publish. Check out this design…. The application published as US Pub. No. 20090215551 titled “Weight Adjusting Structure Of Golf Club Head” and describes the invention as…. I am torn and can’t decide whether it would be fun to play with or if it is a tad too gimmicky…..

Golf shaft technology is as interesting as any golf technology. In fact, I suspect the popularity of golf shaft technology will grow each week as major tournament broadcasts increase the number of slow motion SwingVision videos showing the gyrations of a shaft as a Tour player hacks their ball out of deep rough. This week the Nippon Shaft Company was granted an interesting golf shaft patent. The patent is USPN 7578750 titled “Golf Shaft, Golf Club, and Production Method for Golf Shaft” and explains….. Got that? Time to brush up on your metallurgy! It seems that golf shaft patenting is picking up…..

I didn’t say “new” irons in the title because I always assume that when I can’t recognize irons it must be because they are a junior, or ladies, set. Plus, whenever I even suggest that something might be “new” someone will undoubtedly email me and point out that they are in fact not new, but rather that there have been at least 2 prototype sets bouncing around on tour for at least a couple of weeks! But heck, dealing with overzealous golfers is half the fun of having this blog.
Well, even after some poking around I can’t identify this iron design as a junior, or ladies, set. Thus, I suppose it is possible that this is a first look at something new (but I have my doubts, and I am sure the readers will confirm these doubts). Nonetheless, check out this iron design….. It appears that the design has a face insert, which generally implies a multi-material, or premium, club. Do you recognize it?…..

Readers of the Golf-Patents blog know that I love inventions intended to reduce the number of lost golf balls… primarily because I can’t help asking myself the question… “how many golf balls would this device have to prevent me from losing just to pay for itself?” Not to mention, what would it do to a billion dollar industry that lives on the fact that golfers lose a lot of golf balls. Check out the following past posts on the subject to give you a flavor for what inventors have come up with in the past to eliminate lost golf balls…. Today a patent issued on the subject that actually seems a little more feasible than most of the prior attempts. The patent issued as USPN 7578603 titled “Acoustic Wave Induced Light Emitting Golf Ball” and describes the invention as….. How about the profile of that zero loft hybrid!
….. Interesting, but I would still need to see one work to believe it…..

There has been no shortage of interesting groove inventions lately. For instance, HERE is a post regarding Acushnet grooves, HERE is a post regarding Karsten Manufacturing (aka PING) grooves, and HERE is a post regarding Bridgestone grooves. This week another Karsten patent application published related to grooves. The application published as US Pub. No. 20090209361 titled “Golf Club Heads with Grooves and Methods of Manufacture.” The following figures illustrates the concept nicely….

Check out the intimidating golf shoes disclosed in USPN D597733 titled “Golf Shoe.”…. I am fairly confident that I would get laughed off the tee box if I showed up in these…..

The Nike Golf R&D department appears to have been busy lately. Just consider the shape shifting design that I posted about last month (click HERE to read). This week two more interesting Nike patent applications published disclosing some rather radical designs…..

Today a patent application published that makes me wonder whether the inventor has ever actually played golf. The application published as US Pub. No. 20090203466 titled “Golf Club Head” and describes the invention as….. Check out these driver designs! I want to meet the golfer that can hit this first design…..

Today a design patent issued on a fairway wood that I did not recognize and I immediately thought that I had uncovered something great. Unfortunately, not so. Is your knowledge of fairway woods better than mine? Can you identify the model of this club (not just the manufacturer)?….. Click HERE for the answer. I always fall for that rookie gender-related mistake. Nice looking club, but obviously I could never play one. The drawings come from USPN D598062 titled “Wood-Type Golf Club Head.”….

Recently I have posted about some interesting groove patent applications by Karsten Manufacturing (aka PING) and Bridgestone. Well, don’t count Acushnet out, as they had an interesting groove patent issue this week. The patent is USPN 7568983 titled “Golf Club Head Groove Configuration.”…. Are you curious as to whose patent application discloses grooves that Acushnet believes to be “poorly engineered?” The Acushnet patent is referring to the grooves disclosed in….

