TST Explores the ShotScope H4 (Stats Tracking Device) and Pro LX Rangefinder

[Darkfrog]

1 hour ago, NM Golf said:

Ummm okay...

Not sure what this means, but I was offering a suggestion for H4 users (perhaps those who still haven't come up with a solution for their particular putter grip) to DIY the putter tag that comes with a device into an adhesive backed version, since $30 seems like a lot for a few tags.

12 hours ago, NM Golf said:

I decided to cut the screw part off the putter tag I got with my device and glue use it as a ball marker when I played today. It actually worked really well so I am thinking about glueing it to a bigger, heavier, harder to lose ball marker and then just tagging with it instead of my putter.

Reading your post, it isn't clear if you glued it to your putter, a ball marker, or initially to your putter but are considering gluing it to a ball marker.

[boogielicious]

Played another 18 today. It worked pretty well but the flag location is still a bit off. I’m tagging my putts then click the number of putts at the flag. It was off on several holes. I’ll recheck to make sure I’m doing it right. 

 

When I went to edit, it gave me this message  

I had to add the tee and step through the course to verify par for each hole.

 

 

[Darkfrog]

7 minutes ago, boogielicious said:

It worked pretty well but the flag location is still a bit off.

This has always been the case for me with the V2 and V3 watches. Sometimes the hole is generally marked in the correct location, other times it is way off. 

[iacas]

21 minutes ago, boogielicious said:

Played another 18 today. It worked pretty well but the flag location is still a bit off. I’m tagging my putts then click the number of putts at the flag. It was off on several holes. I’ll recheck to make sure I’m doing it right.

I think that's just down to the nature of GPS (particularly in wooded areas) being off a little bit.

What happens if you don't click the number of putts? Does it just put the hole near your second putt?

[boogielicious]

9 minutes ago, iacas said:

I think that's just down to the nature of GPS (particularly in wooded areas) being off a little bit.

What happens if you don't click the number of putts? Does it just put the hole near your second putt?

I’ll try that tomorrow on a hole or two. I think it wan’t me to hole out on each green though.

[jlbos83]

On 5/18/2022 at 11:11 AM, jlbos83 said:

I'll be interested in your experiences.  I used Game Golf Live until the battery blew up, and support fell apart.  I have been using a ShotScope V3 for a year or so now, I like it but I don't like not having feedback on exactly where my shot is tagged.  (I don't worry too much given the margin of error for GPS).  The other "problem", which is a me problem, is that if I hit a true duff, and my next shot is too close (like the dreaded lack of bunker escape), it only picks one.  The H4 intrigues me.  I have seen comments about the belt clip not being "great", so I would like to hear about that.  If I get the H4, I'll likely keep the V3 on my wrist for yardages.  I like that the distances are relative to where you are, and not arbitrary points.

 

On 5/18/2022 at 5:11 PM, billchao said:

Not great as in people don’t want the device on a belt clip? I can’t imagine Game Golf users saying the clip isn’t good. I think it’s going to be more durable than the GG one.

Thanks for that info.  Having gone through a GG clip myself, I understand!  Though the replacement seemed much better than the original!

What I had "heard" was that the magnet didn't hold to the clip as well as it might.  So this is good news.

So the "target" for tagging is on the face of the device, rather than the bottom? I guess one could get used to that.  And I would hope to get good at knowing where the buttons are to complete pin collect without juggling, though if the magnet is strong enough, but not too strong, that might not be an issue, really.  I do think I would continue to use the watch for distances, a glance at the watch as you reach the ball is a good way to be prepared, and I would like the tracking to be "no brain involved".

The comments here are not helping me talk myself out of this!

[billchao]

5 minutes ago, jlbos83 said:

Thanks for that info.  Having gone through a GG clip myself, I understand!  Though the replacement seemed much better than the original!

I've never broken mine, but I know plenty of people who have broken theirs.

5 minutes ago, jlbos83 said:

What I had "heard" was that the magnet didn't hold to the clip as well as it might.  So this is good news.

It seems fine to me. I don't need it to erase my credit cards or anything. If the magnet is too strong and it becomes hard to remove from the belt clip it might as well be permanently attached.

9 minutes ago, jlbos83 said:

So the "target" for tagging is on the face of the device, rather than the bottom? I guess one could get used to that.

