Finally, Someone Has Incorporated a Tennis Racquet into a Golf Club!

How many times have you heard a golfer say “that’s it, I’m taking up tennis?” Well, now we can have the best of both sports.

Today a patent application published as US Pub. No. 20100248859 titled “Soft Golf Club Head,” which is a title that quickly got my attention. The application describes the perfect marriage of tennis and golf.

Provided is a soft golf club head that forms a striking surface with a plurality of strings fixed to a body of the head and a tension adjusting screw to enable adjusting of string tension, so that shock transferred to a golfer is reduced, flight distance of the golf ball can be adjusted, and a broader demography can enjoy golfing with less restrictions.

The application goes on to explain:

[0014] Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a soft golf club head that substantially obviates one or more problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.

[0015] An object of the present invention is to provide a soft golf club head that forms a loft angle and a lie angle used by the head, and a striking surface with an adjustable tension level that can be customized to fit an individual golfer’s physical characteristics, thereby enabling elderly or physically disabled golfers to enjoy golf and increase the demography of players.

[0016] Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned from practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.

[0017] To achieve these objects and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, there is provided a golf head for a soft golf club having a shaft forming a gripping portion at a top thereof, and a head coupled at a lower end of the shaft and forming a striking surface for striking a golf ball, the golf head including: a body with an outer circumference of a predetermined thickness forming a striking space in a center thereof, and a plurality of insert holes formed in the outer circumference; a shaft housing formed on a side of the body, and including a receiving hole in which a lower end of the shaft is inserted and fixed; at least one or more of a string for forming the striking surface over the striking space on the body, wherein one end of the one or more of the string is fixed to one of the insert holes, and the other end is fixed to another of the insert holes correspond to the one insert hole; and a tension adjusting screw provided on one side of the body, for tightening or loosening the one end of the one or more of the string and controlling the tension of the striking surface.

[0018] The golf head may further include a bumper formed respectively on each of the insert holes formed in the outer circumference, for minimizing a transferal of striking shock from the striking surface formed by the string to edges of the insert holes contacting the string. The outer circumference of the body may include a recessed region recessed a predetermined depth inward from an outer surface thereof, and the insert holes may be formed in the recessed region. The golf head may have a loft angle of 1.sub.1 and a lie angle of 1.sub.2, for retaining a shape of a conventional golf club.

[0019] According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a golf head for a soft golf club having a shaft forming a gripping portion at a top thereof, and a head coupled at a lower end of the shaft and forming a striking surface for striking a golf ball, the golf head including: a body with an outer circumference of a predetermined thickness forming a striking space in a center thereof, and a plurality of insert holes formed in the outer circumference; a shaft housing formed on a side of the body, and including a receiving hole in which a lower end of the shaft is inserted and fixed; and a striking membrane forming a striking surface at a front of the body, wherein ends of the striking membrane are fixed to the body using fixing members.

[0020] The body may have a coating layer formed on an outer surface thereof for minimizing shearing stress generated between the outer surface of the body and the striking membrane when a golf ball is struck with the striking membrane.

[0021] The golf head may further include a weight-balancing portion formed on a side of the body, for facilitating a swing of a golfer. The body and the shaft housing of the golf head may be formed of a compound resin that is easily formed and has a high degree of strength, and the golf head may have a balancing weight insert injection molded in a rear, lower portion thereof, for facilitating a swing of a golfer.

All I can say is….. “hummm, interesting?”

Dave Dawsey   – Monitoring Sports Equipment Patent Applications

PS – click HERE to read about the perfect marriage of a bowling glove and a golf grip