Back in January I authored a post titled “Grooves of the Future?” in which an interesting patent application by Karsten Manufacturing (aka PING) was examined. Check it out if you aren’t familiar with it because it provides some context to the groove designs disclosed in this post. Today Bridgestone had a patent application publish addressing the same issues. The application published as US Pub. No. 20090197700 titled “Golf Club Head,” and explains the invention as…. It is amazing how over 8000 miles can separate golf club designers and yet they can develop, and claim, such similar inventions; although it looks like PING beat Bridgestone to the punch (a July 5, 2007 priority date compared to a January 31, 2008 priority date)! I guess the Golf-Patents blog doesn’t have a large following in Chichibu-shi, Japan.

Familiar with that fish out of water feeling when trying to get your left arm through that second carry strap? (and how it typically occurs when a cute beer cart girl is driving past) Well, Ogio recently received a patent on a device that may eliminate the fish out of water feeling and the odd glances of passersby as it appears that you are practicing your swimming stroke or swinging at flies…..

There definitely seems to be a trend toward more “senior friendly” golf products hitting the market, just see THIS prior post. Today an interesting putter design patent issued that may warrant consideration by all those golfers with aching backs. The patent is USPN D597615 titled “Golf Putter.” Check out this putter design…..

Would you ever think one of the big golf club OEM’s would get into the golf tee market? Not me, but that is just what Karsten seems to be considering. Yesterday Karsten had an interesting patent application publish as US Pub. No. 20090181806 titled “Golf Tee and Methods to Manufacture Golf Tees.” The application explains….

Today a patent application published that made me scratch my head. The application published as US Pub. No. 20090191984 titled “Tee Dispenser” and describes the invention as…. I would have to consider relinquishing my registration as a patent attorney if the following claim issues in a patent!….

Do you recognize the irons disclosed in design patent USPN D597,157 titled “Iron Type Golf Club Head” that issued today?….

An interesting golf bag patent application recently published directed to Sun Mountain’s hip belt system. The application published as US Publication No. 20090179058 titled “Hip Belt System,” which describes the invention as….

Just when you start to think that nothing will surprise you…. something always does. Today a Nike patent application caught me off guard with talk of adjustments to “change the overall exterior shape.” Do what?
The application published as US Pub. No. 20090186717 titled “Golf Clubs and Golf Club Heads with Adjustable Center of Gravity and Moment of Inertia Characteristics,” and describes the invention as…. Check out these designs…. Amazing ideas, but will any of them make it to market? I suggest they call this line the Transformer, or possibly just SS (for shape shifter)….

An interesting swing training invention is disclosed in a patent application that published this week, but I can’t decide if this is a really good idea or just another toy to collect dust in the basement. The application published as US Pub. No. 20090181785 titled “Golf Swing Training Apparatus” and describes the invention as…. Got that? Me neither. Fortunately the inventor has a website that includes a paper explaining the dual swing concept, as well as a video. Check it out! Could this help your swing?….

This has been a good week for interesting golf ball IP. Just yesterday an Acushnet patent application was published as US Publication No. 20090181805 titled “Golf Ball Surface Patterns Comprising Variable Width/Depth Multiple Channels,” and it will blow your mind. Will we see one of these on Tour soon?….

Ever heard of the Nickel Putter company? Well this week they were granted a patent on a pretty slick combination putter and ball marker. The patent is USPN 7559848 titled “Golf Club” and describes the invention as…. Check out this putter….

Golf technology, and the associated research and development, never cease to amaze me. Today Bridgestone had a golf ball patent issue on a dimple pattern designed specifically to maximize distance under low spin conditions. The Bridgestone patent issued as USPN 7559857 titled “Golf Ball,” which describes the invention as…. Check out these dimples…. Fascinating stuff! Finally, a ball for all the golfers fortunate to hit low-spinning drives.

