One of the more popular shows on The Golf Channel last season was Fore Inventors Only, a "contest" show where serious amateur inventors displayed their ideas to help golfers play better golf.

A winner was selected and, presumably, was hooked up with investment money to begin production.

It's a clever programming idea because it seizes on the fact that golfers eat up anything and everything that promises to improve their games. And this series has a potentially long shelf life because, every year, more and more gadgets, devices and "training aids" come to market.

As we all know, some of these things offer benefit and some leave you scratching your head.

One of the first steps in taking a concept and turning it into a physical object is to patent the idea so no one steals it and makes a million why you're still dicking around with production line set-up.

Enter the patent. And that's my jumping-off point today as I turn things over to my blogger pal, David Dawsey, a patent lawyer in Ohio who writes an always intriguing blog called Golf Patents.com.




David has discovered yet another swing aid that is seeking patent protection. He has secured the drawings submitted with the application and they appear in this post.

Whether or not this swing aid is beneficial, only time and customer feedback will tell. Frankly, the drawings don't inspire confidence.

Perhaps they just need some explanation...