What are the benefits of Game Golf...?

[Imurg]

After reading all the reviews on here and elsewhere, I'm considering diving into this system.
I keep stats through SS2...it gives me fairways hit, GIR, where I miss the fairway or greens, scrambling stats, putting stats, birdie conversion rate plus a heap of other stuff.
It doesn't give me an image superimposed over the course showing me where I've hit the ball, nor does it give distance hit.
That last part is one thing I'm not convinced by - yet.
By definition it can only provide you with total distance, it can't differentiate between carry and roll so the firmness of the bounce is going to greatly influence the final number. Do users find this useful? As roll is something that can't be controlled doesn't it skew results..?

Having the imagery to see where my ball has gone could be pretty scary as well as useful, but if that's the only real benefit over what I already do, 150 quid is a lot of cash to part with for a few pictures.....

Convince me one way or the other People.!

 

[DaveL]

I'm in exactly the same position, but I've decided if I don't get it for Xmas, I'm going to buy it myself after. If you haven't done already, depending what platform your using, you can download and register the app and view other people's rounds and stats, which will give you a feel for it. I have only used it on an iPad, I find when using it off the website the mapping side of it is to small and practically un-usable, but the app on the iPad is really good. Not sure what it looks like on a laptop, I will have to try it sometime

 

[Nosevi]

I've just got Game Golf and have yet to be totally convinced by the stats but time will tell. Only used it for one round so far and it got them all correct (ie Fairways hit and GIR were right so I guess the kit knows where the fairway is) but I regularly play cut down shots and the kit can't possibly know that. My favourite yardage to lay up to is 100 yards but then I use a choked down, half swing pitching wedge which always seems to be about right. In fact I use this shot far more than a full pitching wedge shot. I also chip with my pitching wedge a lot so conservatively I'll only hit 1 proper pitching wedge shot in maybe 10. Will the kit work out that the one in ten is my true yardage and not just thinned? Not sure it will.

BUT (and it's a big but) what it does is gives some meaning to the stats and gives a better idea of where you might want to focus your practice. Here's an example:

Say in one 9 hole round you just miss the green 4 times, but you're only feet off the green, near the flag and you chip and putt say 3 out of 4. Your stats say GIR =56%, scrambling = 75%.

Let's say you play again and miss 3 greens but you miss by a country mile and have to come in with quite long pitches, 2 of which you get up and down on and one is a good pitch but you just fail to convert. GIR = 67%, scrambling = 67%.

The 'raw' stats say your long game was better in round 2 and your short game better in round 1 but in reality your long game was far better in round 1 and the 3 good pitches in round 2, converting 2 of them, was far more impressive than the 3 out of 4 simple chips in round 1.

Traditional 'stats recorders' don't say how bad your misses were or how good your recovery was. They also don't 'quantify' a steadily improving drive for example (a missed fairway is a missed fairway whether it misses by a foot or 50 yards but if you used to miss by 50 yards and now you're missing by a foot then you're improving even if your stats aren't.

I like it but it's all about the pictures for me - not that they're nice to look at but that they 'quantify' and qualify the stats and show areas where you're improving or where you need to focus a bit more effort.

 

[Nosevi]

I have only used it on an iPad, I find when using it off the website the mapping side of it is to small and practically un-usable

Hi there. On the website version there's an 'enlarge view' button on the top right hand corner of the map (2 arrows pointing away from each other). If you click this the image fills the page and then if you click the actual shot on the map ie the green shaded bit that's meant to be under the flight of the ball, it zooms in to that shot. Hope that helps

 

[DaveL]

Ah, found it cheers, it's an arrow just to the left of the map on the iPad, it's better but still a bit clunky. All I have to do is find out how to make it smaller again

 

[Siren]

Ill be honest I think you can record everything on your scorecard and save 150.

But ill probably end up getting it.

 

[Deleted member 16999]

Ill be honest I think you can record everything on your scorecard and save 150.

But ill probably end up getting it.

Your right, you can for a single round, Game Golf will show you for every round and shot in an instant, keeping all your cards and working your stats out can be a thing of the past with this

 

[super hans]

basic raw stats are bullsh*t......there, I said it !!!!


you could drop 50 balls with differing lies around the 100 yd marker at a well guarded undulating green and come up with a set of results.

then drop another 50 balls with differing lies at an open flat green with no hazards at the 100 yard marker, and the results will probably be much different

your good shots in the first example might go to 15 feet and you manage to read the undulations and two putt more than often.
your average shots in the second example might land about 40 feet and you still read the flat putt for par.

statistics in both the above scenarios amount to nothing more than that - statistics are (numbers for w*nkers) (and im a statistician before you start your smart alec comments)

Stats are very useful if used in the proper context, but if used just to look at a multiple of 18 holes in a large calculation are doomed to failure

 

[Nosevi]

basic raw stats are bullsh*t......there, I said it !!!!
........
Stats are very useful if used in the proper context, but if used just to look at a multiple of 18 holes in a large calculation are doomed to failure

There are lies, damn lies and statistics

But for me Game Golf is not about the statistics, it's about *how* you played. Golfshots, which I normally use, gives me Fairways hit, GIR, putts etc. but it doesn't show how you played the course. I'm not really using Game Golf for the statistics, I'm using it to show the golf behind the statistics. It could be argued that the only statistic that's important is the score at the bottom but if you're trying to improve different aspects of your game I think Game Golf will help show how that's going.

The other thing I'll be using it for is to take set rounds to my pro and use it as a kind of 'on course assessment'. It shows course management pretty well which is something I've been talking to my pro about recently.

 

[MendieGK]

After reading all the reviews on here and elsewhere, I'm considering diving into this system.
I keep stats through SS2...it gives me fairways hit, GIR, where I miss the fairway or greens, scrambling stats, putting stats, birdie conversion rate plus a heap of other stuff.
It doesn't give me an image superimposed over the course showing me where I've hit the ball, nor does it give distance hit.
That last part is one thing I'm not convinced by - yet.
By definition it can only provide you with total distance, it can't differentiate between carry and roll so the firmness of the bounce is going to greatly influence the final number. Do users find this useful? As roll is something that can't be controlled doesn't it skew results..?

Having the imagery to see where my ball has gone could be pretty scary as well as useful, but if that's the only real benefit over what I already do, 150 quid is a lot of cash to part with for a few pictures.....

Convince me one way or the other People.!

I had my first round with it yesterday and its amazing. admittedly yesterdays stats in gail force winds wont be massively beneficial but over time i think it will hugely help me understand my game better, especially approach shots and the distances i am better from