Unofficial Member Review: ShotScope Connex

[sirchunksalot]

The weekend of Black Friday i got one email among many that piqued my interest and that was one advertising a sale on ShotScope products. I went over to their website and found their Connex system at an affordable price of $59.99. I've been wanting to get back into stat tracking for a while as I used Arccos for several years until I couldn't justify the yearly subscription fee. I did some looking around and found the Connex $10 cheaper on Amazon. 

What is Connex?

Connex uses the same ShotScope technology as in their H4 and X5 devices. When you purchase Connex you get 16 different screw in tags that go into your grips. 

The main difference in this system and the others is you use your phone and tag your shots using the NFC reader that you would use if making a tap to purchase at the store. I am using a Samsung S23 Ultra phone and my reader is located just below the camera lenses.

The idea behind Connex is to register your shot location and then take a swing. You them move on to the location of your ball and repeat the process. 

Setup was fairly easy, I scanned the QR code located on the back of the box which lead me to the ShotScope website. Once there I had to create an account and select which system I was using. 

Once I did that, a screen popped up promoting me to practice scanning the tags to get an idea where my sensor was located. There was also a screen that allowed me to choose what clubs I was using and input the information there.

I haven't been able to get out and use it, yet. We're coming up on the end of the year and I've been working 6 days a week. Hopefully I'll be able to get out around the 16th and try it out 

What am I looking for performance wise?

How easy is it to use? I want to see how simple using Connex is. I'm hoping it fits seamlessly into my routine by just scanning the tags with my phone. 

I want to make sure I don't miss many shots, so I want to know what happens on those shots I'm prone to hit where the ball travels 5 yards ahead. I'm also curious how putting will work out since I'm using a SuperStroke grip and can't screw the tag into the grip.

How's the phone life? 

One thing about Connex is it's recommended you leave your phone on and unlocked while using their system. I'm fortunate to have a newer phone, but will it majorly drain the battery during a round? 

Will my game improve?

ShotScope claims their users cut an average of 4 strokes off their handicap by using their product and I want to know if this is true. I'm not sure if my current handicap and don't know if it will be like Arccos and take a certain number of rounds to give me a handicap, I'm believing that it will.

It's this a viable shot tracking system for the thrifty golfer?

So far I'm impressed with the price, but I did buy it on a Black Friday deal. I believe the regular price is $99.99. Can I get the same performance as one of their pricier products or something similar like Arccos?

I hope to be able to give you all an idea of the performance of the Connex system.

I'm also going to post a video from Golficity if any of you want to check out their review. 

 

[Josh Parker]

Great intro and will be following along. 

[GolfSpy_SHARK]

As always great write up so far Jason. Look forward to the conclusion if you get out and play!

[rkj427]

I will be following along Jason, as I currently use a Garmin watch without the club sensors and it seems to miss a couple shots per round.

I really don't want to drop the money for the Garmin sensors or another system unless I am certain it performs as it should all the time.

[GolfSpy_BEN]

Nicely done Jason! I started using the X5 and the sensors this summer, so I am interested to see how your experience mirrors and differs from my own. 

[sirchunksalot]

@Josh Parker @Lacassem @rkj427 @Ben Joest, I'm looking forward to doing this. I am a believer in shot tracking and how it helps your game. I'll really estatic about the price point and if it performs on par with the H4 and like items, I'll almost dance. 

I'm planning on playing December 16 and if not, I'm off for three weeks after Christmas. I'm hoping for positive things going forward.

[edingc]

17 minutes ago, sirchunksalot said:

@Josh Parker @Lacassem @rkj427 @Ben Joest, I'm looking forward to doing this. I am a believer in shot tracking and how it helps your game. I'll really estatic about the price point and if it performs on par with the H4 and like items, I'll almost dance. 

I'm planning on playing December 16 and if not, I'm off for three weeks after Christmas. I'm hoping for positive things going forward.

Price point is great. I like the H4 a lot, I just didn't use it all of the time last year. It will definitely get used again next year.

Looking forward to your thoughts!

