Ball pick-up and tee-up aid

Abstract

The lightweight and small tee-up-device is attached to a golf club shaft or a golf club head for the purpose of picking-up and teeing-up balls while practicing at a driving range or on a putting green, or playing a round at a golf course. The device allows a golfer to practice hitting balls off a tee without: bending over, squatting down, moving his feet, shifting his natural stance, releasing or adjusting his natural grip on the golf club, altering his natural swing, or interfering with the natural striking of the teed-up golf ball. The device has a seat (110) to hold the ball, a gap (118) in the seat to allow the device to withdraw from the tee, tips (114) to help hold the ball and help guide the device when picking-up the ball, a mount (120) and accessories (123) to attach the device to the club. The seat is preferably C-shaped with diameter slightly less than the diameter of a ball. The device is made of a material rigid enough to carry the ball when the ball sits in the C-shape. This material also has enough flexibility so that the ball can be easily forced through the C-shape when the ball is picked-up by the push-through method. The tips are curved to prevent sticking in the ground and flared to help guide the ball onto the seat when the ball is picked-up by the scoop-method. The C-shape exposes the bottom of the ball so that the ball can be placed on the tee. The gap in the C-shape of the seat is large enough to allow the tee to pass through the gap after the ball has been placed on the tee.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to picking-up and teeing-up a golf ball with the aid of a tee-up device with the golfer remaining in a standing position. [0003] 2. Description of the Related Art [0004] The teachings of the prior art falls into the following categories: [0005] (a) Manual Method: Employing this method, the golfer bends over or squats down, and manually picks-up a golf ball from the ground or from a basket, and places the golf ball on a tee. He / her (hereby he) can then strike the ball off the tee with his / her (hereby his) club. This method of teeing-up puts stress on the body, and when performed repeatedly can cause fatigue or injury to the legs and / or back. This method can be tedious and time consuming and consequently can cause boredom. In addition, by teeing-up manually, the golfer must move his feet, shift his stance, and release his grip on the golf club, hence prohibiting the benefit of practicing ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The present invention is a device that allows golfers to pick up and tee-up golf balls without bending over, squatting down, or interfering with their natural swing. It is attached to the golf club or other elongate members, and is easily attached and detached. The device has a seat that picks up the ball and exposes it for tee-up, while the golf club or other elongate member interfaces with the seat. The device can be used at driving ranges or other golf practice facilities, and it reduces boredom, fatigue, stress, and possible injury from repetitive bending over or squatting. It is easy to use, lightweight, portable, and reversible. The device can also be used for other activities such as Tee-Ball or picking-up other sports balls."

Problems solved by technology

This method of teeing-up puts stress on the body, and when performed repeatedly can cause fatigue or injury to the legs and / or back.

This method can be tedious and time consuming and consequently can cause boredom.

In addition, by teeing-up manually, the golfer must move his feet, shift his stance, and release his grip on the golf club, hence prohibiting the benefit of practicing with a uniform stance and grip.

These devices can pick-up a golf ball but most likely require that the golfer release his grip on his golf club to take hold of the pole and operate the device.

In addition, these devices do not have the capacity to place a golf ball on a tee since: the pinch mechanism can not release the golf ball; the cup can only drop the golf ball with no useful fidelity in aiming or stabilizing the golf ball on the tee.

These devices are bulky with a number of moving parts, and, in some cases, electronic parts.

These automatic tee-up devices are complicated, expensive to buy and to maintain; they are bulky and inconvenient to store and transport; and some require electrical power.

Since the purpose of the semi-loop is intended for the ball to fall through, this semi-loop can not hold and carry a golf ball.

None of these devices can be attached to a golf club for ease and convenience of use.

This device requires that the golf ball be taken from the suction cup manually, as it has no release mechanism to allow the golf ball to be placed and left on a tee.

Also, this device has no guides to aid in the placement of a golf ball on a tee.

While they can pick-up golf balls, they are very large and could not be attached to a golf club; and they have no means which would enable them to place a golf ball on a tee.

The Dahlmann-device is not designed to pick-up golf balls from the ground and there is no practical way to do so.

Thus, the Dahlmann-device can not be used without bending over to repeat the operation of teeing-up for a group of golf balls that sit on the ground or in another platform such as a tray set on the ground, as might be found at a driving range.

Thus, the Dahlmann-device does not allow the golfer to tee-up the golf ball without altering his grip on the golf club, thus prohibiting the golfer from practicing at a driving range with the same grip on consecutive strokes.

Thus, the Dahlmann-device does not allow the golfer to tee-up without moving his feet or shifting his stance, thus prohibiting the golfer from practicing his stroke with uniformity on consecutive strokes.

This protrusion of several inches would likely interfere with the golfer's natural grip and inhibit the motion of the golfer's natural swing.

The Dahlmann-device could not be effectively redesigned to attach to the bottom of the golf club shaft or the golf club head.

To hold a tee, the Dahlmann-device must extend below the golf ball, thus there would not be enough ground clearance to allow a natural swing of the golf club.

In addition, the weight and bulk of the Dahlmann-device would both present air drag and unbalance the golf club.

Such a mat tee can not fit into the Dahlmann-device's slot.

Furthermore, the Dahlmann-device could not be used with any tee whatsoever that is already inserted in the ground.

Thus, withdrawing the Dahlmann-device from the teed-up golf ball without disturbing the golf ball by nudges from the slot or housing requires a high degree of dexterity.

The Dahlmann-device must be vertical when operated and thus has unforgiving operational properties.

The Dahlmann-device is relatively unsightly and a detraction for those golfers who use fashion as a criteria when purchasing golf equipment.

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