Unofficial Member Review: ShotScope Connex

[cksurfdude]

12 hours ago, sirchunksalot said:

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.

Hmmm. Here's a random thought, re: having the phone in your pocket - maybe get one of those (now old-fashioned, I guess) holders that clip onto your belt and hold the phone horizontal?

Not a great look, especially on the golf course, but might make it a bit easier to tag clubs, mark putts/pins and now advance to the next tee...

[sirchunksalot]

22 minutes ago, cksurfdude said:

Hmmm. Here's a random thought, re: having the phone in your pocket - maybe get one of those (now old-fashioned, I guess) holders that clip onto your belt and hold the phone horizontal?

Not a great look, especially on the golf course, but might make it a bit easier to tag clubs, mark putts/pins and now advance to the next tee...

That's a good idea and I might have to try that. I actually have one from where I got a new phone and case for it. I'll just have to find where I put it, I'm not the most organized person. 

Thanks Chuck!

 

[tony@CIC]

On 12/25/2023 at 9:55 AM, sirchunksalot said:

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'd shoot an email to Support and ask why you're getting errors on the tee shot location. Using the X5, I generally get the miss on the first tee where it records me hitting from the tips, because I rushed and didn't wait for the course to come up on the watch. 

Also, you might want to post this link to the Shotscope thread so those that haven't seen it can refer to it.  Keep the reviews coming! 

[sirchunksalot]

8 minutes ago, tony@CIC said:

I'd shoot an email to Support and ask why you're getting errors on the tee shot location. Using the X5, I generally get the miss on the first tee where it records me hitting from the tips, because I rushed and didn't wait for the course to come up on the watch. 

Also, you might want to post this link to the Shotscope thread so those that haven't seen it can refer to it.  Keep the reviews coming! 

That's a good idea, I hadn't thought of putting a link in the main thread. 

I appreciate the advice and will reach out to customer support if manually changing the hole doesn't work. I'm fairly certain it's something I'm doing on my part and want to make sure I cover my bases. 

[sirchunksalot]

I got in another round today with the Connex and actively tried to remember to verify every shot and to utilize the "slide to view map" feature. I had no issues with tee shots showing up from the previous greens and this was the closest to perfect round I've had with ShotScope. The only imperfections were my fault, I had to drive back to a couple of tee boxes because I forgot to scan. ShotScope 1, Jason 0. 

I only had to do minor editing after the round to add a couple of penalty strokes and to change the lies on a couple of putts that registered on the fairway instead of the green. 

Overall, I'm getting quicker registering shots to my phone and I'm happy with that especially on the green. 

[benb1989]

Thank you for the review. I was gifted Connex for xmas, have only been able to use it for 1 round, few issues, which I felt were probably down to me not using it correctly and your review confirms that. Looking forward to getting used to it all and understanding it all better. 

[sirchunksalot]

4 minutes ago, benb1989 said:

Thank you for the review. I was gifted Connex for xmas, have only been able to use it for 1 round, few issues, which I felt were probably down to me not using it correctly and your review confirms that. Looking forward to getting used to it all and understanding it all better. 

Thank you! 

It's been a pretty good system so far and I enjoy seeing the data so I can learn where I need to improve in my game. There is a bit of a learning curve since I'm changing over from Arccos, but it's getting there. 

I think the big thing for me has been making sure to manually change over to the next hole after collecting the pin. Hopefully you'll get it straightened out and be enjoying it as well as I do. 

 

[sunflower36002]

Hey! Your purchase of the ShotScope Connex sounds like a great deal, especially with the Black Friday discount. Excited to see how it enhances your golf  game and if the performance lives up to expectations. Looking forward to your insights and hoping it's a perfect fit for your routine and, of course, your SuperStroke grip!

Edited January 29 by sunflower36002
this is helpful

[Cashuss_K]

Can you tell me, does the Shotscope app start to learn your distances and provide any caddie like club recommendations or "plays like" features? I am wondering how the app compares to other competitors like Golfpad, GolfShot, The Grint, etc. 

[sirchunksalot]

30 minutes ago, Cashuss_K said:

Can you tell me, does the Shotscope app start to learn your distances and provide any caddie like club recommendations or "plays like" features? I am wondering how the app compares to other competitors like Golfpad, GolfShot, The Grint, etc. 

I haven't found that it does, which is one thing I will say that Arccos did I liked. I haven't gotten a round in in over a month due to weather, so I'm still in the early stages of it learning my distances. 