[FrogginBullfish]

I have the H4 plus Rangefinder from Shotscope. The devices are really easy to use and tagging clubs is very simple. The stats you get are very informative. They've recently implemented a new course strategy feature that you can map out and plan your way around a course before your round. Plus no annual subscription fee is a big plus imo. Definitely happy with Shotscope.

[tony@CIC]

20 hours ago, sirchunksalot said:

The weekend of Black Friday i got one email among many that piqued my interest and that was one advertising a sale on ShotScope products. I went over to their website and found their Connex system at an affordable price of $59.99. I've been wanting to get back into stat tracking for a while as I used Arccos for several years until I couldn't justify the yearly subscription fee. I did some looking around and found the Connex $10 cheaper on Amazon. 

What is Connex?

Connex uses the same ShotScope technology as in their H4 and X5 devices. When you purchase Connex you get 16 different screw in tags that go into your grips. 

The main difference in this system and the others is you use your phone and tag your shots using the NFC reader that you would use if making a tap to purchase at the store. I am using a Samsung S23 Ultra phone and my reader is located just below the camera lenses.

The idea behind Connex is to register your shot location and then take a swing. You them move on to the location of your ball and repeat the process. 

Setup was fairly easy, I scanned the QR code located on the back of the box which lead me to the ShotScope website. Once there I had to create an account and select which system I was using. 

Once I did that, a screen popped up promoting me to practice scanning the tags to get an idea where my sensor was located. There was also a screen that allowed me to choose what clubs I was using and input the information there.

I haven't been able to get out and use it, yet. We're coming up on the end of the year and I've been working 6 days a week. Hopefully I'll be able to get out around the 16th and try it out 

What am I looking for performance wise?

How easy is it to use? I want to see how simple using Connex is. I'm hoping it fits seamlessly into my routine by just scanning the tags with my phone. 

I want to make sure I don't miss many shots, so I want to know what happens on those shots I'm prone to hit where the ball travels 5 yards ahead. I'm also curious how putting will work out since I'm using a SuperStroke grip and can't screw the tag into the grip.

How's the phone life? 

One thing about Connex is it's recommended you leave your phone on and unlocked while using their system. I'm fortunate to have a newer phone, but will it majorly drain the battery during a round? 

Will my game improve?

ShotScope claims their users cut an average of 4 strokes off their handicap by using their product and I want to know if this is true. I'm not sure if my current handicap and don't know if it will be like Arccos and take a certain number of rounds to give me a handicap, I'm believing that it will.

It's this a viable shot tracking system for the thrifty golfer?

So far I'm impressed with the price, but I did buy it on a Black Friday deal. I believe the regular price is $99.99. Can I get the same performance as one of their pricier products or something similar like Arccos?

I hope to be able to give you all an idea of the performance of the Connex system.

I'm also going to post a video from Golficity if any of you want to check out their review. 

 

Great review  - hope it meets all of your expectations. FYI a couple of points: I assume you're using the SS putter grip with the counter weight? You can simply cut off half of the screw portion of the sensor and trim down the flanges of the screw - then just use superglue to adhere it to the putter grip. I've done that for several Superstroke putter grips over the years and it works great. Just did that again last night on a new SS pistol grip 2.0 last night for my wife's putter. Note: you'll want to dry fit the sensor before gluing it just to make sure you've trimmed all of the excess off the sensor. 

The other point is that you'll find, Shotscope very responsive and at least in my case, have exceeded my expectations. However, keep in mind that the support group is located in the UK and the time difference may affect their response time to you. 

Good luck and hope the weather turns soon so you can test it on the course. 

[FrogginBullfish]

30 minutes ago, tony@CIC said:

Great review  - hope it meets all of your expectations. FYI a couple of points: I assume you're using the SS putter grip with the counter weight? You can simply cut off half of the screw portion of the sensor and trim down the flanges of the screw - then just use superglue to adhere it to the putter grip. I've done that for several Superstroke putter grips over the years and it works great. Just did that again last night on a new SS pistol grip 2.0 last night for my wife's putter. Note: you'll want to dry fit the sensor before gluing it just to make sure you've trimmed all of the excess off the sensor. 

