Shot Tracking Options (Arccos / Garmin / Shotscope / Apple Watch)

[LebanonOz]

On 6/23/2023 at 1:34 PM, golferguy2727 said:

For what it’s worth - I learned a while ago that I needed to keep a paper scorecard as a secondary “device” for data collection. While Arccos first, then Shotscope wxind, have improved, making the necessary on course adjustments was alway a bad thing for me. So I have kept paper cards with data as a way to aid data fixes on the “systems” post round.

Same here.  When I am playing I don't want to futz around with the watch and running through menus trying to add penalty strokes, etc.  I make it right in the PC app after the round.

[Paul Hedrick]

In 2021 I was a MSG tester for Arccos.  I did experience the odd missed shot here and there, but for the most part it performed well for me.  What really turned me off was the annual subscription, so when the year was up I switched to Shot Scope.  I was attracted to it because it was a 'one and done', meaning no annual subscription.  At first there was naturally a learning curve on my part, and once Shot Scope had to send me a replacement V3, but now things have settled down and it performs well enough.  In the past I have used various phone apps, but I found having to constantly  fiddle with my phone annoying and distracting to my game.  I have come to believe that no technology will work perfectly; there will always be disappointments in performance.  'Free' apps will always have commercials to distract you and paid for technology will always have shortcomings.  For me it is 'The Game', not the technology I want to focus my attention on.  Lord knows I am a crappy enough golfer to begin with, so I do not want a lot of distraction on the course.  All of this said, I am again thinking of Arccos.  A friend I met here on MSG is a confirmed Arccos user, and he tells me that the new sensors and the new App have really improved Arccos performance, and I have always felt the data Arccos collected was by far the best in the field.  I will wait a little longer to make that decision.  Living where I do, central Virginia USA, I can golf pretty much year round, so there is no need to hurry the decision

Edited July 30, 2023 by Paul Hedrick

[KC Golf]

On 7/3/2023 at 11:29 PM, Shankdog said:

I’m an Arccos user with an Apple Watch.  My round tonight had no missed shots.  I do have the latest P3 putter sensor which I just got a couple months ago.  The only interaction I had tonight with Arccos was marking putts from the fringe as chips and the pin locations.  Both with my watch as I was walking off the green.  I do concede though that it’s not a perfect system and I do have the occasional missed shot that I have to add via the phone app. The thing that bugs me most about the Arccos system is the web page interface.  I think with all the data they collect, it could be much better.

I’m not a big fan of the subscription price, but it did help to buy myself a gift certificate during a 20% off sale around Christmas!

I have found similar results with my Apple Watch and Arccos.  It’s great, and eliminates the need for the Link.

I agree not sure why the url interface is so poor.  The Arccos App also doesn’t work on an IPad which would be great for reviewing your round and stats.  

[KC Golf]

I am told TXG will have a new episode this week on detailed stats you can get on Arccos.

[JoshuaAlden]

I use the arccos and Apple Ultra Watch tandem. 
 

BLUF: Great tool if you do the backend work (change pins, shot review, etc)

 

I have used the majority of the products you described and I still use Arccos. With that said I am pretty diligent on making the adjustments on the fly to get good numbers and data tracking (proximity to hole and review of data on the back end).

I am a believer all can work, just need some extra time to ensure data is good for analysis. 

[Mr Orange]

I recently got the garmin s70 watch and really really like it a lot. Still getting used to it but it seems to do really well with tracking shots. It’s super easy to go in to the app after the round edit whatever is needed. It will miss the random shot but it’s fairly easy to add the shot and/or assign a club if you missed assigning the club on the course. I haven’t used the caddy feature yet. Battery life on the Garmin blows Apple Watch out of the water as I’ve gone a week without charging and it’s still above 50% battery. I do still use the Grint as all my buddies use it and it helps give me that desire to play when seeing my buddies scores popping up.

[hbetts]

I mentioned a while back in this thread that I was going to try to make an iOS app that uses generic NFC tags to track club distances as a low cost ($.99 one time purchase, add free) alternative to Arccos. I've got a mostly working prototype and am starting some alpha testing on my own device. I've learned through this process that Apple doesn't allow scanning NFC tags without having the phone unlocked, so using my app would require the user to either open their phone and scan a club each time they swing, or leave the phone unlocked in their pocket so they can scan the tags. The app itself would not need to be open, only the phone has to be unlocked. Also, the GPS only activates when the club is scanned to conserve battery life. What do you Spies think of this? Is this level of interaction a deal breaker for you on the course, or would you be interested in something like this even if it takes one or two seconds per shot to use?

Edited August 15, 2023 by hbetts

[tony@CIC]

8 minutes ago, hbetts said:

I mentioned a while back in this thread that I was going to try to make an iOS app that uses generic NFC tags to track club distances as a low cost ($.99 one time purchase, add free) alternative to Arccos. I've got a mostly working prototype and am starting some alpha testing on my own device. I've learned through this process that Apple doesn't allow scanning NFC tags without having the phone unlocked, so using my app would require the user to either open their phone and scan a club each time they swing, or leave the phone unlocked in their pocket so they can scan the tags. The app itself would not need to be open, only the phone has to be unlocked. Also, the GPS only activates when the club is scanned to conserve battery life. What do you Spies think of this? Is this level of interaction a deal breaker for you on the course, or would you be interested in something like this even if it takes one or two seconds per shot to use?

Keep in mind that Shotscope just came out with their Connex tags and has a free app - no subscription $$ required 

https://shotscope.com/us/products/shot-tracking/connex/

[hbetts]

1 minute ago, tony@CIC said:

Keep in mind that Shotscope just came out with their Connex tags and has a free app - no subscription $$ required 

https://shotscope.com/us/products/shot-tracking/connex/

I will never financially recover from this...

That's interesting though! I choose to believe they heard I was working on my app and decided to beat me to the punch. I wonder if they have the same issue with requiring the phone be unlocked that I do. I'll probably still upload my app once I get it working well. NFC tags are only around $.10 each so buying those and paying $.99 for my app is still a significantly cheaper option. I'm under no illusion that I'll be able to take on Shot Scope but I feel like I've come too far to abandon this now!

[tony@CIC]

34 minutes ago, hbetts said:

I will never financially recover from this...

That's interesting though! I choose to believe they heard I was working on my app and decided to beat me to the punch. I wonder if they have the same issue with requiring the phone be unlocked that I do. I'll probably still upload my app once I get it working well. NFC tags are only around $.10 each so buying those and paying $.99 for my app is still a significantly cheaper option. I'm under no illusion that I'll be able to take on Shot Scope but I feel like I've come too far to abandon this now!

Also keep in mind that desktop versions exist for all of them. 

[hbetts]

7 minutes ago, tony@CIC said:

Also keep in mind that desktop versions exist for all of them. 

Yeah I definitely wont be able to stand up to any of them when it comes to UI and features, at least for a while. My focus has been on being as low impact on play in the game as possible and maximizing battery life. The hit to battery life has always been my biggest gripe about golf GPS apps. They all watch your GPS the entire round, but if you add club tagging there is really no need for it. From what I can tell, Shot Scope also uses GPS constantly so battery drain is likely similar to other golf apps.

[TheOther1]

I started looking at Shot Scope because I want something 99% automatic that I don't have to fiddle with during a round. 18 Birdies took me too much time using the phone app for shot tracking.  If anyone is interested in a Shot Scope X5 for the price of an V3, they have X5 ex-display units available with 1 year warranty for $199.99