Yea. As I mentioned in my earlier post, I don't like it. I'm going to try something different next time.

11 minutes ago, jlbos83 said:

I do think I would continue to use the watch for distances, a glance at the watch as you reach the ball is a good way to be prepared, and I would like the tracking to be "no brain involved".

I think if I bring the unit to my club to tag it, I'll be able to glance at it quickly for yardage, too. Kind of two birds with one stone.

[jlbos83]

2 minutes ago, billchao said:

I think if I bring the unit to my club to tag it, I'll be able to glance at it quickly for yardage, too. Kind of two birds with one stone.

I like to be able to glance at my watch as I am walking/riding up.  So I think I would keep wearing it.  Especially since I have it!  I really liked the design of the GG Live unit, tagging was really easy, and the feedback was about right.  I would ask my son if it was intrusive when it beeped, and he said it was not.  I hope he was right!

[iacas]

I have an idea. Just clip the magnet to the laces on your shoe. Then just look down for yardages, and tapping it with the butt of your club will be pretty easy.

I'm only 90% joking.

[boogielicious]

@Bob M and I played yesterday with Shot Scope devices. Bob has the watch and I have the H4. We tried to do the exact same procedures on the green, tagging our putts and holing out at the flag with the device.

I still had some anomalies with the putts and flag. On some holes, the pin was off position with respect to the putts, e.g., it had the putts next to each other and next to the pin. It may have been user error though if I missed the first tag. As @NM Golf mentioned above, the vibration isn’t very strong, so unless I look, I can’t confirm. That is pretty easily corrected in editing. I think I will change my procedure to tag the position when I first get to the green and not right before I putt. That way I can check if it was tagged when others are getting ready to putt.

For tagging, I tried touching the tag at different angles to see if it registered. It seemed to work as long as you touched the tag to the face. It didn’t seem to need to be face to face.

I also had one tagging anomaly with the driver. On hole 6, it had me teeing off at the driving range instead of the tee location. I don’t know if I missed the tag and it assumed or it’s a glitch. That tee box is right next to the driving range nets and there are metal poles and anchor wires. It may have been just interference.

Lastly, I really like the GPS feature to use in conjunction with my laser rangefinder. It is easy to read even without my bifocals and helps give a good idea where the flag is on the green. The 9th hole at North Kingstown has an elevated green that slopes front to back with a big bunker in front and one in back as well. You can’t seen the green surface at all. They do use colored flags, but it GPS really helps in this situation. 

So far I like this much better than GG Live.

[iacas]

1 hour ago, boogielicious said:

So far I like this much better than GG Live.

What about it is "much better"? I've only used it for nine holes, but it seems to be…

Pros:

• Screen with GPS.
• Smaller.
• Company is still alive and the stats are likely better.

Cons:

• No beeping (even as an option, as some disliked the beeping on the GG).
• More awkward to tag since it's to the face, not the bottom.
• Custom charger instead of a standard one (hey, I didn't say it was a big con).

Battery life seems to be about the same. The editing interface feels different but similar.

[Bob M]

Realizing that this thread is about the H4, I'll add some highlights to @boogielicious comments viz. the V3 where I think they are applicable. I have always worn a watch while playing golf, so the V3, although a bit bulky, seems natural to me. 

3 hours ago, boogielicious said:

Bob has the watch and I have the H4. We tried to do the exact same procedures on the green, tagging our putts and holing out at the flag with the device.

Until yesterday, I had only used the manual process for putting, however because I used a non-counterweighted putter, I decided to go "auto" for putting for yesterday's. Clubs are "tagged" with the V3 via proximity to the watch band. My usual practice, which I used yesterday in auto putt mode, is to hold the tag near the watch band. If I forget to do this, however, tag to watch band proximity when actually swinging the club (via a practice swing) has always gotten the job done. On 2-3 holes, I forgot to do pin collect at the end, but it was a pretty easy fix in the editing process. 

 

3 hours ago, boogielicious said:

I also had one tagging anomaly with the driver. On hole 6, it had me teeing off at the driving range instead of the tee location. I don’t know if I missed the tag and it assumed or it’s a glitch. That tee box is right next to the driving range nets and there are metal poles and anchor wires. It may have been just interference.