Well, I have no idea…. but I will tell you how Japanese club maker K.K. Endo Seisakusho says they can do it; namely, by going against conventional thinking regarding the location of a club head’s center of gravity (CG). Would you ever think that raising the center of gravity of a wedge head would result in more spin? Well, a recently published patent application indicates that increasing the CG height of the wedge above the center of the ball can increase the resulting spin on the ball. The application published as US Pub. No. 20090176596 titled “Wedge Type Golf Club Including Pitching Wedge, Approach Wedge, and Sand Wedge,” and the following drawings nicely illustrate the height of the club head CG versus the center of the golf ball…. The application explains…. Are you a believer?

What’s a trace you ask? Take a look at these figures from a Bridgestone patent application that published today and it will become clear…. Starting to see a trend? There is a lot of real estate between those grooves to capitalize on. Recall my post titled “Does Your Club Face Need Some Engineered Texturing? Taylor Made Thinks So!”….

Recently a patent application published disclosing an interesting adjustable putter face. The application originates from Korea, so it is not the easiest to read but the drawings help fill the holes. The application published as US Publication No. 20090170628 titled “Head for Golf Putter” and describes the invention as….

There aren’t too many interesting golf shoe inventions, but this is one. Check out the golf shoe design disclosed in a patent application that recently published as 20090165336 titled “Magnetic Swivel Sports Shoes.”…. Interesting invention, but I am not sure those shoes would help my game (and how much would they weigh)…..

Vibration dampening of golf irons has been a popular subject in golf club patents for the past decade. Recently Karsten Manufacturing, maker of PING brand clubs, had a patent application publish disclosing a club head design that they have been working on to reduce club head vibration. The patent application published as US Pub. No. 20090156324 titled “Golf Club with Cavity, and Method of Manufacture.” Check out this design…. Frankly, I go to as many demo days as I can and I hit as many irons as possible, yet….

I don’t know what to think about this recently published patent application. It there really a need for metal golf tees?…. Are you sold? Not me!….

Regulars of the Golf-Patents.com blog may recall a post titled “Is This Callaway Driver Radical Enough for You?”, as well as the follow-up post titled “Callaway Received a Patent on the ‘C-Shaped Golf Club Head’; Will This Club Actually Make it to the Market?”.
Well, when it comes to the giant golf companies it is easy to dismiss a real radical club design that is only seen in a single patent application as a design that was dreamt up in R&D and will likely never make it to the masses. However, once I start to see multiple patent applications on similar technology, then I begin to wonder…. “Are they are serious about this design? Heck, they have already made a significant investment in protecting the intellectual property. Perhaps this will actually make it to market!” Those are the thoughts that fired through my head yesterday when another interesting Callaway patent application published as US Pub. No. 20090163294 titled “Driver with Deep Aft Cavity.” Check out this design!…. Perhaps this club may actually see the inside of a golf shop!

Last week I reported on some possible designs of the next PING driver. Well, this week another design patent issued that may give us an even better idea of what the next generation of PING drivers may look like. The patent that issued this week is USPN D594919 titled “Golf Club Head.” Check out these figures…. Combine those drawings with some of the figures last week and you can start to get a sense of what PING may have in mind…..

I have to admit that I purposely avoid reading all the hype regarding “stack and tilt;” after all, my game has bigger issues (like the inability to hit a decent wedge shot). However, I do know that some golfers swear by “stack and tilt” and say that it has changed their games. Well, this week an invention was granted a patent that is designed just for all you “stack and tilt” lovers. The patent is USPN 7547257 titled “Stack and Tilt Footwork and Body Pivot Training Aid.” Check out this training aid….

Technically challenged? If so, a recently published patent application describes a range finder that may be perfect for you. The patent application (US Pub. No. 20090151177) describes the invention as…. I think this is the one range finder that has the potential to actually slow down play!….

I have no doubt that young golfers would buy the PING golf bag described in a patent application that published this week as US Pub. No. 20090152144 titled “Golf Bag Having Shoulder Strap With An Electronic Device.” The application described the invention as…. A cassette player? Really? Check out these drawings….. Interesting invention that would be nice to have on the range or when playing by yourself, but please not when playing in a group!

