# US 8,465,378 B2 · Shaft selection assist apparatus > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 8,465,378 B2 - Document ID: US8465378B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 12/971,170 - Filed: 2010-12-17 - Published: 2011-06-30 - Granted: 2013-06-18 - Earliest claimed: 2009-12-25 - Assignees: Bridgestone Sports Co., Ltd. - Applicants: Hirotada Iwade; Fumiaki Sato - Inventors: Hirotada Iwade; Fumiaki Sato - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US8465378B2 ## CPC - A63B 60/42: Devices for measuring, verifying, correcting or customising the inherent characteristics of golf clubs, bats, rackets or the like, e.g. measuring the maximum torque a batting shaft can withstand - A63B 53/10: Non-metallic shafts - A63B 2102/32: Golf - A63B 2220/24: Angular displacement - A63B 2220/30: Speed - A63B 2220/35: Spin - A63B 2220/805: Optical or opto-electronic sensors - A63B 2220/807: Photo cameras - A63B: APPARATUS FOR PHYSICAL TRAINING, GYMNASTICS, SWIMMING, CLIMBING, OR FENCING; BALL GAMES; TRAINING EQUIPMENT (apparatus for passive exercising, massage A61H) ## Abstract A shaft selection assist apparatus according to this invention includes a storage means for storing recommended shaft information indicating a correspondence between measurement parameters obtained upon a test strike with a golf club to which a predetermined reference shaft is attached, and recommended shafts among shafts of a plurality of types, an acquisition means for acquiring the measurement results of the measurement parameters associated with a test strike actually made by a user with the golf club, a selection means for selecting a recommended shaft by referring to the recommended shaft information based on the measurement results acquired by the acquisition means, and an output means for outputting information indicating the recommended shaft selected by the selection means. The recommended shaft information stored in the storage means is information which specifies recommended shafts based on the relationship between the shaft rigidity distribution and the measurement parameters. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A shaft selection assist apparatus comprising: storage means for storing recommended shaft information indicating a correspondence between measurement parameters obtained upon a test strike with a golf club to which a predetermined reference shaft is attached, and recommended shafts among shafts of a plurality of types; acquisition means for acquiring measurement results of the measurement parameters associated with a test strike actually made by a user with the golf club; selection means for selecting a recommended shaft by referring to the recommended shaft information based on the measurement results acquired by said acquisition means; and output means for outputting information indicating the recommended shaft selected by said selection means, wherein the recommended shaft information stored in said storage means comprises information which specifies recommended shafts based on a relationship between a shaft rigidity distribution and the measurement parameters, the measurement parameters include a horizontal launch angle of a struck ball and a side spin direction of the struck ball, the recommended shaft information stored in said storage means indicates a correspondence between the horizontal launch angle and the side spin direction, and recommended shafts, the recommended shaft information stored in said storage means specifies as recommended shafts: a shaft which has a large rigidity difference in a predetermined range on a proximal side if the horizontal launch angle is in a rightward direction, a shaft which has a small rigidity difference on the proximal side if the horizontal launch angle is in a leftward direction, a shaft which has a large rigidity difference in a predetermined range on a distal side if the side spin direction indicates slice spin, and a shaft which has a small rigidity difference on the distal side if the side spin direction indicates hook spin. ### Claim 2 A shaft selection assist apparatus comprising: storage means for storing recommended shaft information indicating a correspondence between measurement parameters obtained upon a test strike with a golf club to which a predetermined reference shaft is attached, and recommended shafts among shafts of a plurality of types; acquisition means for acquiring measurement results of the measurement parameters associated with a test strike actually made by a user with the golf club; selection means for selecting a recommended shaft by referring to the recommended shaft information based on the measurement results acquired by said acquisition means; and output means for outputting information indicating the recommended shaft selected by said selection means, wherein the recommended shaft information stored in said storage means comprises information which specifies recommended shafts based on a relationship between a shaft rigidity distribution and the measurement parameters, the measurement parameters include a horizontal launch angle of a struck ball, a vertical launch angle of the struck ball, a side spin amount on the struck ball, a side spin direction on the struck ball, and a back spin amount on the struck ball, the recommended shaft information stored in said storage means includes first recommended shaft information indicating a correspondence between the horizontal launch angle and the side spin direction, and recommended shafts, and second recommended shaft information indicating a correspondence between the vertical launch angle and the back spin amount, and recommended shafts, said selection means selects a recommended shaft by referring to the first recommended shaft information based on the measurement results of the horizontal launch angle and the side spin direction if the horizontal launch angle and the side spin amount among the measurement results acquired by said acquisition means fall outside a specific range determined in advance, and selects a recommended shaft by referring to the second recommended shaft information based on the measurement results of the vertical launch angle and the back spin amount if the horizontal launch angle and the side spin amount among the measurement results acquired by said acquisition means fall within the specific range, the first recommended shaft information specifies