IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,444,317
Granted Patent B2
US 12,444,317 · App. 18/390,864 · Granted Oct 14, 2025

Coaching aid for golf

Inventors: Matthew P. Doherty (North Palm Beach, FL); James F. Doherty, III (Raleigh, NC); William G. Moore (Raleigh, NC); Richard L. Root (Ridgeland, MS)
Assignee: SkyHawke Technologies, LLC
G09B19/0038A63B24/0021A63B69/36A63B71/0622A63B2024/0056A63B69/3605A63B2071/0691A63B2102/32A63B2220/12A63B2220/20A63B2220/70A63B2225/20A63B2225/50G01S19/19G16H20/30
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,444,317
App. No.
18/390,864
Granted
Oct 14, 2025
Kind
B2
Abstract

Systems and methods for golf analysis including a tag coupled to a golf club providing statistical analytics for coaching including text, tabular, graphic, and image-based outputs that include trends information for the golfer, all based upon actual golf play on course situations, wherein the golfer inputs shot data during play, without interrupting the flow of the game, and uploads the shot data for analytics and review online, and wherein all information related to a given user are reviewable by an authorized coach user through a web-based coach access account. The system is further operable to provide the coach user rights for providing corrective or instructive feedback to the user, including visual recommendations such as modified target areas.

Claims (22)

1. A golf analysis system comprising:

an application on a computing device;

at least one server configured to store information and provide the information to the application; and

a tag coupled to a golf club;

wherein the tag is self-learning;

wherein the tag coupled to the golf club includes at least one sensor;

wherein the at least one sensor includes an accelerometer, a piezoelectric sensor, a gyro sensor, and/or a tilt sensor;

wherein the at least one sensor is configured to capture swing data during a golf swing;

wherein the at least one sensor is configured to transmit the captured swing data to the tag coupled to the golf club;

wherein the application determines a starting position of a golf ball, wherein the starting position includes lie data; and

wherein the tag is configured to receive a resting position of the golf ball and calculate whether the resting position of the golf ball is within a recommended target area.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the tag coupled to the golf club is configured to transmit analyzed swing data or the captured swing data to the application.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the application is configured to determine whether the golf ball was struck based on the analyzed swing data or the captured swing data.

4. The system of claim 2 , wherein the application is further configured to generate an alert based on the analyzed swing data or the captured swing data.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the tag coupled to the golf club is configured to determine that the tag coupled to the golf club has been removed from a golf bag, wherein removal from the golf bag causes the tag coupled to the golf club to change to an active state and for the tag coupled to the golf club to start actively processing outputs from the at least one sensor of the tag coupled to the golf club.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the application is configured to recommend the recommended target area for a next golf shot based on historical performance data for a type of the golf club, wherein the type of the golf club is based on information from the tag coupled to the golf club.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the application is configured to determine a three-dimensional distance from the starting position to the resting position, wherein information from the tag coupled to the golf club provides the starting position and the resting position, and wherein the three-dimensional distance includes a left distance or a right distance, a forward distance or a backward distance, and an elevation.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the application is configured to receive environment data, and wherein the application is configured to automatically calculate a predicted resting position for the golf ball based on the environment data, the captured swing data, and a club type of the golf club determined by information provided by the tag coupled to the golf club.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the lie data includes slope data and wherein the system utilizes the lie data to determine the recommended target area.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the recommended target area is modified via a mobile device.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the application displays a percent error index (PEI) calculation of the distance of the resting position of the ball from the recommended target area during a play period.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the play period includes a span of time taken to play one or more holes on a specific golf course, a practice session duration, or a predetermined period of time.

