Putter comprising swivelling handle and pivotal club head

A putter for hitting a golf ball across a support surface comprising:

• an upright shaft extending from a lower end to an upper end along a shaft axis, the shaft having intermediate the upper and lower ends a backside and a front side spaced forwardly from the backside;
• a head supported at the lower end of the shaft and having a front face arranged generally at the front side of the shaft for engaging the golf ball in a forward swinging movement, the front face defining a hitting plane which is substantially parallel to the shaft axis;
• an upper portion of the shaft distal to the head being arranged for gripping by a user such that the hitting plane is oriented substantially perpendicularly to the user positioned in a putting stance;
• wherein the head is pivotally connected to the shaft at a head pivot defining a pivot axis oriented transversely to the shaft axis and substantially parallel to the hitting plane and disposed rearwardly of the front face of the head, the front face of the head being movable in pivotal movement relative to the shaft about the pivot axis between a starting position in which the hitting plane is substantially parallel to the shaft axis and an oblique ending position in which the hitting plane is oriented so as to form an acute angle with the shaft axis such that the hitting plane can remain substantially normal to the support surface after initial contact with the golf ball during the forward swinging movement;
• wherein the upper portion of the shaft comprises a handle supported at the upper end of the shaft and defining a handle axis oriented transversely to the shaft axis and substantially parallel to the hitting plane for gripping by a first hand of a user such that the hitting plane is oriented substantially perpendicularly to the user in the putting stance, and wherein the upper portion of the shaft intermediate the handle and the head is adapted for gripping by a second hand of the user;
• wherein the handle is arranged for swiveling movement relative to the upper portion of the shaft from a starting position to an ending position in a rotational direction about the handle axis so as to permit restricted relative movement between wrists of the user's hands and the head of the putter during the forward swinging movement for hitting the golf ball;
• and
• wherein the head is operatively coupled to the handle, so that the pivotal movement of the head is responsive to the swiveling movement of the handle, by a control assembly including:
• a link operatively coupled between the handle and the head at a location thereon rearward of the pivot axis and arranged in a manner so that the swiveling movement of the handle acts to displace the link to move the front face of the head from the starting position to the oblique ending position, and
• a resilient tensionable member operatively coupled between the head and the upright shaft and arranged to be tensioned when the front face of the head is in the oblique ending position so as to bias the front face back to the starting position.