Most golfers can look at a pile of unlabeled golf balls and easily identify the Callaway balls because of their unique HEX aerodynamic technology; but in the future will we be seeing more traditional circular dimples on Callaway balls? One could be led to that conclusion after reading a Callaway golf ball patent that issued this week as USPN 7547259 titled “Aerodynamic Pattern for a Golf Ball.” Here is an interesting bit of history from the patent…. I did not know that is where ATTI originates. The patent describes the invention as….

Karsten Manufacturing, maker of PING brand golf clubs, had 3 design patents issue today. Interestingly, the patent applications were filed less than 5 months ago, leading me to believe that these patents may give us a peak at some new PING products in the pipeline. The first two patents, namely USPN D594,520 and USPN D594,521, are directed to the ornamental design of drivers, whereas the third patent USPN D594,518 appears to be directed to a hybrid with a design unlike any previous PING hybrids. Check out these designs…..

In the past I have profiled some rather unusual, some may say unique, golf club designs by Callaway, Taylor Made, and Bridgestone; however I have never reported on any Acushnet patent applications disclosing club head designs that lean toward the unconventional. Today is a new day and an Acushnet patent application published yesterday that will make you think. The patent application published as US Pub. No. 20090149276 titled “Metal Wood Club With Improved Moment of Inertia” and described the invention as…. OK, that description does not do justice to the club head designs that you are about to see…..

It doesn’t take a lot to explain this golf bag invention, check it out!…. The invention is described in a patent application that published today as US Pub. No. 20090145787 titled “Golf Bag.” The application explains the need for the invention as follows…. So, hot product or flop product? I think….

Many golfers would be surprised by the amount of litigation concerning patents on golf shoe spikes; just check out these prior posts (post 1, post 2). In the latest round of litigation Greenkeepers takes on Adidas, TaylorMade, Callaway, and Ecco. These defendants are in good company in that Acushnet, Softspikes, Nike, and MacNeil Engineering (maker of Champ Spikes) have all also been sued by Greenskeepers….

Roughly one year ago I noticed that Callaway had filed a trademark application for the WING NOTCH WEIGHTING mark. What could it be? Well, this week a Callaway patent application published that may give us a look at the Wing Notch Weighting™ system that may be coming out in the new FT 11, or perhaps the FT-MACH 11, FT-JET, or FT-BLACKHAWK….. The patent application that became public yesterday published as US Pub. No. 20090143167 titled “Golf Club Head With Adjustable Weighting, Customizable Face-Angle, and Variable Bulge and Roll Face.” The application summarizes the invention as…. Now, check out this design…. Interesting. Callaway must be tired of all the TaylorMade MWT advertisements; but will this design make it to market?

Probably not, but what a radical club for Bridgestone! Check out the driver disclosed in a patent application that published last week as US Pub. No. 20090137338 titled “Wood-Type Golf Club Head.”….. The application says it all with the following: “Besides, the head appearance has an unprecedentedly peculiar shape that attracts the attention of a bystander, but a golfer who uses this head does not feel the peculiar shape at address.” Think this design will make it to market?….

Titleist’s A.I.M. (Alignment Integrated Marking) sidestamp is coming under fire! As we all know, golf equipment can never have enough acronyms! The A.I.M. sidestamp is that convenient line ending with arrowheads to help golfers align their putts. Lombardi Golf Designs is alleging that the alignment sidestamps on the…. Bet you would have never guessed Titleist’s alignment line would be the subject of a golf ball design patent infringement lawsuit! (me neither)….

I bet you have never seen a driver like this. Check out the driver design found in design patent USPN D592720 titled “Golf Club Head,” which issued last week to Jack Hamm (the creator of some unconventional drivers)….

Ever wish you could easily turn your trusted loyal old putter into a face balanced putter? The invention that is disclosed in recently published patent application US Pub. No. 20090131194 titled “Weighted Golf Club Grips and Shafts” offers one way to achieve the goal. The application describes the invention as….

