GPS - Wow! - Im moving into a glass house and throwing stones!

[Oddsocks]

OK OK OK - im leaving myself open to an abuse sesssion and i deserve it. In a recent thread i sort of said i was undecided on the GPS thing and was leaning more towards the " not agreeing with it " type of thing.

last thread - http://forums.golf-monthly.co.uk//showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/252281/page/0/fpart/1/vc/1

So last night with the iphone loaded and charged with My Caddie Pro (free app) i hit the course with an open mind!

1st tee - swung like a mag axeman to duff my drive short left behind a tree. walk up, find my ball and ive got no option but to chip out. after my chip im sitting middle of the fairway but the 150 markers are a distant blur (our first is a par 5) so i have no idea what club to hit at this point im kicking myself but saying "ok... open minded.. lets try it."

Tap iphone.
Green this far,
greenside bunker this far
fair way bunker this far
front of green this far (comes in handy as you have to pitch everything short anyway)
Yada yada yada.

after not wanting to hit a 3w off the deck (sitting at 240) i opt for a safe 7 iron in effort to carry a bunker and leave me pretty sure shot in for about 80/100 yards. it had to be a 7 iron as our fairway bunker (according to the magic box is about 120 yards carry)

Swing, fizz, wind movement, bounce bounce and bang... im there with a result of a 70 yard layup short of the green

* at this point thinks this is dam impressive *

chip and three puts and i got me 7....

this was pretty much the way of my round, either bad tee shots putting me in strange places meaning i have no idea of what to hit, but no click on the magic box and hey presto. My best shot without doubt is a wayward shot off our 13th very heigh, very right and very short. i find the ball sitting up in the rough between our 13th and paralell 9th, my little box tells me 190 to the front of the green. rescue 3 and im 10 ft from the pin. (at this point i decided i doubt ill play without it ever again!)

so there ya go, you guys converted me and im now hooked on the gps system. the stats manager that the app offered was a bouns as i can see how badly i played for GIR, Fairways, Sand Saves, Up & Downs and more importantly my impressive 42 puts..

 

[USER1999]

As previously stated, once you try it, you won't go back, unless you are Smiffy.

 

[bigslice]

should have been 5 chip and 1 put!!!!!

 

[Aztecs27]

See! They're a great bit of kit.

The *only* thing you have to be weary of with the iPhone/Android apps is that they rely on people mapping out courses to build their course database. If this isn't done accurately, it's useless.

Of course, the way around this is to map it out yourself (if you know the course) so you know it's accurate, but if you're playing on a course you've never played before, you obviously can't do that.

Now, get yourself the Swingreader Golf App if you have a 3GS or better and if you're playing with a partner you can get some quality video analysis of your swing. The frame rate is *alot* better than the standard iPhone video recorder. The super slo-mo is awesome. It's £2.79 but worth every penny (and the ONLY reason I wished I owned an iPhone as the current Android equivalent isn't as good).

 

[Oddsocks]

bigslice, my first put was a light "confident"... lipped the 2nd... Bugger

Aztecs, ive also downloaded this, just trying to work out how i can record my swing at the range friday to try and get rid of this draw than satan has decided to deliver me special recorded next day assured - If i go to hell, man im gonna take me driver and show him how this hook hurts!

 

[mjsw13]

I see they can be an advantage on away courses, but pretty unnecessary for a home course or one you play regularly.

I think they're a bit of a faff and should be banned for competitions, but that's just my opinion.

 

[Aztecs27]

bigslice, my first put was a light "confident"... lipped the 2nd... Bugger

Aztecs, ive also downloaded this, just trying to work out how i can record my swing at the range friday to try and get rid of this draw than satan has decided to deliver me special recorded next day assured - If i go to hell, man im gonna take me driver and show him how this hook hurts!

I would guess it would be pretty difficult to do it without someone "working the camera", but if you can find someone to go to the range with you, you will get some pretty good video to analyse. I'm fairly sure you can draw lines and circles on the screen to check your body movement, head movement, alignment etc..