as recommended shafts: a shaft which has a large rigidity difference in a predetermined range on a proximal side if the horizontal launch angle is in a rightward direction, a shaft which has a small rigidity difference on the proximal side if the horizontal launch angle is in a leftward direction, a shaft which has a large rigidity difference in a predetermined range on a distal side if the side spin direction indicates slice spin, and a shaft which has a small rigidity difference on the distal side if the side spin direction indicates hook spin, and the second recommended shaft information specifies as recommended shafts a shaft which has a small rigidity difference on the proximal side if the vertical launch angle is relatively large, a shaft which has a large rigidity difference on the proximal side if the vertical launch angle is relatively small, a shaft which has a large rigidity difference on the distal side if the back spin amount is relatively large, and a shaft which has a small rigidity difference on the distal side if the back spin amount is relatively small. ### Claim 3 A shaft selection assist apparatus comprising: a storage unit that stores recommended shaft information indicating a correspondence between measurement parameters obtained upon a test strike with a golf club to which a predetermined reference shaft is attached, and recommended shafts among shafts of a plurality of types; an acquiring unit that acquires measurement results of the measurement parameters associated with a test strike actually made by a user with the golf club; a selecting unit that selects a recommended shaft by referring to the recommended shaft information based on the measurement results acquired by said acquiring unit; and an output unit that outputs information indicating the recommended shaft selected by said selecting unit, wherein the recommended shaft information stored in said storage unit comprises information which specifies recommended shafts based on a relationship between a shaft rigidity distribution and the measurement parameters, the measurement parameters include a horizontal launch angle of a struck ball and a side spin direction of the struck ball, the recommended shaft information stored in said storage unit indicates a correspondence between the horizontal launch angle and the side spin direction, and recommended shafts, the recommended shaft information stored in said storage unit specifies as recommended shafts a shaft which has a large rigidity difference in a predetermined range on a proximal side if the horizontal launch angle is in a rightward direction, a shaft which has a small rigidity difference on the proximal side if the horizontal launch angle is in a leftward direction, a shaft which has a large rigidity difference in a predetermined range on a distal side if the side spin direction indicates slice spin, and a shaft which has a small rigidity difference on the distal side if the side spin direction indicates hook spin. ### Claim 4 A shaft selection assist apparatus comprising: a storage unit that stores recommended shaft information indicating a correspondence between measurement parameters obtained upon a test strike with a golf club to which a predetermined reference shaft is attached, and recommended shafts among shafts of a plurality of types; an acquiring unit that acquires measurement results of the measurement parameters associated with a test strike actually made by a user with the golf club; a selecting unit that selects a recommended shaft by referring to the recommended shaft information based on the measurement results acquired by said acquiring unit; and an output unit that outputs information indicating the recommended shaft selected by said selecting unit, wherein the recommended shaft information stored in said storage unit comprises information which specifies recommended shafts based on a relationship between a shaft rigidity distribution and the measurement parameters, the measurement parameters include a horizontal launch angle of a struck ball, a vertical launch angle of the struck ball, a side spin amount on the struck ball, a side spin direction on the struck ball, and a back spin amount on the struck ball, the recommended shaft information stored in said storage unit includes first recommended shaft information indicating a correspondence between the horizontal launch angle and the side spin direction, and recommended shafts, and second recommended shaft information indicating a correspondence between the vertical launch angle and the back spin amount, and recommended shafts, said selection unit selects a recommended shaft by referring to the first recommended shaft information based on the measurement results of the horizontal launch angle and the side spin direction if the horizontal launch angle and the side spin amount among the measurement results acquired by said acquiring unit fall outside a specific range determined in advance, and selects a recommended shaft by referring to the second recommended shaft information based on the measurement results of the vertical launch angle and the back spin amount if the horizontal launch angle and the side spin amount among the measurement results acquired by said acquiring unit fall within the specific range, the first recommended shaft information specifies as recommended shafts a shaft which has a large rigidity difference in a predetermined range on a proximal side if the horizontal launch angle is in a rightward direction, a shaft which has a small rigidity difference on the proximal side if the horizontal launch angle is in a leftward direction, a shaft which has a large rigidity difference in a predetermined range on a distal side if the side spin direction indicates slice spin, and a shaft which has a small rigidity difference on the distal side if the side spin direction indicates hook spin, and the second recommended shaft information specifies as recommended shafts a shaft which has a small rigidity difference on the proximal side if the vertical launch angle is relatively large, a shaft which has a large rigidity difference on the proximal side if the vertical launch angle is relatively small, a shaft which has a large rigidity difference on the distal side if the back spin amount is relatively large, and a shaft which has a small rigidity difference on the distal side if the back spin amount is relatively small.