The other point is that you'll find, Shotscope very responsive and at least in my case, have exceeded my expectations. However, keep in mind that the support group is located in the UK and the time difference may affect their response time to you. 

Good luck and hope the weather turns soon so you can test it on the course. 

Lol that's a good solution to the superstore grip. I've just been manually entering my putts on the H4.

[sirchunksalot]

2 hours ago, tony@CIC said:

Great review  - hope it meets all of your expectations. FYI a couple of points: I assume you're using the SS putter grip with the counter weight? You can simply cut off half of the screw portion of the sensor and trim down the flanges of the screw - then just use superglue to adhere it to the putter grip. I've done that for several Superstroke putter grips over the years and it works great. Just did that again last night on a new SS pistol grip 2.0 last night for my wife's putter. Note: you'll want to dry fit the sensor before gluing it just to make sure you've trimmed all of the excess off the sensor. 

The other point is that you'll find, Shotscope very responsive and at least in my case, have exceeded my expectations. However, keep in mind that the support group is located in the UK and the time difference may affect their response time to you. 

Good luck and hope the weather turns soon so you can test it on the course. 

That's good to know! Have you seen any difficulty in removing the sensor if you're changing grips?

[GolfSpy_KFT]

Great write up, Jason! This will be a fun follow as I used Arccos for the first time this past season and felt like my game benefitted from it for sure. I really like not having to keep score on a scorecard, makes me think less about my overall score and allows me to focus more on the hole I am on. Shot Scope does some cool stuff with their data and metrics, too, so having something to compare against Arccos for possibly next season will be what I am following for! 

[sirchunksalot]

31 minutes ago, Jnoble89 said:

Great write up, Jason! This will be a fun follow as I used Arccos for the first time this past season and felt like my game benefitted from it for sure. I really like not having to keep score on a scorecard, makes me think less about my overall score and allows me to focus more on the hole I am on. Shot Scope does some cool stuff with their data and metrics, too, so having something to compare against Arccos for possibly next season will be what I am following for! 

I'm really looking forward to being able to get it out and play with it. I'm looking forward to digging into the days and seeing where I need to improve and if the data matches up with what I expect to have to work on. Right now, if I had to guess, my weaknesses are driving and approach. I'm not the longest hitter and I wouldn't know what a GIR is if it came up to me and introduced itself. 

I don't expect to be particularly strong in any category since my playing time has been limited these last few months, but I'd love to see at least one of my stats to show I'm equivalent to a 20 handicap. 

I'm wanting to know going into next season where I need to improve and see if I can get my scores closer to where they were a couple of years ago. 

[sirchunksalot]

I just installed the tracking tags to my clubs. I didn't take photos, I left my phone in the living room and the light in there isn't the greatest this time of night.

It was a relatively easy install, I just pushed the tags into the hole in the grip until the thread was about to go in and started screwing them down. My only complaint was they were a little bit rough to screw in because I've been working in automotive for 12 years and it made my hands a bit sore. 

I didn't install the putter sensor, I need some super glue. 

[tony@CIC]

17 hours ago, sirchunksalot said:

That's good to know! Have you seen any difficulty in removing the sensor if you're changing grips?

Jason when you superglue it - it's permanent. I'm using the regular sensors (V3 and X5 user) so by the time I need to replace the putter grips, I'm also replacing the sensors. In my case the replacement for all 16 is only about $35.  On the other hand,  I don't replace my putter grip anywhere near as often as my other clubs - you might be in a similar situation so that permanent install might carry you longer than you think. 

[sirchunksalot]

1 hour ago, tony@CIC said:

Jason when you superglue it - it's permanent. I'm using the regular sensors (V3 and X5 user) so by the time I need to replace the putter grips, I'm also replacing the sensors. In my case the replacement for all 16 is only about $35.  On the other hand,  I don't replace my putter grip anywhere near as often as my other clubs - you might be in a similar situation so that permanent install might carry you longer than you think. 

