Mallet Putter Alignment Layout for Quiet Eye Focus
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Mallet-style putters often distract the user's gaze away from the ball due to their larger shape, which can hinder performance by disrupting the quiet eye phenomenon, a crucial aspect of effective putting.
Innovation Solution
A mallet-style putter head with an alignment system featuring focus elements such as central lines, color variations, and anomalous characteristics on the crown to draw the eye to the ball, maintaining focus during the putting stroke.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a mallet-style putter with larger size is used, then the moment of inertia is higher and the putter is more forgiving, but the user's eye is drawn away from the ball causing distraction
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs color changes by incorporating a colored focal point element on the crown of the putter head. This colored element (e.g., red, orange, or other contrasting colors) creates a visual anchor that draws the user's eye to a specific location on the crown, preventing eye distraction while maintaining the beneficial mass properties of the mallet-style putter design.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a blade-style putter with thinner shape is used, then the eye remains focused on the ball, but the moment of inertia is lower reducing forgiveness
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by concentrating visual attention elements (colored focal point, alignment lines) at specific locations on the putter head, particularly on the crown. This allows the majority of the putter head to maintain the mass-distributing mallet-style geometry for high moment of inertia, while only specific localized features provide the eye-focus function traditionally associated with blade putters.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If alignment system elements are added to the crown, then the eye is drawn to a point adjacent the strike face, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the alignment system into distinct functional elements: a colored focal point element for primary eye attraction, alignment lines for directional guidance, and optional additional graphical elements. This segmentation allows each element to perform its specific function independently, making the overall system more manageable and easier to manufacture despite the multiple components working together.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of mallet-style putter-type golf club heads comprising a first color and an alignment system to draw a golfer's eye towards a particular desirable location are described herein. The alignment system includes a central line extending rearward from a top edge centerpoint toward the rear portion and comprising a second color different from the first color. The alignment system further includes a focus element having a first grouping of lines and a second grouping of lines each extending rearward parallel to the central line and comprising a base abutting a top edge. Each of the first grouping of lines and the second grouping of lines further comprise at least the second color, a color saturation that changes as the lines extend rearward from the top edge, and line lengths that decrease as the first grouping of lines and the second grouping of lines are distributed further from the central line. The alignment system's changes in color, color saturation, and line length provide means to draw the human eye into focus at a particular desirable location to minimize mis-strokes that would cause undesirable variance from the desired trajectory or roll path.