A design patent issued yesterday to Callaway that is directed to a driver that I have never seen before. The following drawings come from USPN D592721 titled “Golf Club Head.”…. So, what do you think…. something new, something old, or something that never made it out of R&D?….

An interesting Acushnet patent application published this week as US Pub. No. 20090120197 titled “Golf Club Head Comprising a Piezoelectric Sensor.” The application describes the invention as…. Cool stuff. Will this club ever make it to market? If so, how long will it take?….

Probably not, but check out this invention!…. Wow, check out that hosel wrap! When was the last time you had a club that looked like that? The drawings come from a patent application that published yesterday as US Pub. No. 20090119857 titled “Golf Clubhead Cleaning Device.” The application describes the invention as…. No offense but this invention looks like the type of thing that a golfer gets as a gift from a non-golfer….

Well, neither have I…. but a recently published patent application may indicate that Rife Putters is looking to branch out. Today Mr. Rife had a patent application publish that may give us an idea of what he has been thinking about; namely, the soles of metal woods. The patent application publishes as US Pub. No. 20090124410 titled “Sole Configuration for Metal Wood Golf Club.” The application describes the invention as….
So, is Guerin onto something new, or should he stick with designing putters?

Yesterday I posted about an invention designed to keep a golfer’s leading leg under control. Today let’s take a look a recently patented invention designed to keep the trailing leg under control. The invention is found in USPN 7517287 titled “Golf Swing Improvement Device.” Check it out….. Which invention would you find most helpful? I am leaning toward the _______ invention, but why not combine them!

What is more important during a golf swing, controlling the movement of your leading leg or your trailing leg? Beats me. Heck, if I knew then I would be a much better golfer. The reason I ask is that the USPTO records reveal two recently disclosed golf training inventions that take different approaches to controlling a golfer’s lower body. The first invention is disclosed in a patent application that recently published as US Pub. No. 20090105005 titled “Golf Swing Training Device.” Check it out…. What do you think? I am not sure that I would buy it, but I would give it a try.

Every now and then I come across a golf training invention disclosed in a patent application that makes me say “I would buy that (assuming it is priced right).” It happened last week when I came across the invention found in US Pub. No. 20090105004 titled “Inertially Responsive Golf Club Head Mounted Device for Instructing Correct Club Face Direction & Swing Speed.” Check out this nifty device…. Pretty cool little device, but what would you pay for it?….

Have you been watching The Haney Project: Charles Barkley show on TGC? If so, you have probably seen Charles hit some decent shots when Hank is standing over him holding his head; and you have probably also seen Charles hit some less than perfect shots as soon as Hank steps away. Last week a patent application published that made me immediately think of poor Charles. The invention disclosed in US Pub. No. 20090105006 titled “Training Apparatus for Improving a Golf Swing” seems to be made for him. Check it out!….. Now if only they could throw a set of wheels on it so Charles could attach it to a cart and pull it around the course…..

Recall last year’s post titled “Is This Callaway Driver Radical Enough for You?” Well, last week Callaway was granted a patent on the “c-shaped golf club head.” Amazing design!…. The fact that Callaway paid the fees necessary to get the patent issued makes me think that they may actually produce this club! Heck, I would give it a try….

The inventor listed on a recently published patent application wants to educate golfers on “golf’s magic lines.” The application published as US Pub. No. 20090098953 titled “Method for Teaching a Golf Swing Using Simple Thought Imagery and Very Limited Body Awareness.” What, “thought imagery” and “limited body awareness!” Initial thoughts…. a little airy fairy. See what you think….

Are you familiar with Dr. Frank D. Werner? He is the author of a handful of books (example 1, 2) on golf club engineering, and was one of the early supporters of square drivers (see THIS prior post). Based upon his bio, I would bet that Frank is one smart guy. Well, Frank was recently granted an interesting patent; namely, USPN 7510486 titled “Elastic Head Golf Club.” As you can imagine, the title caught my attention. The patent describes the invention as…. Check out this design…. Great stuff, but will this elastic golf club make it to market?

