Golf Training Devices

Abstract

Golf training devices for practicing driving a ball while providing a visual indication of the orientation of the face of the golf club and location on the face of the club when impact with the ball occurs. The information may be recorded and which can be later analyzed by playback to effectively reproduce the swing of the player. The club uses a row of flashing light sources parallel to the face of the head of the club which creates a line visible to the user to see the orientation of the club and location of the impact of the club with a ball. Various aspects and uses of the club are disclosed.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A golf club comprising;
 a golf club head;   a shaft coupled to the golf club head; and   a gripping area coupled to the shaft;   light emitting regions on the golf club head disposed at least in part in a line parallel to a face of the golf club head;   the golf club having circuitry to cause the light emitting regions to flash at a predetermined rate during a swing of the golf club.   
     
     
         2 . The golf club of  claim 1  wherein the light emitting regions on the golf club head disposed at least in part in a line parallel to a face of the golf club head are configured to provide a visual indication of the center of the light emitting regions. 
     
     
         3 . The golf club of  claim 2  wherein the visual indication of the center of the light emitting regions is provided by at least one light emitting region of a different color from the remainder of the light emitting regions. 
     
     
         4 . The golf club of  claim 2  wherein the visual indication of the center of the light emitting regions is provided by at least one light emitting region that is not in a line defined by other light emitting regions. 
     
     
         5 . The golf club of  claim 2  wherein the visual indication of the center of the light emitting regions is at a center of the face of the golf club head. 
     
     
         6 . The golf club of  claim 2  wherein the visual indication of the center of the light emitting regions is outboard of a center of the head representing the best spot for making contact with the golf ball for the greatest distance. 
     
     
         7 . The golf club of  claim 1  wherein the light emitting regions are light emitting diodes. 
     
     
         8 . The golf club of  claim 1  wherein the light emitting regions are illuminated by a fiber optic line to the light emitting regions, the fiber optic line being illuminated by a light source at the gripping area. 
     
     
         9 . The golf club of  claim 1  wherein the light emitting regions and the circuitry to cause the light emitting regions to flash at a predetermined rate during a swing of the golf club are a permanent part of the golf club. 
     
     
         10 . The golf club of  claim 1  wherein the light emitting regions and the circuitry to cause the light emitting regions to flash at a predetermined rate during a swing of the golf club are attachments to the golf club. 
     
     
         11 . The golf club of  claim 1  wherein the circuitry to cause the light emitting regions to flash at a predetermined rate during a swing of the golf club includes circuitry to adjust the rate of the flashing. 
     
     
         12 . The golf club of  claim 1  wherein the circuitry to cause the light emitting regions to flash at a predetermined rate during a swing of the golf club includes circuitry to adjust the brightness of the flashing. 
     
     
         13 . The golf club of  claim 1  further comprised of two, three axis accelerometers located in spaced apart regions of the golf club head. 
     
     
         14 . The golf club of  claim 13  wherein the circuitry integrates the output of the three axis accelerometers to obtain and display a velocity of the golf club head during a golf club swing. 
     
     
         15 . The golf club of  claim 14  wherein the circuitry includes circuitry to adjust the rate of flashing based on at least one prior swing of the golf club. 
     
     
         16 . The golf club of  claim 13  wherein a signal responsive to the difference in the integral of the output of the three axis accelerometers at impact with a ball is displayed as an indication of wrist action of a user of the golf club. 
     
     
         17 . The golf club of  claim 13  further comprised of a speaker wherein the circuitry and speaker generate a noise responsive to movement of the golf club. 
     
     
         18 . The golf club of  claim 13  further comprised of a speaker wherein the circuitry and speaker generate a noise responsive to the difference in acceleration sensed by the two, three axis accelerometers to provide an audible indication of the location of the impact of the golf club head with a ball. 
     
     
         19 . The golf club of  claim 13  wherein the display comprises an LCD display. 
     
     
         20 . The golf club of  claim 13  wherein the display comprises a row of light emitting diodes. 
     
     
         21 . The golf club of  claim 13  further comprising a third three axis accelerometer being located adjacent the gripping area, and wherein the circuitry includes a memory, each axis of the three, three axis accelerometers being parallel to each other, the memory storing outputs of the three, three axis accelerometers during a swing of the golf club for later recreation of the swing. 
     
     
         22 . The golf club of  claim 21  wherein the golf club includes apparatus for downloading information stored in the memory for recreation of a swing of the golf club. 
     
     
         23 . The golf club of  claim 22  wherein the apparatus for downloading information stored in the memory comprises a USB connection. 
     
     
         24 . The golf club of  claim 22  wherein the apparatus for downloading information stored in the memory comprises a wireless connection. 
     
     
         25 . The golf club of  claim 13  wherein the three, three axis accelerometers are solid state accelerometers. 
     
     
         26 . The golf club of  claim 1  wherein the golf club head is a golf club driver head. 
     
     
         27 . The golf club of  claim 1  wherein the duty cycle of the flashing is in the range of 5% to 15%.