Assignments (3)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 4, 2024
From: DOHERTY, MATTHEW P.; DOHERTY, JAMES F.; MOORE, WILLIAM G.
To: PROLOOPER
Reel/Frame 066014/0550 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 4, 2024
From: ROOT, RICHARD L.
To: SKYHAWKE TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
Reel/Frame 066016/0334 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 4, 2024
From: PROLOOPER
To: SKYHAWKE TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
Reel/Frame 066190/0144 →
Continuity (15)
Continuation 17866054 · Jul 15, 2022
Continuation 17459520 · Aug 27, 2021
Continuation In Part 17354703 · Jun 22, 2021
Continuation 16790273 · Feb 13, 2020
Continuation 16381712 · Apr 11, 2019
Continuation 15870359 · Jan 12, 2018
Continuation 15079086 · Mar 24, 2016
Continuation 14265218 · Apr 29, 2014
Continuation In Part 12501106 · Jul 10, 2009
Continuation In Part 12012943 · Feb 6, 2008
Continuation In Part 12012942 · Feb 6, 2008
Provisional Application 61134670 · Jul 12, 2008
Provisional Application 60899913 · Feb 7, 2007
Provisional Application 60899914 · Feb 7, 2007
Related Publication 20240119859A1 · Apr 11, 2024
References Cited (93)
US 1383876A · Sullivan · 1921 [cited by applicant]
US 3558140A · Romeo · 1971 [cited by applicant]
US 5364093A · Huston et al. · 1994 [cited by applicant]
US 5507485A · Fisher · 1996 [cited by applicant]
US 5685786A · Dudley · 1997 [cited by applicant]
US 5810680A · Lobb et al. · 1998 [cited by applicant]
US 5816953A · Cleveland · 1998 [cited by applicant]
US 5882269A · Lewis · 1999 [cited by applicant]
US 6012987A · Nation · 2000 [cited by applicant]
US 6236360B1 · Rudow et al. · 2001 [cited by applicant]
US 6322455B1 · Howey · 2001 [cited by applicant]
US 6456938B1 · Barnard · 2002 [cited by applicant]
US 7010550B2 · Tarlie · 2006 [cited by applicant]
US 7118498B2 · Meadows et al. · 2006 [cited by applicant]
US 8556752B2 · Meadows et al. · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 8708841B2 · Doherty et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 9295895B2 · Doherty et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 9943744B2 · Meadows et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 10159885B2 · Thornton et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 10427017B2 · Syed et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 10706273B2 · Bose et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 11854421B2 · Doherty · 2023 [cited by examiner]
US 20020004723A1 · Meifu et al. · 2002 [cited by applicant]
US 20020010544A1 · Rudow et al. · 2002 [cited by applicant]
US 20020072815A1 · McDonough et al. · 2002 [cited by applicant]
US 20020082775A1 · Meadows et al. · 2002 [cited by applicant]
US 20020097182A1 · Goren et al. · 2002 [cited by applicant]
US 20020107077A1 · Buhler · 2002 [cited by applicant]
US 20020151994A1 · Sisco · 2002 [cited by applicant]
US 20030103001A1 · Huston et al. · 2003 [cited by applicant]
US 20030191547A1 · Morse · 2003 [cited by applicant]
US 20040147329A1 · Meadows et al. · 2004 [cited by applicant]
US 20040172284A1 · Sullivan et al. · 2004 [cited by applicant]
US 20040180709A1 · Takahashi et al. · 2004 [cited by applicant]
US 20050101415A1 · Sweeney · 2005 [cited by applicant]
US 20050272516A1 · Gobush · 2005 [cited by examiner]
US 20060114363A1 · Kang et al. · 2006 [cited by applicant]
US 20060212221A1 · Liu · 2006 [cited by applicant]
US 20070026958A1 · Barasch et al. · 2007 [cited by applicant]
US 20080108456A1 · Bonito · 2008 [cited by applicant]
US 20080201107A1 · Doherty et al. · 2008 [cited by applicant]
US 20080259096A1 · Huston · 2008 [cited by applicant]
US 20090233735A1 · Savarese et al. · 2009 [cited by applicant]
US 20100009780A1 · Doherty et al. · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 20100093457A1 · Ahern et al. · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 20100099509A1 · Ahem et al. · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 20100179005A1 · Meadows · 2010 [cited by examiner]
US 20110143848A1 · Balardeta · 2011 [cited by examiner]
US 20120007885A1 · Huston · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20120035003A1 · Moran · 2012 [cited by examiner]
US 20120295739A1 · Young · 2012 [cited by applicant]
US 20130095939A1 · Meadows et al. · 2013 [cited by applicant]
US 20140244012A1 · Doherty et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20150126308A1 · Penn et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20150328523A1 · Heling et al. · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20150343292A1 · Leech · 2015 [cited by applicant]
US 20160199694A1 · Doherty et al. · 2016 [cited by applicant]
US 20170021260A1 · Willett · 2017 [cited by examiner]
US 20170274255A1 · Meadows et al. · 2017 [cited by applicant]
US 20180133577A1 · Doherty et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20190051136A1 · Savarese et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20190232142A1 · Doherty et al. · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20190255418A1 · Seo · 2019 [cited by applicant]
US 20200179781A1 · Doherty et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 20210166203A1 · Code et al. · 2021 [cited by applicant]
US 20210319716A1 · Doherty et al. · 2021 [cited by applicant]
US 20210407317A1 · Doherty et al. · 2021 [cited by applicant]
US 20220351639A1 · Doherty et al. · 2022 [cited by applicant]
CN 110536722A · 2019 [cited by applicant]
EP 0710494A1 · 1996 [cited by applicant]
EP 2778708A1 · 2014 [cited by examiner]
GB 2411127A · 2005 [cited by examiner]
JP 2003190352A · 2003 [cited by applicant]
JP 2010078413A · 2010 [cited by applicant]
JP 7034514B2 · 2022 [cited by applicant]
JP 2022188010A · 2022 [cited by applicant]
KR 100767292B1 · 2007 [cited by applicant]
KR 101796610B1 · 2017 [cited by examiner]
KR 20210100723A · 2021 [cited by applicant]
WO 9523012A1 · 1995 [cited by applicant]
WO 0197926A1 · 2001 [cited by applicant]
WO WO2004042517A2 · 2004 [cited by examiner]
WO 2004042517A3 · 2005 [cited by applicant]
WO 2008097603A1 · 2008 [cited by applicant]
WO 2018194362A1 · 2018 [cited by applicant]
WO 2022076645A1 · 2022 [cited by applicant]
Bajek, Dan, “KNR 245,” Apr. 29, 2013, downloaded from URL https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2*cad=rja&uact=8*ved-0CCYQFjABahUKEwi7xujKtj_HAhWMbT4KHWsIB2Y&url=http%3A%2F%2fwww.castonline.ilstu… [cited by applicant]
Global Positioning System, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System. [cited by applicant]
Pelz, Dave, “Master Awkward-Distance Pitch Shots,” Dec. 1, 2006, retrieved from URL http://www.golf.com/instruction/master-awkward-distance-pitch-shots on Jun. 18, 2014. [cited by applicant]
Tally, S., New GPS standards won't affect precision farming, Purdue News, http://www.purdue.edu/uns/html4ever/0007.Morgan.GPS.html. [cited by applicant]
U.S. Appl. No. 60/899,914, filed Feb. 7, 2007 Specification & Drawings. [cited by applicant]
U.S. Appl. No. 60/899,913, filed Feb. 7, 2007, Specification. [cited by applicant]
U.S. Appl. No. 61/134,670, filed Jul. 12, 2008, Specification, Claims, Drawings. [cited by applicant]