Can you identify this molecular structure?…. Luckily, the golf shaft designers at SRI Sports know the molecular structure of fullerene. Yesterday, SRI was granted an interesting golf shaft patent; namely, USPN 7517288 titled “Golf Club Shaft.” The patent describes the invention as…. The patent goes on to explain the need for this new shaft design (and insult senior golfers at the same time)…. Who knew fullerene was so handy! Talk about some brain power going into shaft design….

While I do love golf, I am not sure I would be willing to publicly use the device disclosed in the recently issued patent USPN 7513834 titled “Golf Swing Training Device.” Check it out….

An interesting golf grip patent recently issued. The patent is USPN 7510483 titled “Golf Club Grip,” and describes the invention as….. Perhaps “grip fitting” will become as common as club fitting and ball fitting. I wouldn’t mind being able to adjust the way that my grips feel. It would be interesting to know if these grip designs were ever determined to be USGA conforming….

Recently SRI Sports (the parent company of Srixon and Cleveland Golf) was granted an interesting golf swing diagnosis system patent. The patent is USPN 7502491, which describes the invention as…. Time to brush up on your pixel binarization to extract shaft motion using a movement vector…. Cool stuff! It is just a matter of time before all golfers have access to low cost self-service swing diagnosis systems.

I doubt it, but driving range kiosks are an interesting idea. Recently a patent application published as US Pub. No. 20090069105 titled “System and Method for Improving Golf Skills” and explains….

OK, you start by measuring (i)….(vi) you do the Hokey-Pokey, and you turn yourself around, that’s what it’s all about! But seriously, according to the German inventor listed on USPN 7510490 titled “Method for Determining Length of the Shaft of an Individually Adapted Golf Club” those are the measurements you need to properly determine a golf club shaft length….. Ahh, now I see my problem…. I have never properly accounted for the curvature of my spine!

It has been a while since I have tested your golf club knowledge, so here we go. This club should be easy to identify given the huge quantity of advertisements and commercials. The following drawings come from a driver design patent that issued yesterday. Do you recognize this club?…..

Earlier this year Callaway Golf acquired uPlay Technologies and launched the new Callaway uPro website. In the past couple of weeks two uPlay patent applications published giving us the first look at uPlay’s intellectual property. Could one of these applications provide us with a glimpse at the future of golf GPS devices?…..

Qualcomm had an interesting patent application publish this week. The application published this week as US Pub. No. 20090082139 titled “Methods and Apparatus for Determining Distances to Selected Targets on a Golf Course Using a Wireless Communications Device,” which describes the invention as…. I know, that is a pretty benign description from the Abstract of the application and it is hard to identify anything unique…. Seems like a lot of the same, but I like the idea of a direction vector as discussed in paragraph [0029].

Ahh, a patent application directed to incorporating Velcro or magnets into a belt to secure your golf glove, ball marker, repair tool, or ball pouch. I wonder if this application will ever grow into a patent. Regardless, it is entertaining. Check out these drawings…. What the heck is that attached to the right side of the belt above? It looks like either the foot of a chicken or the smallest golf glove I have ever seen!…. Has this inventor never ruined an expensive golf shirt by accidentally rubbing it with the Velcro of a golf glove? Confirmation that golfers are nuts (myself included)!

Are you one of those golf nuts that records their swings and analyzes every last aspect of it? If so, you will love this little product. The drawings from a patent application that published this week do a better job of describing the invention and I can do with words. Check it out!…. Now, if that little gadget was priced right, it would sell!

Well, it is far less than I would have guessed. For Acushnet, the answer is approximately (guess) pounds of force. The answer comes from a patent application that published this week; namely, US Pub. No. 20090072437 titled “High Speed Casting of a Golf Ball Layer.” The application describes the invention as…. The application does a great job explaining the typical golf ball manufacturing process…. The answer to the question posed in the title comes from the following paragraph….

