Background Art Putting acts as an important variable for reducing a professional or amateur golfer's stroke. Accordingly, as a burden to the putting is increased proportionally, various side effects occur.

Firstly, a golfer raises his/her head and sees a hole cup to impatiently confirm that the golf ball is dropped in the hole cup before the putting is finished such that a posture is distracted and accordingly, a head surface of a putter is deviated from a target direction to thereby cause the golf ball to miss its mark. Further, since the golfer does not follow throw enough, the golf ball cannot be sent to a target position.

As such, since the golfer is afraid of or anxious about the putting such that he/she suffers from a strong stress symptom such as the yips thereby causing his/her human body to get stiff and shiver, when the putting is done, he/she is too hasty or suddenly stops the follow-throw, and his/her wrist or arm shivers due to stiff human body.

Further, if the golfer begins to lose control in short putting due to the head-up or non-enough follow-throw, a self-confidence shortage in the putting follows and accordingly a domino effect occurs where a mistake is taken in all shots due to obsession for approaching to the hole cup even when iron shot or approach is done for a green attack.

In order to solve the above drawbacks, putting training is made using the putting training apparatus. However, it is difficult to correct the head-up or non-enough follow- throw and yips even though a conventional putting training apparatus is used.

The conventional putting training apparatus has a drawback in that the putting training apparatus itself is not constructed such that the above side effect is minimized, or the

putting training apparatus itself is, though constructed so, high-priced and is complicated in structure.

Disclosure of the Invention An object of the present invention is to provide a putting training plate and a putting training apparatus employing the same in which head-up or non-enough follow-throw and yips can be corrected when training putting.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a putting training plate and a putting training apparatus employing the same having a simple construction.

The objects and characteristics will be understood more clearly through embodiment to be described below.

To accomplish the above objects and advantages, there is provided a putting training plate including: a body having a uniform flat surface; and a friction unit integrally formed in a lengthwise direction from one end to the other end on any surface of the body to form a putting passageway, for generating a friction sound resulting from a friction with a golf ball rolling along the putting passageway.

Preferably, the friction unit has a notch having a lattice shape, or has a plurality of grooves arranged in a lengthwise direction at a predetermined interval and each groove is arranged in a width direction, or has a plurality of slits arranged in the lengthwise direction at a predetermined interval, and the body is penetrated to provide each slit disposed in the width direction.

Preferably, the body is formed of a metal material, and the end has a placing indent for placing a putting-target golf ball. Further, the body has a 50 to 80% width of a diameter of the golf ball.

Preferably, the body is comprised of coupled unitary bodies having predetermined lengths, and the unitary body has at least one coupling protrusion at one end thereof and at least one coupling groove at the other end thereof such that the coupling protrusion of one unitary body is mutually fitted and coupled with the coupling groove of another unitary body.

Preferably, the body is marked together with a scale and a digit representing a distance along both side edges thereof.

In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a putting training plate

including: a body having a uniform flat surface; and first and second friction units respectively integrally formed in a lengthwise direction from one end to the other end on one surface and the other surface of the body to form putting passageways, for generating a friction sound resulting from a friction with a golf ball rolling along the putting passageways, wherein the first friction unit has a notch having a lattice shape, and the second friction unit has a plurality of grooves in the lengthwise direction at a predetermined interval and each of the grooves is disposed in a width direction.

In a further another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a putting training apparatus including: a plate having a body having a uniform flat surface, and a friction unit integrally formed in a lengthwise direction from one end to the other end on any surface of the body to form a putting passageway, for generating a friction sound resulting from a friction with a golf ball rolling along the putting passageway; and a hole-in sensing unit disposed outside of the other end of the plate, for outputting a sound caused by a strike of the golf ball rolling along the putting passageway.

Preferably, the putting training apparatus further including a mat for supporting the plate and the hole-in sensing unit, and a golf ball deviation-preventive member detachably installed on the mat to surround an edge of the other end of the mat and to surround the hole- in sensing unit.

