GPS; Its just a gimmick!

[joma1108]

I bought a GPS primarily as i play a lot of courses i dont know when away on business and stuck on an overnight.
The benefits are that this speeds up my play as it sits at the side of my bag and as im taking my bag off my back i can read the yardages and know what club im using.

At my home course it has helped me when im off line or when there is a wind lets me make an informed decision.

Golf is a subjective point and im wondering if the original poster uses specific clubs, balls, gloves etc that enhances his enjoyment of the game or heaven forbid helps him.

Also when on the course im sure that he would use what available reference points are there for him, whether that be a yardage book or distance markers on the fairway, but then again maybe when i get that good i wont need any assistance.

Im slightly dissapointed i have succumbed to answering in this thread but hey ho i have now.

 

[Foxholer]

In the original game you might only have 2 or 3 clubs so you are not trying to match a particular club to a particular distance.

A popular misconception! Up until 1938/39, there was no limit on the number of clubs that could be carried. There are old pictures/photos of caddies carrying bags that had up to 30 clubs in them.

 

[Foxholer]

Thing is Homer some members didnt want to debate at all

I'd put you down as one of those!

I was just slagged off and by one "moderator" in particular,ok say what you think but the initial abuse was unnecessary.

In your opinion. I happen to think that the comments were quite appropriate - but that's my opinion. Unless the moderator was acting in Moderator mode, I attach no difference to the 'value' of a moderator's posts. The one about feeding trolls made me smile!

Let me put it this another way then, if you GPS is such an asset to your game surely your handicaps cant be correct as you already have the advantage over somebody who does not have or cant afford GPS but would find it beneficial.Basically as far as i`m concerned if you have the advantage on somebody else shots should be "added" to your handicaps because you are making the game easier for yourself.

Handicap system will adjust automatically to improvements and is impartial about ho those improvements come about. Your last sentence above implies a contradiction to your view that GPS is a gimmick. And "added" should be "taken off"!

If you guys with GPS are gaining so much I would love to see your scorecards over a period of time without using GPS,and I bet you you scores will increase,and if they dont well whats the point in having it?.

Now that really does contradict your assertion that they are merely gimmicks!

 

[chris661]

I was just slagged off and by one "moderator" in particular,

Who by, me?

 

[Foxholer]

Probably.

Seemed/seems pretty appropriate imo!

 

[chrisd]

No Wind up,If these "devices" you feel really improve your game and you need them you are gaining an advantage over somebody who would benefit from one but does not have one,Are you saying your scoring would be higher without GPS? wheres the wrong in head to head just using your clubs and your own skill with a same handicapper to you(non GPS) in the monthly medal?.In my time in retail we used to love you guys queuing up for you devices cos we knew you would be convinced that your game would improve no end if you bought the next best device/club,but hell if it didnt work so what you`ll be back.Apart from some guys like a club pro I know who wouldnt sell you anything you didnt need the modern golf industry is based on the punter having this "get better quick"attitude,good grief how many drivers do these manufactures produce in a short space in time with promises to hit it like a pro!.I caddied for a guy pre groove rule change on the seniors with a twenty year old set of rusty 1-sw and driver who was knocking it around in sub par,now I know your going to say if you have not got this guys ability these aids help but thats what the handicap systems for so you can play guys like this fairly.Theres no sustitute in this game for a fitted set of clubs your comfortable with,initial lessons and practise.If you got a feel for distance and can read yardage(which is part of the game) you dont not need GPS,be interesting to see the results if some of you guys "dared" not using it for a while.

I have read quite a lot of twaddle on this site at times but you and Papyt have cornered the market in one week in digging a hole for youselves and then compounding the problem by digging further to get out! No one has taken your side and yet you still persist in the crazy notion that somehow, whilst you argue that no one plays better because the've got a GPS you totally contradict that by saying that because of the benefit that they give, users of GPS devices should have their handicaps reduced because of their advantage????


............... and I still maintain that you are on a wind up as you only have to read your postings to see how ridiculous they are!

 

[shivas irons]

Jeeeez theres some stupid people on here ,I`m not contradicting myself at all and will stand firm that GPS is a waste on time,what i`m saying is if you think its so beneficial then you must be gaining an advantage.Do try to keep up and stop just coming out with "this is a wind up" If you dont understand whats going on give up!! and as for "nobody on my side" well good i`m not one of the GM forum sheep!!

 

[rosecott]

as for "nobody on my side" well good i`m not one of the GM forum sheep!!

Baaah, humbug.

 

[Bratty]

ShivasIrons, you say no-one's interested in having a debate. My reason for not debating is that you keep posting conflicting points of view, and then bring comments like "not at the local muni" (which I found hugely offensive) and the whole piece around handicaps being adjusted for DMDs. Then to cap it all, you suggest that I should be able to judge distance based on eyesight alone, and that you can't believe my game can have improved as a result of having a DMD.

So, to add my opinion, and it is just an opinion, not fact, here you are:

18 months ago I bought a GPS device for £150, with no subscription fee. 1 year ago also joined an indoor golf centre that allowed me to check my swing with a simulator/video camera, giving me instant feedback. I also had a 30 minute lesson every other month. I reckon I used the centre most days for 4 months, but without changing my swing. Then used it a bit less, maybe one or two days per week, plus the lessons - which didn't really change the swing, but tried to help what I had.

Last April, I started the season off 16. It went up to 16.4, then in the space of 5 months tumbled to 12.8. Every round I played, I used the DMD. Every round I played, I did not have a consistent swing. Every round I played I knew the yardage. Every round I played, if the swing was good, the outcome was almost never too short or too long.

