TST Explores GAME Golf

[billchao]

That looks similar to a shot zone. It would really push me over the edge to have this and get shot zones from it. Is this something you are expecting it to do?

I'm not quite sure it illustrates a Shot Zone, just that Erik is pretty good at hitting his target with his 9 iron.

To get a true Shot Zone, the Game Golf would have to know where your target is, in relation to your aim line. I just don't see it doing that.

[iacas]

That looks similar to a shot zone. It would really push me over the edge to have this and get shot zones from it. Is this something you are expecting it to do?

I'm not quite sure it illustrates a Shot Zone, just that Erik is pretty good at hitting his target with his 9 iron.

To get a true Shot Zone, the Game Golf would have to know where your target is, in relation to your aim line. I just don't see it doing that.

I do think it assumes the center of the green is your target.

A guy on Twitter responded to me a few weeks ago about using his GG to create his Shot Zones. It may literally have been what prompted me to start looking into it, or one of the straws on the camel's back at least.

[billchao]

I do think it assumes the center of the green is your target.

A guy on Twitter responded to me a few weeks ago about using his GG to create his Shot Zones. It may literally have been what prompted me to start looking into it, or one of the straws on the camel's back at least.

Then that is pretty useful. Play a few rounds to establish your Shot Zones, then adjust accordingly and the GG will continue to monitor your performance.

How does it work on drives? Does it assume your target is the center of the fairway?

[iacas]

How does it work on drives? Does it assume your target is the center of the fairway?

Yeah. Probably. That's the only thing that would make sense.

[saevel25]

The only way I could see it doing shot zones would be if you just tee off on every hole with the same iron, aiming down the center of the fairway. That way you can just use that as the target line on the software.

[mvmac]

@iacas , have you found that the use is at all intrusive to your routine?  How do you specifically go about tagging each shot?  Do you walk up to the ball, tag it, then step back and start your routine, or is it in your routine somehow?  I really want this (and could basically get it for "free" anytime) but my current worry is that the excitement I have now will be replaced by tedium once I start using it and it'll end up at the bottom of the bag.

Not intrusive at all, you can basically tag whenever you want, heck you could even do it after you hit the shot. For most shots I tag right before I address the ball. Sometimes I forget and tag when I'm over the ball. Couples times I forgot altogether and tagged in the cart and just edited it later.

The gps that attaches to your belt (or where ever) also isn't intrusive at address or when you swing.

I think so. Mike lost his 6I tag, so I've been meaning to ask them about that.

Yeah I lost my 5 iron tag and they give you some spare tags with different symbols (star, circle, triangle). It was easy to designate a "symbol" tag for the 5 iron and it worked when I uploaded my round yesterday.

@Golfingdad I'm not sure if you can buy extra ones but it would be easy to take the tags off and put them on a different set of clubs.

At this point I think it rates as a little more "cool" than "super useful" but they are adding features all the time.

Agree. I think if you have a couple buddies that have one it can be cool to browse through each other's rounds. You get an email notification letting your know when someone you follow signs for a round.

[Zeph]

The only way I could see it doing shot zones would be if you just tee off on every hole with the same iron, aiming down the center of the fairway. That way you can just use that as the target line on the software.

That sounds like a way to do it. Different looking holes can of course affect your shots; hazards, uphill, downhill, roll etc. The problem with using the general statistic given from a number of rounds is probably that you don't hit each club the same way each time. A soft 9i here, a hard one there, a choked up one, etc. The mindgames of hazards, green layout etc. also makes a difference.

It's better than nothing, but standing on the same spot, hitting to the same target 10-20 times sounds like the ideal way to figure out shot zones.

[iacas]

Just wanted to add this.

GG estimates that these yardages are your "90%" swings, and they automatically filter out "punch shots" and "poor shots" (and one would assume greenside chips and things).

At first I was like "38-yard 8-irons"? Huh?

But it says 138. The 1 just isn't displaying. The 137 to the left of it shows up.

Anyway, too small a sample size, but reasonably accurate distances. Especially those with more than two samples. :)

Anyone who wants can follow me. Creating an account is free. I'm iacas. @mvmac is mvmac83.

[CarlSpackler]

Just wanted to add this.

GG estimates that these yardages are your "90%" swings, and they automatically filter out "punch shots" and "poor shots" (and one would assume greenside chips and things).

At first I was like "38-yard 8-irons"? Huh?

But it says 138. The 1 just isn't displaying. The 137 to the left of it shows up.

Anyway, too small a sample size, but reasonably accurate distances. Especially those with more than two samples. :)

Anyone who wants can follow me. Creating an account is free. I'm iacas. @mvmac is mvmac83.