The golf ball deviation-preventive member is separated into three parts to surround the edge of the other end of the mat in a""-shape, and preferably, each of the separated parts of the golf ball deviation-preventive member has a housing groove sized correspondingly a length and a width of the plate, and two separated parts have the housing grooves with one end closed.

The hole-in sensing unit includes: a pair of weight supports movably disposed; a connection panel fixed to the weight support at both ends thereof; a supporting bar separably fixed to the housing groove provided in the weight support at both ends thereof; and a sound generation pendant rotatably coupled to the supporting bar.

Preferably, the housing groove is disposed at an upper end of the weight support.

In another embodiment, the hole-in sensing unit includes: metal plates having lengths different from one another and arranged in parallel to have a circular shape as a whole; a supporting bar for supporting the metal plates; and a fixing pin for fixing the plates

to the supporting bar.

Preferably, the weight supports of the hole-in sensing unit are cylinder-shaped, and a distance between centers of the weight supports is the same as a diameter of a practical hole cup.

Brief Description of the Drawings The above object, other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing the preferred embodiment thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a putting training plate according to one embodiment of the present invention; FIG 2 is a perspective view illustrating a putting training plate according to another embodiment of the present invention; FIG 3 is a perspective view illustrating a putting training plate according to a further another embodiment of the present invention; FIG 4 is a perspective view illustrating a putting training apparatus employing a putting training plate of FIG 1 ; FIG 4A is a perspective view illustrating a hole-in sensing unit according to one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4B is a perspective view illustrating a modified example of a hole-in sensing unit of FIG. 4A; FIG 5 is a perspective view illustrating a hole-in sensing unit according to another embodiment of the present invention; FIG 6 is a perspective view illustrating a golf ball deviation-preventive member according to one embodiment of the present invention; and FIG 7 is a partial perspective view illustrating a putting training plate having an adjustable length.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention Now, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the annexed drawings.

FIG 1 is a perspective view illustrating a putting training plate according to one embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the inventive putting training plate 10 includes a body 12 having a uniform flat surface, and a friction unit 14 integrated with the body 12.

At one end of the body 12 is formed a placing indent 16 for stopping and placing a golf ball, or hanging the plate 10 on a wall and the like. There is a danger that the golf ball is fittingly forced into the placing indent 16 if the placing indent 16 has a very large diameter.

Accordingly, it is enough that a first diameter unit 16a of the placing indent 16 has an approximate 5 mm diameter considering that the golf ball has a 4.2 cm diameter.

The body 12 is not constant in size, but can preferably have a 3.5 cm width, a 120 cm length and a 2 mm thickness. Further, a scale and a digit 11 representing a distance are marked together along both side edges of the body 12 such that a golfer can easily recognize a putting distance.

The friction unit 14 is integrally disposed in a lengthwise direction from one end to the other end of the body 12 to form a putting passageway, and has lattice-shaped notches.

Preferably, the friction unit 14 can appropriately have a width of 50 to 80% in comparison with the diameter of the golf ball, and a lattice has appropriately a size of 1 mm.

The body 12 can be formed of any material as long as it has the uniform flat surface, and preferably, can be formed of a metal material.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating a putting training plate according to another embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, a plurality of grooves 15 is arranged parallel in the lengthwise direction and each of the grooves is disposed in a width direction. Preferably, the groove 15 appropriately has a 2 mm width, and has a 5 mm interval therebetween.

Accordingly, in one embodiment where the lattice-shaped notch is formed as shown in FIG 1, training can be performed assuming a case where the golf ball rolls fast on a putting green. In another embodiment where the groove 15 having a wider interval is formed as shown in FIG. 2, the training can be performed assuming a case where the golf ball rolls slowly on the putting green.

Furthermore, preferably, the lattice-shaped notch 14 is formed on one surface of the plate 10 according to one embodiment of the present invention, and the groove 15 is formed

on the other surface of the plate 10 according to another embodiment of the present invention such that they can be used at the same time.