Welcome to my world. It is a miracle that I can swing a golf club with all the fascinating (some may say “useless”) golf information floating around in my head! Several of the more interesting golf patents that issued this week concerned golf ball dimples. One in particular will make you realize how little you remember from trigonometry class. On Tuesday Acushnet was granted USPN 7503856 titled “Dimple Patterns for Golf Balls.” The patent describes the invention as…. If “hexagonal dipyramid polyhedron” didn’t make your eyes gloss over, then give the patent a glance to refresh your knowledge of inverse tangents, Reynolds Numbers, and aerodynamic coefficients. I am not sure whether a job researching and designing dimple patterns would be cool and exciting, or would make me insane.

I love patents directed to golf ball aerodynamics and fortunately an interesting one issued this week. Yesterday Bridgestone was granted USPN 7503857 titled “Golf Ball.” The patent describes the invention as…. Check out these dimples….

Familiar with the DeLaCruz SweetSlot line of putters? If not, check them out because they deserve a look. Well, today DeLaCruz Golf Designs was granted a design patent on some form of the SweetSlot putter. I say “some form” because the alignment features on the putter in the patent do not seem to match those of any of the putters on their website. The patent is USPN D588658 titled “Golf Putter With Slotted Head.” Check it out…. Personally, I prefer their blade versions over their cavity backs, but they all look sweet!

Recently Plop Golf has reemerged on the golf scene touting a new Center Shafted Hosel (CSH) technology. As with anything new, some have questioned whether the CSH technology is marketing hype or truly a technology improvement based upon sound engineering. I will let you be the judge of that. This week a patent application published directed to Plop’s new CSH technology. Oddly, the Plop Golf home page says “Introducing the new CSH Patented Technology,” and another page states “The new PLOP RSVP 2 debuts with the patented CSH (Center Shafted Hosel) technology.” Readers of this blog know that there is a big difference between having a patent application filed, and therefore being “patent pending,” versus having an issued patent, and therefore being a “patented technology!”….

An interesting putter grip patent application published today. Check out the putter grip disclosed in US Pub. No. 20090069106 titled “Grip Arrangement for Golf Club.”…. The application explains…. No doubt that it is one unique grip….

Back in December I wrote a POST about a dual shafted driver. Never did I think that I would be writing a post about a two shafted putter and wedge just a few months later. I recently discovered USPN 5547196 titled “Two-Shafted Golf Wedge Club and Method for Using Same.” Check out these clubs!….. There may be something to this invention, but boy would you get some odd looks from fellow golfers on the practice green.

What would be your reaction if a member of your foursome started using their putter as a pipe (probably not to smoke tobacco)? Recently I came across USPN 6454661 titled “Golf Club with Smoking Pipe Attachment.” The patent describes the invention as…. Interesting use of a putter that would never have crossed my mind. Seems like something that was invented during a case of the munchies.

Golf shaft technology is fascinating, partly because it is so misunderstood. Well, this week Harrison Sports, Inc. was granted a shaft patent that may provide you with an inside look at some of their unique technology. The patent is USPN 7497786 titled “Golf Club Shaft Having Multiple Metal Fiber Layers,” presumably directed to their reinforced graphite shafts. The patent explains….

Any patent applications including “golf-bat” in the title get my immediate attention. This week a patent application published with the title “Golf-Bat for Centrifugal Golf Swing” (US Pub. No. 20090054171). The application describes the invention as…. Check out these drawings…. The application explains (bear with some odd sentence structure, probably some translation issues)…. So, hot product or flop product? It doesn’t look like it would hurt my swing, so I would give it a try….

OK, I don’t know if they have them, but they have thought about them! This week Callaway was granted USPN 7494428 titled “Golf Ball,” which describes the invention as…. Check out this drawing showing the deep apertures extending through the cover and into the core….. The patent contains an interesting explanation of the golf ball manufacturing process…. Interesting stuff, but unfortunately the patent doesn’t explain the benefit associated with deep apertures extending through the cover and into the core. Bummer….