Great bit of kit for £2.79. My mate has it and insists on having the swing of all of his mates recorded!

You can also "side-by-side" two videos to compare your swing against pro's and your mates.

 

[USER1999]

I see they can be an advantage on away courses, but pretty unnecessary for a home course or one you play regularly.

I think they're a bit of a faff and should be banned for competitions, but that's just my opinion.

I don't get how it's a faff. I have mine clipped to my bag, so it's bag down, quick look at the machine, pull a club, whack it. No pushing buttons, waiting, pacing from markers, looking for markers, wondering if the bunker is in range, trying to decypher the stroke saver, etc.

Where's the faff in that.

Why ban them for comps too? Actually, don't answer that, as there has been a million threads on this. They are allowed, and that's that. Simples.

 

[Oddsocks]

mjsw13 - if im honest i was under the same method of thought, if you read the original thread your see i was swinging towards the anti gps thoughts.

I played a comp on sunday and one thing i noticed was no matter how bad their tee shots, from 150 in the two guys in our group using sky caddies would always be pin high. this is what got me thinking.

Last night i played my local, which i have played around 5/5 times a year for the past 15 years so know the course well, but its amazing how when your in positions you wouldnt normally find yourself in (see my 13th hole) having the right info can make the recovery so much easier.

Now dont get me wrong the normal shots i dont find it would be needed, but when you have a short par 4 and not sure if the green bunker comes into play, or a dogleg you need to know the carry on etc, these are gonna be so handy. I will know exact carry figures for doglegs and shot par4's as well as stupid recovery shots from stupid positions.. which is where i think their great. Im really keen on game improving so the stat manager will be a key tool too.

I also have no doubt this or these type things will help speed games up but it will be marginal. How many times do we see pro's on telle trying to work out where they are and distances because they have spanked a wild one... click, info, club, fire... SPOT ON!

 

[mjsw13]

I see they can be an advantage on away courses, but pretty unnecessary for a home course or one you play regularly.

I think they're a bit of a faff and should be banned for competitions, but that's just my opinion.

I don't get how it's a faff. I have mine clipped to my bag, so it's bag down, quick look at the machine, pull a club, whack it. No pushing buttons, waiting, pacing from markers, looking for markers, wondering if the bunker is in range, trying to decypher the stroke saver, etc.

Where's the faff in that.

Why ban them for comps too? Actually, don't answer that, as there has been a million threads on this. They are allowed, and that's that. Simples.

I guess the GPS owners that I've played with aren't as rapid as you. Stopping by the ball, pulling out the machine, pointing it at the green, putting it back etc., all the while they're 20 yards short of the 150 marker. Alternatively, walking up a fairway on another hole, and them pulling out the machine, point it to another green, 'just in case' they go there on the next hole etc.

Fair play to those who use and like them, but for now, I don't think it's necessary for someone of my standard to use them. Maybe if I was off scratch and trying to go pro, but not as an average amateur.

As for banning them in comps - it's just because I don't think they're necessary. They've made wedges and balls that rip the ball back even if you're gash at pitching. They've made drivers that draw the ball even if you swing like a fader, and now they've got a machine that tells you the exact distance to every nodule on the links.

Call me a technophobe if you want, but hitting a Vokey wedge or a draw bias driver is easier than learning to spin the ball or draw it naturally. With GPS, they're trying to make it easier still, for anyone who wants it. I just think it's wrong - those that practice practice practice, observe their surroundings and think about the shots more, should be rewarded.

Just my opinion folks - don't wanna fall out about it

 

[Oddsocks]

Call me a technophobe if you want, but hitting a Vokey wedge or a draw bias driver is easier than learning to spin the ball or draw it naturally. With GPS, they're trying to make it easier still, for anyone who wants it. I just think it's wrong - those that practice practice practice, observe their surroundings and think about the shots more, should be rewarded.

Just my opinion folks - don't wanna fall out about it

Up until yesturday i totally agreed with this statement.

 

[The_LHC]

I see they can be an advantage on away courses, but pretty unnecessary for a home course or one you play regularly.