I play this course at least weekly and have always had the anomaly @boogieliciousrefers to viz. the 6th hole. I'm not sure why that is (and it is easy to fix in the editing process) but now that I know the same thing happens on the H4, it is probably time to contact Shot Scope support and see if they can do something about it. 

Thus far, my experience with Shot Scope has been really good. On course it is easy to use and the GPS feature is really helpful. For me, however, it shines off course due to the statistics it generates, which have enabled me to have to much more purposeful and productive practice sessions.

Never having used Game Golf, I cannot comment on how it compares to Shot Scope. 

[iacas]

@Bob M, what happens if you don't tag the pin? Does it put it near your second putt, or just randomly on the green, or does it not show a hole location at all or something?

[Bob M]

Just now, iacas said:

@Bob M, what happens if you don't tag the pin? Does it put it near your second putt, or just randomly on the green, or does it not show a hole location at all or something?

It seems to put it randomly on the green, but generally around the middle.  

[iacas]

4 minutes ago, Bob M said:

It seems to put it randomly on the green, but generally around the middle.  

Thanks.

[NM Golf]

I played 9 holes yesterday and I had some of the same issues that @boogielicious had. I tagged all the pins, but three of the tags were quite a bit off from where I had tagged them.  On those holes I had tagged the pin as I was walking by after everyone had finished putting. I wonder if it needs you to pause for a second or two as you are tagging?

I also had a few missed tags that I had to add in after the round that I am sure I tried to tag. All in all I still really like the device, and I am starting to get some good data. With summer right around the corner I will start playing a lot more and I am looking forward to using it to help me improve.

Question...does anyone know if you have to upload the round after each time you play, or can you play a couple rounds and then upload them? I didn't see anything in the owners manual, but I could have missed it. Would be good to know as I will get in 36 quite a bit in the next couple months.

[iacas]

54 minutes ago, NM Golf said:

I played 9 holes yesterday and I had some of the same issues that @boogielicious had. I tagged all the pins, but three of the tags were quite a bit off from where I had tagged them.  On those holes I had tagged the pin as I was walking by after everyone had finished putting. I wonder if it needs you to pause for a second or two as you are tagging?

I mean, it's GPS, and it's GPS that is often attached to a large body of water.

They've asked us to just use the general support line for help, instead of having a direct line, and that's fine because it's how it will be for all. So, email them and report back, @NM Golf?

[boogielicious]

5 hours ago, iacas said:

What about it is "much better"? I've only used it for nine holes, but it seems to be…

Pros:

• Screen with GPS.
• Smaller.
• Company is still alive and the stats are likely better.

Cons:

• No beeping (even as an option, as some disliked the beeping on the GG).
• More awkward to tag since it's to the face, not the bottom.
• Custom charger instead of a standard one (hey, I didn't say it was a big con).

Battery life seems to be about the same. The editing interface feels different but similar.

I summarized a lot in my first review post but here goes.

Pros

1. The unit has all the functions available during play on the screen.
2. You can confirm you’ve linked to the course without needing to open a phone app. I did that for GG Live with my iPhone. But the GG unit itself doesn’t tell you you’re connected other than the flashing light. Even then, it would flash and vibrate, but when I tried to upload to my phone it would fail to show any shots.
3. The on screen GPS is easy to read even without my bifocals.
4. You can confirm you tagged from the screen if you didn’t feel the vibration.
5. It’s small and has a cradle that attaches to your belt so you can remove it easily.
6. It has hazard info available.
7. Syncing is pretty easy to do when I get home.
8. Editing for the most part is simple once you know the method (adding shots missed, penalties and moving tag locations.

Cons

1. Vibration could be more noticeable. Beeping would be better.
2. It seems to only show hazards directly in between you and the green. We had one hole with a short hazard 80 yards from the tee and another about 200 out on the left and right sides of the fairway with a 30 yard fairway gap. We couldn’t see the yardage to the second hazard and it’s a blind shot.
3. Editing on the iPhone is a bit challenging when you have putts overlaying each other. You kind of have to tap a couple of times to get the right one to move it if needed.
4. The Manual needs to show more examples to be clearer.

I haven’t examined stats yet as I’ve only had three rounds to work with.

I’m playing a course next week in NH that doesn’t have very good cell service. GG never connected there. It will be interesting to see if the H4 can work there.