Now THAT is cool and useful information. This is what I was hoping to get out of it.

[mvmac]

Couple interesting looks.

From 175-200 yards

From 150-175

6 iron. I think you can get a decent idea of your Shot Zone. Lately I have definitely had the tendency to hit straight pushes and in my last two rounds I have been more aware of aiming my Shot Zone slightly left.

I would obviously want a larger sample size because every shot/hole is a little different. The lie, pin location, where the trouble is, is going to influence where I try and hit it, it's not like getting your Shot Zone data by hitting 10-20 shots on FlightScope. But I think with enough shots, the player's shot pattern will be clear.

[grubby98]

When you get to the green do you tell the game golf the distance to your divot, or to where the ball stops?  I would want to know how far I hit it to my divot on the green so I know my carry distance.  But then how do you record your next shot if your ball isnt close to your divor, spin, had green, etc?  Thanks

[Zeph]

6 iron. I think you can get a decent idea of your Shot Zone. Lately I have definitely had the tendency to hit straight pushes and in my last two rounds I have been more aware of aiming my Shot Zone slightly left.

I would obviously want a larger sample size because every shot/hole is a little different. The lie, pin location, where the trouble is, is going to influence where I try and hit it, it's not like getting your Shot Zone data by hitting 10-20 shots on FlightScope. But I think with enough shots, the player's shot pattern will be clear.

Is the flag actually the flag? If so, do you always aim at the flag, or can the charts be misleading since you might aim for a part of the green, not necessarily the flag?

[mvmac]

When you get to the green do you tell the game golf the distance to your divot, or to where the ball stops?  I would want to know how far I hit it to my divot on the green so I know my carry distance.  But then how do you record your next shot if your ball isnt close to your divor, spin, had green, etc?  Thanks

I just tap it from where I'm hitting my next shot. For irons shots I think it's close enough, the ball mark isn't going to be that far away from where you land it for most irons.

Is the flag actually the flag? If so, do you always aim at the flag, or can the charts be misleading since you might aim for a part of the green, not necessarily the flag?

I think the flag displayed just takes into account all the shots I've hit so far, so yes I'm pretty sure the flag is the flag. It can be slightly misleading because most of the time I'm trying to hit it closer to the center of the green, but even if you got rid of the flag you could still see shot patterns. When I look at those pics I posted I don't really care where the ball is in relation to the flag, I'm more looking at where the balls tend to be grouped together.

[Golfingdad]

When I look at those pics I posted I don't really care where the ball is in relation to the flag, I'm more looking at where the balls tend to be grouped together.

Maybe I'm thinking about this wrong, but I see a problem with that.  Let's say that one the first hole, the pin is tucked way right, and you want nothing to do with it, so you aim for the center of the green, 10 yards to the left of it, but hit a big push that ends up pretty close to the hole.  Then on the second hole the situation is reversed.  Pin tucked way left, your target is 10 yards right of that and you pull it at the hole.

GG would show those two shots as right on top of each other right on the target, whereas if you were putting a shot zone together on a Trackman, those two shots would be 20 yards apart.

I'm wondering if you could manipulate the system, by adjusting the flag location to your target after the round in editing?  Certainly, it will screw up your short game and putting stats if you're putting the flag somewhere other than it actually is, but I feel like maybe that would be a good way to make some shot zones?

Or just say to hell with #deadcenter and start firing at every flag for several rounds. :)

[mvmac]

Maybe I'm thinking about this wrong, but I see a problem with that.  Let's say that one the first hole, the pin is tucked way right, and you want nothing to do with it, so you aim for the center of the green, 10 yards to the left of it, but hit a big push that ends up pretty close to the hole.  Then on the second hole the situation is reversed.  Pin tucked way left, your target is 10 yards right of that and you pull it at the hole.

I did say it could be slightly misleading I just think with enough shots, a pattern will emerge. I could be wrong, reason we're investigating it.

I'm wondering if you could manipulate the system, by adjusting the flag location to your target after the round in editing?

Yes you could do that.

[iacas]

I did say it could be slightly misleading  I just think with enough shots, a pattern will emerge. I could be wrong, reason we're investigating it.

Yeah!

@Golfingdad , this is really just a trick to force @mvmac to play more golf on actual golf courses.

And don't worry, Mike won't find out about this. It's a secret, and so I've hidden it inside spoiler tags.

[Ernest Jones]

I totally read that.

[saturday]

@iacas done!

I've been away lots this summer but got hooked on the concept of Game Golf and that's all I could think about the last few days. I've been watching reviews and this is exactly what I wanted. I'm putting this bad boy on my wife's shopping list for me :)

Thanks for the feedback!