That would only be true if you put your ball in the same place everytime you play, I don't know anyone who can manage that.

I think they're a bit of a faff and should be banned for competitions, but that's just my opinion.

So you'd ban caddies as well, that's all it is, an electronic caddy?

 

[USER1999]

But despite how easy golf has got recently with all this technology at our disposal, average UK handicaps remain the same, so we must be getting worse.

 

[The_LHC]

I think they're a bit of a faff and should be banned for competitions, but that's just my opinion.

I don't get how it's a faff. I have mine clipped to my bag, so it's bag down, quick look at the machine, pull a club, whack it. No pushing buttons, waiting, pacing from markers, looking for markers, wondering if the bunker is in range, trying to decypher the stroke saver, etc.

Where's the faff in that.

I guess the GPS owners that I've played with aren't as rapid as you. Stopping by the ball, pulling out the machine, pointing it at the green,

That's not GPS, that's a laser rangefinder, GPS already knows where you and the green is, so you just look at it.

 

[mjsw13]

But despite how easy golf has got recently with all this technology at our disposal, average UK handicaps remain the same, so we must be getting worse.

Exactly - or just too lazy / busy to put the time in to learn how to hit a little ball in a hole.

 

[mjsw13]

I see they can be an advantage on away courses, but pretty unnecessary for a home course or one you play regularly.

That would only be true if you put your ball in the same place everytime you play, I don't know anyone who can manage that.

I think they're a bit of a faff and should be banned for competitions, but that's just my opinion.

So you'd ban caddies as well, that's all it is, an electronic caddy?

No I wouldn't ban caddies - I rarely see them here in the amateur game. I think it's a bit unfair on skilled caddies to suggest they are merely GPS like robots. There is an art to being a good caddy, and it's important for pros and top amateurs to find one that they get on well with etc. there is no art to picking up a machine and discovering that you're 20 yards from a 150 yard marker post.

 

[The_LHC]

I think they're a bit of a faff and should be banned for competitions, but that's just my opinion.

So you'd ban caddies as well, that's all it is, an electronic caddy?

No I wouldn't ban caddies - I rarely see them here in the amateur game. I think it's a bit unfair on skilled caddies to suggest they are merely GPS like robots. There is an art to being a good caddy, and it's important for pros and top amateurs to find one that they get on well with etc. there is no art to picking up a machine and discovering that you're 20 yards from a 150 yard marker post.

That's entirely besides the point, there's nothing stopping an amateur from bringing a caddie if they so wished, the information provided to the player is the same in either case, in fact a caddie can give the player information a GPS can't, such as exactly where on the green the pin is located.

There's no art in listening to someone else tell you how far away you are but nobody seems to have an issue with that.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Exactly - or just too lazy / busy to put the time in to learn how to hit a little ball in a hole.

I think you are talking pish. I probably put as much time in playing and practicing on here as anyone. Unfortunately I've never been graced with bundles of natural ability (we'll pass on the obivous comments Smiffy, Leftie et al) and even when I was a lower handicap I had to work hard on my game. Its the same now and I am still working hard to get to single figures.

I know how to get the ball into the hole and can't see how a ten second glance at a piece of kit correlates into an argument about a players ability.

 

[Wildrover]

I too used to be in the anti GPS camp until we had one on our buggy on holiday and found it brilliant. I've since invested in the Golf Buddy Tour and would not be without it now. I don't see how it slows play up, quite the opposite actually, clipped to the bag, one glance and you're away. I don't see how this detracts from the skill required, you still have to play the shot.

 

[chrisd]

What I really have trouble with is the idea that you are somehow taking advantage with a GPS - it is a measuring device, it doesn't hit the ball for you!! You could pace the yardage and get the accurate distance - same result different way. So, I get the distance in a split second instead of pacing to and from the markers, as I used to do, I select the club and hit either a good bad or indifferent shot - that's no change with or without GPS, they are legal, do the job and you dont have to buy one, any more than you have to buy the most expensive clubs, so, you play your way and stop moaning that we choose a different way!

Chris