It's fair to say that the launch of devices offering GPS for golf (global positioning systems), caused a bit of controversy when they hit the market, with the old school throwing some bad press into the mix, despite a pretty unanimously good response from the media. Without doubt though, the industry was stirred up by their presence, some say for the better.
Initially, some players felt that the devices offered users an unfair advantage and called for them to be banned, this ethos was upheld for a number of matches and tournaments and even some clubs banned their use outright. Arguably though, these advances in technology drive greater enjoyment for the majority of players, not just for golf but in any sport.
Surely this wave of advancement should be a move that is embraced wholeheartedly by any sporting community to ensure its continuation of industry and propagation through society, enticing younger generations to pick up the clubs or turn the wheels, whatever the discipline demands.
The functionality within these latest must have gadgets varies from unit to unit and is controlled by some extent to budget. The most basic and cheapest devices tend to give you information on the yardages involved from your position to the back of the green to assist you in planning and taking your shot.
More advanced devices may be able to display yardages from front, to middle, to back of the green, as well as show you locations and yardages to hazards on the course. Many can also track your progress through a course or many courses, storing information about your fairway hits, drives, puts and sand saves.
The mid to top end devices, price wise, tend to be more rugged, resisting the elements better, and maybe even being impact proof in case you drop the unit. Functions increase in complexity, with some devices logging all your round statistics and allowing review and analysis post match on a computer, also helping in game with lay up distances shown and even graphical views of the course from an overhead angle to help plan your game throughout.
Feature rich would be one way to describe the highest price items, with all the functionality mentioned previously helping you read the greens and supplementing that information with overhead photographs to help distance calculations. They all work out of the box, but tend to have the capacity to download extra courses and content and customize the user experience.
So is it worth it? Well many players feel that it is, and have noticed an increase in their speed of play, as they no longer need to pace out distances to know yardages to key course points, from sprinkler heads or en route marker posts. Similarly, many players have enjoyed increases in accuracy of shots, regardless of club choice, as their conceptualization of the relationship between shot power and distance achieved has improved from knowing the distances rather than guessing.
Never before has the phrase, 'try one, you might like it' seemed so appropriate. If they are not for you then fair enough, but you might just find a reduction in frustration and an improvement in enjoyment of the game. Undoubtedly, with the massive list of functions, you are likely to find something that suits and offers you a benefit that renews your passion for the game.
Initially, some players felt that the devices offered users an unfair advantage and called for them to be banned, this ethos was upheld for a number of matches and tournaments and even some clubs banned their use outright. Arguably though, these advances in technology drive greater enjoyment for the majority of players, not just for golf but in any sport.
Surely this wave of advancement should be a move that is embraced wholeheartedly by any sporting community to ensure its continuation of industry and propagation through society, enticing younger generations to pick up the clubs or turn the wheels, whatever the discipline demands.
The functionality within these latest must have gadgets varies from unit to unit and is controlled by some extent to budget. The most basic and cheapest devices tend to give you information on the yardages involved from your position to the back of the green to assist you in planning and taking your shot.
More advanced devices may be able to display yardages from front, to middle, to back of the green, as well as show you locations and yardages to hazards on the course. Many can also track your progress through a course or many courses, storing information about your fairway hits, drives, puts and sand saves.
The mid to top end devices, price wise, tend to be more rugged, resisting the elements better, and maybe even being impact proof in case you drop the unit. Functions increase in complexity, with some devices logging all your round statistics and allowing review and analysis post match on a computer, also helping in game with lay up distances shown and even graphical views of the course from an overhead angle to help plan your game throughout.
Feature rich would be one way to describe the highest price items, with all the functionality mentioned previously helping you read the greens and supplementing that information with overhead photographs to help distance calculations. They all work out of the box, but tend to have the capacity to download extra courses and content and customize the user experience.
So is it worth it? Well many players feel that it is, and have noticed an increase in their speed of play, as they no longer need to pace out distances to know yardages to key course points, from sprinkler heads or en route marker posts. Similarly, many players have enjoyed increases in accuracy of shots, regardless of club choice, as their conceptualization of the relationship between shot power and distance achieved has improved from knowing the distances rather than guessing.
Never before has the phrase, 'try one, you might like it' seemed so appropriate. If they are not for you then fair enough, but you might just find a reduction in frustration and an improvement in enjoyment of the game. Undoubtedly, with the massive list of functions, you are likely to find something that suits and offers you a benefit that renews your passion for the game.
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