The New Plop Golf Centered Shafted Hosel Technology…. Breakthrough or Fluff?

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!”

The patent application that published this week is US Pub. No. 20090069110 titled “Golf Putter.” The application describes the invention as:

A golf putter providing a center mount of the hosel to the club head and a shaft engagement to the hosel at the heel end of the club head. The center mount provides the sole engagement of the hosel to the head as a gap is formed by a pathway formed through the body of the head which is larger than the circumference of the hosel in its communication therethrough. The centered engagement provides better touch to the user and feedback on striking a ball while concurrently removing the shaft from the user’s line of sight to the ball and club face and reduces the twist or torque at impact with a golf ball, thereby increasing the moment of inertia.

Check out these drawings:

The application goes on to explain:

[0005] However, upon placing the ball adjacent to or on the green with a wood or iron, a softer touch is needed by a golfer to sink the ball into the hole. For this purpose, putters are employed to putt the ball into the hole. Unlike woods and irons, putters are employed for a relatively soft contact with the golf ball to roll the ball short distances upon the green surrounding the hole. The putting portion of the game can be especially vexing to golfers since the ball must be accurately driven on the green, taking into consideration the slant of the green and many other variables.

[0006] Since during a putt the ball is intended to roll on the grass forming the green rather than to leave it, putters have a very low loft and often a short shaft. The result is a club that is designed to “push” and roll the ball rather than to elevate it upward into the air for long distances. While generally employed for play on the green, putters may on occasion be useful for playing some approach shots on courses with tightly mown fringe and fairways.

[0007] There are a number of different styles of putters. Popular head styles include those that are mallet-shaped or blade-shaped; however, many others exist. A mallet putter generally speaking has a large, rounded putter head and is weighted to be balanced throughout the club to provide the user with a more consistent putting stroke. A blade style putter in many popular versions is narrow and flat in order to give the user a tactile sensation or “feel” to the hands when employing the putter.

[0008] The head itself may be weighted at the perimeter or have weights adapted for insertion in the head. Perimeter-weighted and toe-weighted putters are considered by many to produce a more forgiving stroke, as the weight is distributed to yield a larger sweet spot on the club face. An insert configured putter head has composite inserts in the head made of a softer material than the rest of the head. The insert is in the face of the putter, sharply defining the sweet spot yielding a smoother roll.

[0009] However, most putters of either design have an engagement of the shaft of the club to the hosel engaging the head in a position and attachment mode at the heel end which causes unwanted torque or twisting of the head at the moment of impact with the ball. Additionally, many such shaft and hosel engagements marginalize the feel or tactile sensation of the strike on the ball communicated to the hands of the user gripping the shaft.

[0010] Putters with a shaft engaged to a hosel engaging the heel of the head yield a clear view of the ball being struck, but increase the torque on the shaft. This tends to rotate the shaft in the hands of the user even when struck at the head center. Putters having a shaft engaged to a hosel engaging the center portion of the club head, or just a shaft engaging the center of the head, reduce the torque communicated to the shaft upon striking the ball. However, in such an engagement, the shaft can block the view of the ball since it runs through the center of the club. In center mounted heads struck off center, or heel mounted heads even struck on center, the torque generated and resulting twisting tend to rotate the engaged shaft and can easily misdirect the ball along the wrong trajectory from that intended.

[0011] Other conventional engagements of the shaft to a hosel engage the distal end of the hosel directly into the head portion of the club either at the heel of the head or into the top central portion of the head. This engagement, while easy to manufacture, engages the hosel at a top or side edge of the head. Thus desired central point of impact of the ball on the head is distanced from the engagement point of the distal end of the hosel thereby dampening the feel of such an impact being transmitted through the club shaft to the user gripping the shaft.

[0012] Accordingly, there is an unmet need for a golf putter which provides a shaft engagement or a shaft and hosel engagement to the club head, which provides a means to eliminate or at least minimize the potential for twisting of the shaft upon impact of the center of the face of the head with the ball. Such a putter should provide the uninhibited viewing of the ball that a heel positioning of the shaft and hosel engagement yields, and concurrently produce the minimized torque and resulting shaft twisting provided by a center engagement of the distal end of the hosel or shaft to the head. Still further, such a putter should have a center of gravity that encourages the ball to roll forward rather than loft or backspin by yielding a large sweet spot for impact. Still further, such a shaft to head engagement should also provide increased transmission of the feel of the impact of the head with the ball to allow the user better distance and directional control of their follow-through after impact.

[0013] In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings nor the steps outlined in the specification. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways as those skilled in the art will readily ascertain from reading and being educated by this application. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the pur
pose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.