I was just thinking about changing grips in a couple of months, I bought a Halloween grip in wanting to install but also wanting to Wait to take the one in currently using since it's practically new. I might move up the time table on the replacement so that way I'm just going ahead and using the new grip. Thank for the reply, I appreciate it!

[sirchunksalot]

I played my first round with the Connex today and I'm kind of feeling mixed about it. It's probably the getting to know you stage I'm experiencing, but right now there are some things I like and some things I don't.

Likes:

It's easy to use.

Once you arrive in the tee box you go into the app and select "start Connex round" to get started. Once you're near the ball, you simply scan the tag, the phone vibrates and records the shot, and then you hit the shot. For every shot after that it's just wash, rinse, and repeat. 

I will say in the first hole I did scan driver twice, but that's a mistake on my part. 

The pin collect feature is nice, you simply walk up to the pin, take the phone out of scanning mode, and press the pin collect button. I find marking the pins a lot easier than Arccos.

Battery life

I started the round with 100% battery and ended with 87%. I kept the app on during most of the round except when I took a couple of photos to text to my wife. I didn't change the screen timeout timer on my phone and the app stayed on most of the time. Color me impressed. 

Dislikes

Editing. 

I'm about to scream at my phone because editing is a pain. It might be that I'm doing it in the phone and need to use a browser, but I can't figure out how to upload the round to ShotScope to see it there. I honestly think it doesn't like 9 hole rounds. All I get is  "continue round" and I can't find anything else on the app. 

I also forgot to scan driver on the 7th hole and it shows I hit a 654 yard drive. Note to self: don't forget to scan. 

I was also looking for a way to delete the round since I had some problems and I can't figure that out either. 

Conclusion

It's still early in the process and there's going to be a learning curve. I'm going to spend some time in the shop to see if I can figure it out. I'm hoping once I can get a few more rounds under my belt I can get it right. 

 

 

[GolfSpy_KFT]

42 minutes ago, sirchunksalot said:

I played my first round with the Connex today and I'm kind of feeling mixed about it. It's probably the getting to know you stage I'm experiencing, but right now there are some things I like and some things I don't.

Likes:

It's easy to use.

Once you arrive in the tee box you go into the app and select "start Connex round" to get started. Once you're near the ball, you simply scan the tag, the phone vibrates and records the shot, and then you hit the shot. For every shot after that it's just wash, rinse, and repeat. 

I will say in the first hole I did scan driver twice, but that's a mistake on my part. 

The pin collect feature is nice, you simply walk up to the pin, take the phone out of scanning mode, and press the pin collect button. I find marking the pins a lot easier than Arccos.

Battery life

I started the round with 100% battery and ended with 87%. I kept the app on during most of the round except when I took a couple of photos to text to my wife. I didn't change the screen timeout timer on my phone and the app stayed on most of the time. Color me impressed. 

Dislikes

Editing. 

I'm about to scream at my phone because editing is a pain. It might be that I'm doing it in the phone and need to use a browser, but I can't figure out how to upload the round to ShotScope to see it there. I honestly think it doesn't like 9 hole rounds. All I get is  "continue round" and I can't find anything else on the app. 

I also forgot to scan driver on the 7th hole and it shows I hit a 654 yard drive. Note to self: don't forget to scan. 

I was also looking for a way to delete the round since I had some problems and I can't figure that out either. 

Conclusion

It's still early in the process and there's going to be a learning curve. I'm going to spend some time in the shop to see if I can figure it out. I'm hoping once I can get a few more rounds under my belt I can get it right. 

 

 

Jason, do you need to have your phone on your person to use Connex? Say for example I have a phone holder mounted to my cart. Could I scan the club there and then go to the ball? Or would that impact my shot distance if I parked not even with the ball?

the 9 hole round is a real annoyance for sure. I had that happen occasionally with Arccos where it wanted to continue my round instead of end it. 

Also, do you know if they offer a watch app? I use my Apple Watch with Arccos but it TORCHES the battery life. 

[Josh Parker]

Learning curve but will be interesting to see what is learning curve vs system. 