FIG 3 is a perspective view illustrating a putting training plate according to a further another embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the body 12 is penetrated to provide a slit 17 in the width direction, and a plurality of slits 17 is arranged parallel in the lengthwise direction. In this case, the body 12 is thinned more to obtain the same effect as that of FIG 2.

A putting training method using the above-described putting training plate will be described.

If the golf ball is placed on the placing indent 16 of the plate 10, the golf ball can be simply stopped. For example, the golfer grasps a putter,. takes an appropriate posture and then strikes the golf ball.

The struck golf ball rolls along the putting passageway of the friction unit 14 while a friction sound is generated from the intaglio notch of the friction unit 14.

Accordingly, the golfer can recognize from the friction sound whether or not the golf ball rolls toward a target, that is, he/she does not need to raise his/her head to confirm whether or not the golf ball rolls toward the target. Furthermore, in case that the golf ball rolls on and laterally deviates from the friction unit 14, since the golfer can recognize that head-up occurs, follow-throw is not enough, or yips occurs, a cause of a putting failure can be exactly found.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a putting training apparatus employing the putting training plate of FIG 1.

Referring to FIG. 4, the putting training plate 10 of FIG 1 is disposed on a mat 20.

The mat 20 is sized properly and is flexible, and can be formed of various materials such as urethane, an artificial green or the like.

A hole-in sensing unit 40 is disposed outside of a terminal of the plate 10 to output a sound caused by a strike of the golf ball rolling along the putting passageway.

FIG 4A is a perspective view illustrating the hole-in sensing unit according to one embodiment of the present invention.

The hole-in sensing unit 40 includes a pair of weight supports 42 movably disposed on the mat 10; a connection panel 44 fixed to the weight support 42 at both ends thereof; a

supporting bar 46 separately fixed to an insertion hole 43 provided for the weight support 42 at both ends thereof; and a sound generation pendant 48 rotatably connected to the supporting bar 46. Packing 49 is fitted to the supporting bar 46 to prevent a left and right movement of the sound generation pendant 48.

Accordingly, if the golf ball 1 rolls and strikes the sound generation pendant 48, the strike sound is generated and at the same time, the sound generation pendant 48 is rotated and the golf ball 1 continues to roll. At this time, since the weight support 42 has a weight enough enduring against the strike of the golf ball 1, it is not shaken even by rotation of the sound generation pendant 48.

Preferably, the weight support 42 can be cylindrical-shaped. In this case, a distance between centers of the cylindrical weight supports 42 can be the same as a practical diameter of a hole cup, that is, 10.8 cm to allow the golf ball 1 rolling with a little deviation to strike or not to strike the sound generation pendant 48 depending on a contact position with the weight support 42. Since this actually causes a similar effect with that of whether or not the golf ball is dropped at left and right ends of the hole cup, the golfer can train the putting under more real environment.

FIG 4B is a perspective view illustrating a modified example of the hole-in sensing unit 40 of FIG 4A.

As shown in FIG. 4B, the weight support 42 has an insertion groove 43a simply provided at an end thereof, instead of the insertion hole 43 having unnecessary difficulty in formation, so as to allow the supporting bar 46 to be inserted in the weight support 42.

Further, the hole-in sensing unit is molded according to need such as a victory arch or the South Gate such that golfer's interesting can be inspired more.

Referring to FIG 5, another embodiment of the hole-in sensing unit 140 is illustrated. In this embodiment, the hole-in sensing unit 140 includes metal plates 142 having different lengths from one another and being arranged in parallel to have a circular shape as a whole; a supporting bar 144 for supporting metal plates 142; and a fixing pin 146 for fixing the metal plates 142 to the supporting bar 144. In this embodiment using a xylophone principle, the golf ball 1 strikes the metal plate 142 from up to down to generate a striking sound, and the metal plate 142 can be controlled in length to generate several striking sounds depending on a position in which the golf ball drops. For this, the plate 10 is sloped such that

the hole-in sensing unit 140 directs upward for putting, or as shown in FIG. 5, a slope block 150 can be installed in front of the hole-in sensing unit 140 such that the golf ball 1 can drop on the hole-in sensing unit 140 via the slope block 150.