[0014] As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for designing other methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention of a golf putter having a center engaged hosel extending from the center of gravity of the head to the shaft. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent construction insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

[0015] The disclosed device and method of employment thereof, provides a novel improvement in the field of golf putters. As can be seen in FIGS. 1-11, in a preferred mode of the device, the device employs a hosel with a socket or recessed perimeter on a first end adapted to be engaged on the distal end of a golf shaft which is gripped by a user. Between the socket and a distal or opposite end of the hosel, the hosel member has an external circumference sized to be smaller than a passage communicating through the top or side surface of the head of the club with a cavity formed in the head behind the face.

[0016] Means for separated transition of the hosel through the heel portion of the club may be provided by the aperture which is formed at a position adjacent to the heal end of the putter head and communicates untouched through a passage to the central portion of the head. A slot or cut out might also provide the relief area adjacent to the heel to eliminate contact of the hosel with the head at this point. As noted below, a golf shaft if bent properly could substitute for the hosel and is anticipated; however, the hosel is preferred due to balance and manufacturing concerns.

[0017] The passage so formed being larger than the member forming a central portion of the hosel or shaft thereby provides a gap between the member portion of the hosel and the putter head, and only the distal end of the hosel is connected to the head at a central portion of the head. At the side surface of the head where the gap communicates with the passage the gap may be left empty or may be filled with an o-ring or other flexible material depending on the individual user’s preference.

[0018] At a central portion of the hosel between the engagement with the shaft and the engagement with the head, the hosel member may angle upwardly to provide a vertical projection adjacent to the heel portion of the head. This allows for attachment of the shaft at the first end of the hosel. This projection of the first end above the top surface at the heel provides for a center attachment of the hosel to the club, without obstructing the view of the ball in front of the face. The angle depicted in the drawings is at substantially 45 degrees which is one preferred mode of the device; however, the angle can vary depending on the exit point of the first end of the hosel from the passage adjacent to the heel end of the head.

[0019] At the distal end of the hosel opposite the first end the hosel member may be dimensioned substantially similar to a notch formed in a center post defined by opposing cavities in the club head. This similar configuration allows for engagement to the center post. The width of the center post is defined by producing cavities on either side of the center post in the rear of the head opposite the face.

[0020] Weight of the club head at the heel and toe ends can also be varied to maximize reduction of torque communication to the shaft during the moment of impact with a golf ball.

[0021] Other aspects and features of the present invention will be noted upon examination of the drawings, description of the best and various modes for carrying out the invention, and claims, all of which constitute disclosure of the present invention.

[0022] It is an object of this invention to provide a putter which minimizes twisting of the shaft on impact of the head with the golf ball in a putting stroke, by engagement of the shaft-engaged hosel solely to a central portion of the club head.

[0023] It is a further object of this invention to provide the unobstructed view of the ball yielded by an engagement of the shaft with the hosel adjacent to the heel of the club, while concurrently providing the benefits of stability from an engagement of the hosel to the center of the head.

[0024] It is a further object to provide a putter having such a novel attachment of the hosel to the head which provides a center of gravity at a contact point of the ball on the face of the club head to encourage rolling of the ball.

[0025] It is a further object to minimize unwanted twisting of the shaft during accelerations and decelerations of the head during the stroke of the putter, through such a central attachment of the hosel to the head, to thereby minimize rotational forces during the stroke of the club head to bring the face of the club head to an even contact with the golf ball at impact.

[0026] It is a further object to employ one of a gap at a transition passage of the hosel through a heel portion of the head, to thereby maximize and better transmit the feeling of the impact of the face of the head with the ball up the shaft to the user’s hands for better distance and directional control of the ball toward the targeted hole.

[0027] It is yet another object of this invention to provide a club with quicker feedback to the hands of the user of the impact with the ball to maximize the user’s distance and directional control of the ball.

[0028] It is a further object of this invention to allow for employment of a flexible ring at the transition of the hosel through the head proximate to the heel, to thereby impart a padded contact of the hosel with the club head to thereby absorb a portion of the energy during the putting stroke and which will redirect the energy to the golf ball so as to provide better feel and smoother roll.

[0029] It is a further object of this invention to provide a putter with a center attached hosel that will eliminate or reduce the amount of initial skidding or back spinning of the golf ball after leaving the face of the putter at impact through smoother contact, to thereby provide a smoother transition of the golf ball from its stationary position to its final free roll.

So, marketing hype or truly a technology improvement based upon sound engineering? I don’t know, but it is a nice looking putter and it would be interesting to putt with it along side a convention hosel putter to feel if there is any difference.

Dave Dawsey  – Watching Golf Putter Innovations

PS – check out additional putter patents HERE