[sirchunksalot]

19 minutes ago, Jnoble89 said:

Jason, do you need to have your phone on your person to use Connex? Say for example I have a phone holder mounted to my cart. Could I scan the club there and then go to the ball? Or would that impact my shot distance if I parked not even with the ball?

the 9 hole round is a real annoyance for sure. I had that happen occasionally with Arccos where it wanted to continue my round instead of end it. 

Also, do you know if they offer a watch app? I use my Apple Watch with Arccos but it TORCHES the battery life. 

I would think you could scan the phone from the cart, but do believe it would affect distances as it records the stroke from where your phone is. You could go on the app and move the shot location after the round. I finally figured out how to do that after making my post. It involves using the arrow icons at the bottom of the screen after choosing the option to edit. 

I'm not sure if they have a watch feature for the Connex since it uses the NFC scanner on your phone. I just read that Apple watches do have NFC capabilities, but don't have the ability to scan tags. 

I also think I figured out how to end the round. I can't remember how I did it right now, but I did it. I think it had something to do with the share icon. 

 

[Preeway]

7 minutes ago, sirchunksalot said:

I would think you could scan the phone from the cart, but do believe it would affect distances as it records the stroke from where your phone is. You could go on the app and move the shot location after the round. I finally figured out how to do that after making my post. It involves using the arrow icons at the bottom of the screen after choosing the option to edit. 

I'm not sure if they have a watch feature for the Connex since it uses the NFC scanner on your phone. I just read that Apple watches do have NFC capabilities, but don't have the ability to scan tags. 

I also think I figured out how to end the round. I can't remember how I did it right now, but I did it. I think it had something to do with the share icon. 

 

I guess it wouldn’t be terrible to have to keep your phone in your pocket but otherwise it makes tee shots awkward and also messes with trying to play ready golf if you keep your phone in your bag on the cart. 

[sirchunksalot]

1 minute ago, Preeway said:

I guess it wouldn’t be terrible to have to keep your phone in your pocket but otherwise it makes tee shots awkward and also messes with trying to play ready golf if you keep your phone in your bag on the cart. 

I'm used to having my phone in my back pocket at work, so it wasn't too bad. Tagging shots took very little time although it was slightly more time consuming on the green since the shots are generally shorter. Plus, I haven't affixed the sensor to my putter yet and I was digging the sensor out of my jacket pocket. I'm going to have to change grips before gluing it on since a bought a sweet Halloween themed grip that's still in the packet 

I am going to try some double sided tape in the meantime, I was in a rush after escaping work today and didn't want to take the time to do it. 

[sirchunksalot]

Now that I've been able to take some time to figure things out on the dashboard, I'm finding it easier to edit my round. Instead of trying to do it on the app, I've found that the web browser is a lot easier to navigate and fine tune shot locations.

I went to the map in the upper left hand corner and pressed edit which led me to this screen.

I was then able to move shots using the cursor button to an approximate location on the course. For some reason, I had some tee shirts registering from greens on the previous hole and needed to fix that. 

I'm also enjoying the robust amount of data ShotScope provides. I'm comparing myself to a 25 handicap since that was where I was when I last used Arccos. I can see where I need improvement which is off the tee and on the green. I think if I can clean up some penalty strokes off the tee I'll see an improvement there and I noticed during the round yesterday that I missed a couple of makeable putts. 

 

[cksurfdude]

Sir Chunks... heck yeah do your post round editing in a browser! So much easier.

Note you can also drag shot markers and pins around with your mouse; add or delete strokes, penalty shots, change clubs, whatever as needed. There's good info and tutorials in the Support section of the ShotScope site.

Also note if tee boxes or greens on your course appear in the wrong spot you can ask ShotScope support to re-map your course.

Putting - fyi I used "Manual" mode on my ShotScope watches ... you don't even need the putter tag!

The Connex may have the same thing? If so then maybe you can just tap the screen in the app to mark your putt location (ie no tagging).

..which you should make notes of on your scorecard so you can double check everything in Edit mode - the more accurate each putt marker is the better your putting stats will be.