[Preeway]

Going to throw in my $.02 here as a new user to Connex. I've been posting in the original Shot Scope testing thread but will start cross posting here as well. After 6 rounds I'd probably give it a B grade overall. I'll spare you all photos of the product since @sirchunksalot Jason already did that in the original post. Details below

What am I looking for performance wise?
I want to be able to track all of my shots during the round and be able to follow my performance from a Strokes Gained perspective. So far, This has been very easy to do and the strokes gained analysis is great. Overall grade = A+

How easy is it to use?
So far this has been a little clumsy but not terrible. I typically keep my phone on my Nitron from tee to green and then transfer to my back pocket while putting. When riding a cart I keep it in my back pocket virtually the whole round. This means I'm not always exactly at my ball when tagging my club but always within a couple yards. This is good enough for me and I can always edit as necessary online after the round if for some reason I was way off on the tag.

Tagging while putting is the clumsiest for me. It's adds a step in my putting routine that I still haven't become totally comfortable with the process. I was keeping the putter tag in my front pocket and swiping my phone across to tag when putting and it was really laborious and time consuming. I eventually cut off the screw tip and used Gorilla brand double sided tape to adhere the putter tag to my SuperStroke grip. This works much better and makes for a smoother process.

Editing shots from the round has proven to be very easy using the Shot Scope website. I've find numerous shots with an incorrect lie (rough instead of fairway) that need to be adjusted and it's very easy to do. Overall grade = A for Dr-LW but a C grade for putting

How's the phone life? 
It's recommended you leave your phone on and unlocked while using their system. I usually leave mine on but will occasionally lock it out of habit and have not had any problems with the app after unlocking the screen. There is a feature that allows you to have a lower brightness while scanning the club tag and normal brightness in the map but I've found this to make it difficult to see whether its registered the tag and then also difficult to get back to the map mode. As a result I've been leaving my brightness at normal throughout the round and when starting with my phone charged at over 90%, I tend to finish with less that 20% and a couple times under 10%. I'll have to continue playing with the screen brightness to see if this helps but I've never had this kind of battery drainage problem while using 18 Birdies. Would really like to see ShotScope work on the app to see if they can improve battery life. Overall grade = B-

Will my game improve?
Not sure my handicap will drop 4 strokes (currently hovering in the 2's) but seeing my strokes gained information is extremely helpful for genuinely knowing what I need to work on versus thinking I know what to work on. Also, seeing my SG stats compared to different handicap levels really helps to know round by round, or over a series of rounds, how I'm playing. I'm currently comparing myself to a 0 handicap since that's my goal but I do watch my SG compared to a 5 handicap as well. Overall grade = B+ but could see this rising to an A/A+ based on how it influences my practice.

It's this a viable shot tracking system for the thrifty golfer?
Absolutely! Can't imagine a better product for the price. The fact that you aren't paying a subscription fee is a huge win and to be honest, I wouldn't balk at paying a $20-$50 subscription fee each year for the product. 

Biggest negatives or things I don't like?
My biggest gripe is phone battery life using the app. Something I really hope they address in the not too distant future. Next is the lack of offering putter tags like they do with the V5 and other watch devices. Using a SuperStroke putter grip means it will be hard to salvage the current tag when I'm ready to change grips. Hopefully this is something they address sooner than later.

Going to throw in my $.02 here as a new user to Connex. I've been posting in the original Shot Scope testing thread but will start cross posting here as well. After 6 rounds I'd probably give it a B grade overall. I'll spare you all photos of the product since @sirchunksalot Jason already did that in the original post. Details below

What am I looking for performance wise?
I want to be able to track all of my shots during the round and be able to follow my performance from a Strokes Gained perspective. So far, This has been very easy to do and the strokes gained analysis is great. Overall grade = A+

How easy is it to use?
So far this has been a little clumsy but not terrible. I typically keep my phone on my Nitron from tee to green and then transfer to my back pocket while putting. When riding a cart I keep it in my back pocket virtually the whole round. This means I'm not always exactly at my ball when tagging my club but always within a couple yards. This is good enough for me and I can always edit as necessary online after the round if for some reason I was way off on the tag.

Tagging while putting is the clumsiest for me. It's adds a step in my putting routine that I still haven't become totally comfortable with the process. I was keeping the putter tag in my front pocket and swiping my phone across to tag when putting and it was really laborious and time consuming. I eventually cut off the screw tip and used Gorilla brand double sided tape to adhere the putter tag to my SuperStroke grip. This works much better and makes for a smoother process.