My summation was that while the indoor range helped tremendously, the GPS device was a large influence in the reduction of my handicap. Partly due to confidence in knowing the yardage (so psychological), and partly due to knowing how far I can hit irons having pulled of the shots in previous rounds using the GPS. It meant I wasn't trying to hit little chip or pitch shots because I'd over/under clubbed, and as I don't ever practice short shots, it means they're often sh*t shots. So it was saving me from those bad shots. Now yes, if I practiced, I coud get better at them, and then it wouldn't matter, but I'd rather be on the green and putting for two, than chipping for three and hoping it gets close. So, while I don't practice the short game, I like to know the yardage.

I played the Old Course at St Andrews recently, and shot my best ever score of 82, without a GPS. I did however, have a strokesaver, lots of sprinkler heads with measurements, and a pin sheet with green depths. Basically, a paper and physical representation of what I get on my GPS. The difference was I had to do far more counting and pacing, and it took a bit longer than just glancing at a screen.

Finally, as this has turned into a bit of a rant, I am much better at judging distances now that I was before. The reason for this is that I have closely observed the distance I'm given by the GPS, and then look up and closely observe the distance "manually".

Feel free to disagree with me, as you have with everyone else, but you will not be able to convince me that my GPS hasn't helped bring my score down.

 

[MashieNiblick]

A popular misconception! Up until 1938/39, there was no limit on the number of clubs that could be carried. There are old pictures/photos of caddies carrying bags that had up to 30 clubs in them.

I'm thinking way way back to the origins of the game and up to about the 18th/mid 19th century. E.g caddy in painting below has 3 clubs, player has 1. Of these one will be a putter and the other a driving club so 2 clubs to choose from from the fairway. I have read that 6 clubs was about normal in the early days as a player might also have a couple of iron clubs for playing out of ruts and bunkers.

I accept that as the game developed through that period players might have an array of "play clubs" and these would be different lofts and lengths but in essence, as I understand it, it wasn't a game based on picking a particular club for a particular distance, although you might pick a more lofted club if you had a bad lie or had to go over a hazard. Sometimes extra clubs were carried in case a club broke which I believe was not uncommon.

Later on of course and certainly by the early 1900s sets of clubs designed to hit the ball different distances became the norm, and it became more a matter of choosing a particular club for a particular distance, and yes players sometimes had 20 odd clubs until the R&A responded and introduced the 14 club limit. Distance was still largely judged by eye though.

 

[HawkeyeMS]

I was going to reply earlier, then I saw your :rofl: at people using GPS on par 3s and I realised you had no idea what you were talking about.

 

[Bratty]

Jeeeez theres some stupid people on here ,I`m not contradicting myself at all and will stand firm that GPS is a waste on time,what i`m saying is if you think its so beneficial then you must be gaining an advantage.Do try to keep up and stop just coming out with "this is a wind up" If you dont understand whats going on give up!! and as for "nobody on my side" well good i`m not one of the GM forum sheep!!

A previous post had you "bleating" that people were being rude to "ewe", and now you throw insults out? Pot- kettle? I appreciate that you didn't want to "fleece" your customers when you worked in retail, but now your comments are simply "woolly"... see what I did there?

 

[bluewolf]

For the love of god, will people stop answering him. He isn't interested in a debate and is either a wind up merchant or incredibly ignorant. He can't carry on his pathetic ramblings if no one is here to read them.

 

[Bratty]

Later on of course and certainly by the early 1900s sets of clubs designed to hit the ball different distances became the norm, and it became more a matter of choosing a particular club for a particular distance, and yes players sometimes had 20 odd clubs until the R&A responded and introduced the 14 club limit. Distance was still largely judged by eye though.

Very interesting post, Mashie. Thanks for adding some clarification.

Is it really that it was done by eye? By caddies? I ask only because to my mind the caddy would have paced out the course or had so much experience on it, that they KNEW the yardage, not that they were somehow able to solely look at a distance and say, "that's x"? Also, if they'd paced yards out for years, they would get better at judging distances, which I feel I have by using my GPS (rather than pacing stuff out).

 

[Bratty]

For the love of god, will people stop answering him. He isn't interested in a debate and is either a wind up merchant or incredibly ignorant. He can't carry on his pathetic ramblings if no one is here to read them.

Yeah, but seeing him contradict himself over and over and then resort to insults when no-one agrees with him is rather amusing. I'm not getting wound up at all, Bluewolf... quite calm about the whole thing to be honest.

 

[bluewolf]

Yeah, but seeing him contradict himself over and over and then resort to insults when no-one agrees with him is rather amusing. I'm not getting wound up at all, Bluewolf... quite calm about the whole thing to be honest.

He's winding me up though, and as everyone knows, I'm calmer than a duck pond on a still day. It must be this thread coupled with the mobile phone thread. Utterly utterly pointless.

 

[Bratty]

He's winding me up though, and as everyone knows, I'm calmer than a duck pond on a still day. It must be this thread coupled with the mobile phone thread. Utterly utterly pointless.

Like a broken pencil, mate...

 

[bluewolf]

Like a broken pencil, mate...

Blackadder fan perchance?

 

[Bratty]

Blackadder fan perchance?

Indeed! I'd be tempted to suggest the OP has a tendency to "twist and turn like a twisty-turny thing" too!

 

[AllyLodge]

I definitely would not want to be the person behind the keyboard of shiva right now