 

[sirchunksalot]

7 hours ago, cksurfdude said:

Sir Chunks... heck yeah do your post round editing in a browser! So much easier.

Note you can also drag shot markers and pins around with your mouse; add or delete strokes, penalty shots, change clubs, whatever as needed. There's good info and tutorials in the Support section of the ShotScope site.

Also note if tee boxes or greens on your course appear in the wrong spot you can ask ShotScope support to re-map your course.

Putting - fyi I used "Manual" mode on my ShotScope watches ... you don't even need the putter tag!

The Connex may have the same thing? If so then maybe you can just tap the screen in the app to mark your putt location (ie no tagging).

..which you should make notes of on your scorecard so you can double check everything in Edit mode - the more accurate each putt marker is the better your putting stats will be.

 

Thanks for the advice, Chuck! It's solid, especially the advice on keeping stats on the putting. I'm going to definitely keep track of the distance of putts to get the most accurate information. I was looking back over my round and saw there was one hole it said I had a 1 footer and I rolled it past by 5 feet, I don't think that was accurate and wish I could remember how far the first one was. It's been a few days and my memory ain't that good. 

[sirchunksalot]

Round 2 using Connex is in the books. I found it too be a bit more user friendly this round than I did the last time I played. I only had to go back and edit 3 shots for location. Two were tee shots that picked up from the previous green and one was an approach from the 9th hole. 

I'm enjoying the ShotScope dashboard and seeing where I need improvement. Right now it's approach game and chipping. I'm losing strokes to a 25 handicap in a big way in those two areas and know where to focus my attention. 

I'm struggling bad with ground contact and blading and topping way too many shots. I also need to clean up my putting a bit, I just haven't put in the work I need to in that area. 

I will say I need to develop a better routine tagging shots with my phone as it's a bit time consuming to pull the phone out on every shot, especially on the greens where I also pull my putter tag out of my pocket. At least the pin collect feature where you tag the location of the flag is quick and easy. 

I hoping as time goes on, I'll become more efficient tagging every shot. 

Edit: I was looking over my round and saw another tee shot that recorded from a different green and had to go back and fix it. I think it's something I'm doing by not properly ending the hole after I putt out and will have to work on it. 

I will say my initial impressions of the Connex is good, but I almost wish I had bought the H4 instead. That might change as I go along, we'll see. 

 

Edited December 23, 2023 by sirchunksalot

[sirchunksalot]

I got another round in yesterday using the Connex. While I'm still enjoying the data from my rounds, I'm still frustrated with all the tee shot locations that I'm having to edit in because they're recording from the previous green.

I went through the user manual again this morning and didn't see specific instructions on how to move on to the next hole. Yesterday I made sure to pin collect every green and still got some errors in where my tee shots were recording from. My next round I'll try and make sure to utilize the "slide to view map" button to see if that helps.

I'm still finding the putter scanner to be a bit time consuming most noticably when I have a tap in them doing the pin collect. I could do it manually, but don't want to go back after the round and edit that much more. I did figure out yesterday that I could stick the putter sensor in one of the button holes on my polo and it kept me from having to dig it out of my pocket. 

I haven't yet glued it to my putter grip, ShotScope doesn't sell a packet of Connex putter sensors, just one for their more premium product. 

It's not all bad, I'm still enjoying seeing the progress I'm making in parts of my game from round to round. Editing has also become easier as I'm becoming more familiar with the dashboard. 

[Josh Parker]

There has to be an easier way to move to the next hole.  That would bug me as well.

[sirchunksalot]

Just now, Josh Parker said:

There has to be an easier way to move to the next hole.  That would bug me as well.

I'm hoping that utilizing the "slide to view map" feature will move me to the next hole. It's really my biggest issue with the Connex. I don't mind having to edit a little, but when you're looking to get stats you want to make sure everything is as close to right as possible. 

[sirchunksalot]

So I looked up the video tutorials and they have one on changing holes. It looks like I need to go to the map screen and manually use the > button to change them. I'll give this a try the next round I play and see how well this works.