Editing shots from the round has proven to be very easy using the Shot Scope website. I've find numerous shots with an incorrect lie (rough instead of fairway) that need to be adjusted and it's very easy to do. Overall grade = A for Dr-LW but a C grade for putting

How's the phone life? 
It's recommended you leave your phone on and unlocked while using their system. I usually leave mine on but will occasionally lock it out of habit and have not had any problems with the app after unlocking the screen. There is a feature that allows you to have a lower brightness while scanning the club tag and normal brightness in the map but I've found this to make it difficult to see whether its registered the tag and then also difficult to get back to the map mode. As a result I've been leaving my brightness at normal throughout the round and when starting with my phone charged at over 90%, I tend to finish with less that 20% and a couple times under 10%. I'll have to continue playing with the screen brightness to see if this helps but I've never had this kind of battery drainage problem while using 18 Birdies. Would really like to see ShotScope work on the app to see if they can improve battery life. Overall grade = B-

Will my game improve?
Not sure my handicap will drop 4 strokes (currently hovering in the 2's) but seeing my strokes gained information is extremely helpful for genuinely knowing what I need to work on versus thinking I know what to work on. Also, seeing my SG stats compared to different handicap levels really helps to know round by round, or over a series of rounds, how I'm playing. I'm currently comparing myself to a 0 handicap since that's my goal but I do watch my SG compared to a 5 handicap as well. Overall grade = B+ but could see this rising to an A/A+ based on how it influences my practice.

It's this a viable shot tracking system for the thrifty golfer?
Absolutely! Can't imagine a better product for the price. The fact that you aren't paying a subscription fee is a huge win and to be honest, I wouldn't balk at paying a $20-$50 subscription fee each year for the product. 

Biggest negatives or things I don't like?
My biggest gripe is phone battery life using the app. Something I really hope they address in the not too distant future. Next is the lack of offering putter tags like they do with the V5 and other watch devices. Using a SuperStroke putter grip means it will be hard to salvage the current tag when I'm ready to change grips. Hopefully this is something they address sooner than later.

[sirchunksalot]

I have to agree with you on the pretty putter tags @Preeway. I lost mine which basically left mine useless since you can't manually tag the putts on the course without spending way too much time editing. I did reach out to their customer service and they did send a replacement free of charge. I'm using double sided gorilla tape to hold mine on the SuperStroke grip. 

I have found that having to use your phone to tag shots leads me to forget to tag them sometimes which I have to do later in editing. That's more of a me problem than with the Connex.  I just need to establish a routine and I think I'll be fine. 

[shorthittingextraordinaire]

@sirchunksalot Was it necessary to have a data connection on at all times while using the Connex System? Or was it just able to work without a net connection? Most of the other devices run purely on GPS alone and so I was wondering if this was the same as well.

[sirchunksalot]

3 hours ago, shorthittingextraordinaire said:

@sirchunksalot Was it necessary to have a data connection on at all times while using the Connex System? Or was it just able to work without a net connection? Most of the other devices run purely on GPS alone and so I was wondering if this was the same as well.

I've only played one round with it on a course where I wasn't able to get a data connection and I wasn't able to get it to work. I guess since it relies on using an app on the phone it just wasn't loading the app. I haven't looked to see if there's a setting in the app to use it offline, so thank you for the question since I haven't thought about it. 

[Preeway]

Anyone else using the app have a tendency to fat finger the wrong button when trying to set the pin. I probably have 3-4 times a round where I struggle to tap the pin collect button versus manually add a shot button. I’m going to send an email mentioning this as perhaps a point of improvement in a future update. Either make the button bigger or move it to a different location on the screen. 

[berkeleybob]

I’ve been using Connex, and I think one thing that has been tedious is for the GPS to catch up to where I’m standing. I wonder if the app will scan my club tag as soon as the GPS position is ready. I don’t know if it has to do with the fact that I have an iPhone 11 and therefore perhaps a slower processor. 

@Preeway, I think you’re right, the pin collect button could be bigger. I have struggled setting the pin position, so I end up fixing/confirming pin positions when I’m back on my laptop and mouse.

[Preeway]

9 minutes ago, berkeleybob said:

I’ve been using Connex, and I think one thing that has been tedious is for the GPS to catch up to where I’m standing. I wonder if the app will scan my club tag as soon as the GPS position is ready. I don’t know if it has to do with the fact that I have an iPhone 11 and therefore perhaps a slower processor. 

@Preeway, I think you’re right, the pin collect button could be bigger. I have struggled setting the pin position, so I end up fixing/confirming pin positions when I’m back on my laptop and mouse.

I’m guessing a newer phone would help. Even my iPhone 15 can take a couple seconds to catch up since I turn off my phone in between shots to save battery life. And I’m glad I’m not the only one wishing for a bigger pin collect button.