Nike is Cranking Out New Driver Designs; Which of These Designs Would Find a Place in Your Bag

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.

The first driver patent application published as US Pub. No. 20090203462 titled “Golf Clubs and Golf Club Heads Having Adjustable Weight Members” and describes the invention as:

Wood-type golf club heads include: (a) a ball striking face; (b) a club head body engaged or integrally formed with the ball striking face, wherein the club head body includes a sole portion, wherein the sole portion includes a slot or rail defined therein; and (c) a weight member at least partially located within the slot or rail. The weight member may be mounted at plural positions along the slot or rail (optionally at least partially within a weight cartridge member provided with the club head body). The weight member also may be movably engaged with the weight cartridge member, slot, rail, and/or other portion of the club head body. Golf clubs including these club heads and methods of making and using such golf clubs and golf club heads also are described.

The second driver patent application published as US Pub. No. 20090203465 titled “Golf Clubs and Golf Club Heads Having Targeted Weighting Characteristics” and describes the invention as:

Wood-type golf club heads include: (a) a ball striking face member; and (b) a club head body attached to or integrally formed with the face member. One body component of the club head (e.g., a weight or cover member) may be formed from a transparent, partially transparent, or translucent material. In some club head structures, an external weight member may extend around a part of a club head body member and beyond or outside of at least a portion of the body member’s exterior perimeter (e.g., rearwardly, laterally toward a toe side, and/or laterally toward a heel side of the club head body, beyond the exterior perimeter portion, when viewed from overhead). Golf club structures that include golf club heads, e.g., of the types described above, and methods of constructing and/or using such clubs and club heads, also are described.

Neat stuff! It will be interesting to see if either of these designs make it to the market.

Dave Dawsey  – Monitoring Golf Patent Applications

PS – click HERE to check out more cool wood concepts