Preferably, the hole-in sensing unit 140 can be constructed to have a circular-shape as a whole and have the same diameter as that of the hole cup.

Further, the golf ball deviation-preventive member 30 is""-shaped surrounding an edge of the mat 20 at an end of the mat 20 to enclose the hole-in sensing unit 40. The golf ball deviation-preventive member 30 can be formed of, for example, a flexible or elastic material that can be smoothly bent such as a non-woven fabric or resin foam, or is detachably installed at the mat 20 using a velcro tape (reference numeral 35 of FIG 6) or a combination button.

Referring to FIGs. 4 and 6, one example of the golf ball deviation-preventive member 30 is shown. The golf ball deviation-preventive member 30 is preferably separated into three parts, and includes an internal foam and an outer cover surrounding the internal foam.

The golf ball deviation-preventive member 30 internally has a housing hole 34 having a size corresponding to a length and width of the plate 10 such that the plate 10 can be housed in the housing hole 34. That is, in case the putting training apparatus is disassembled, three separated parts 31,32 and 33 of the golf ball deviation-preventive member 30 are respectively fitted and disposed at one end, middle portion, the other end of the plate 10.

By doing so, the fitted plate 10 can be putted in a caddy bag such as a golf club, and the golf ball deviation-preventive member 30 can elastically protect the plate 10 from an external impact.

On the other hand, the golfer can arbitrarily control the length of the plate 10.

Referring to FIG. 7, unitary bodies 10'having a predetermined length are combined to construct the plate 10. For this, the unitary body 10'has at least one coupling protrusion 18 at one end thereof and has at least one coupling groove 19 at the other end thereof such that the coupling protrusion 18 of one unitary body is fitted into and mutually coupled with the coupling groove 19 of another unitary body.

If the putting training is performed using the above-constructed putting training

apparatus, the golfer can recognize a forwarding state of the golf ball from the friction sound that is generated from rolling of the golf ball on the friction unit 14 of the plate 10, without raising his/her head.

Further, since the golfer can hear the strike sound from the hole-in sensing unit 40 at the terminal, a similar environment can be created with a practical putting on the golf green.

The putting training apparatus can be carried handily due to easy disassembly. For example, as described above, the plate can be put in the caddy bag using the golf ball deviation-preventive member, and the golf ball deviation-preventive member, the hole-in sensing unit and the mat can be putted in and carried with a Boston bag. Further, even in case only the plate and the hole-in sensing unit are carried in the simples form, the putting training can be enough exercised.

The above descriptions are made centering on a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but various modifications can be surely made by those skilled in the art.

For example, the lattice of the friction unit of the plate can be appropriately controlled in size, depth or the like, and can be formed of other materials than the metal material.

While the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications and substitutions can be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Industrial Applicability As described above, the present invention has various advantages as follows.

Firstly, since the golfer can hear the friction sound generated from friction between the golf ball and the notch formed by intaglioing the friction unit of the plate to recognize the forwarding state of the golf ball, his/her head-up can be prevented.

Further, in case there is wrist shake caused by the yips or non-enough follow-throw, since the golf ball is deviated from the narrow plate, the cause can be simply understood.

Furthermore, there is an advantage in that the putting training can be performed even under any circumstance in case only the plate is carried.

Additionally, the golfer can subsidiarily use the hole-in sensing unit to prevent his/her head-up to the end. The present invention can obtain an effect of a practical hole-in in the hole cup on the golf green by generating the strike sound. Particularly, the strike sound can be continuously generated to attract the golfer's interesting thereby improving a putting effect.

Further, there is an advantage of simple disassembly and installation, and simple and convenient carriage, and a wide place is not required for training.