Shot Scope just keeps getting better.
With their latest V3 release, Shot Scope is taking their golf performance-tracking platform to a new level in terms of both hardware and data collection and presentation.
The most obvious leap forward for Shot Scope (which is an advertising partner with Golf News Net) is with their new V3 golf watch, which is a tremendous improvement over V2 in every way. The V3 watch is smaller, has a color screen, offers five customizable watch bands and uses a better interface. The smart watch is pivotal to tracking data with Shot Scope, as the on-board GPS connects with the sensors screwed in the grips in your clubs to pinpoint where every shot is struck and with which club. From there, the magic of the platform can be realized, offering more than 100 statistical points of analysis.
The advantages of using the watch are clear. A golfer doesn't have to carry their phone in their pocket or wear some kind of sensor to prep each shot.
Even more, the watch doubles as a GPS watch, which delivers distances to the front, middle and back of each green, as well to hazards and bunkers on each hole. With V3, the GPS functionality is improved by introducing dynamic distances, giving the golfer different measurements based on the angle they're actually taking to the green. The dual-antenna system in the watch is accurate to 15 inches of where the golfer is standing and has 35,000 pre-loaded courses.
The V3 watch not only feels like a true smart watch, but is also holds a charge like one. Whether comparing to an Apple Watch or a Fitbit, the Shot Scope V3 will hold a charge for several rounds -- up to 10 hours -- and charge up faster. The custom charging clip allowed Shot Scope to make the watch substantially smaller because they were able to ditch the USB charging port from V2.
Typically, the strap on a watch is kind of an afterthought, at least from a technical perspective. It's thought of as an aesthetic element. With the V3, though, the strap does some heavy lifting. Called the Power-Sense AI strap, it has an antenna which continuously scans for a golfer's swing to pick up even more data than in V2. As the golfer uses V3, the on-device artificial intelligence will learn even more about your tendencies and style, helping to refine its tracking capability.
The watch is looking for action from the RFID sensor tags that come with the platform. The tags have GPS chips that screw into the butt end of your grips, allowing for easy sync with the watch. However, Shot Scope has made data collection even easier, improving their PinCollect function to capture hole location and the number of putts struck on the green. Additionally, a golfer can declare a provisional on the watch and give yourself penalty strokes on the watch. That saves time after the round in refining the data collection, which is a frequent complaint of golfers getting into performance tracking.
The V3 offers three modes for play: GPS+Track, GPS and Pro. The GPS+Track mode tracks performance with the club tags and offers all the functions of the GPS watch to measure distances. The GPS mode only uses the distance-measurement functions. The Pro mode only tracks performance data, disabling the GPS for competition.
Having captured more than 50 million shots on the platform to date, Shot Scope says golfers improve their scores by an average of three strokes after being empowered with the data from the platform, which has no subscription fees.
Getting started is easy: Buy the V3 device for $219, download the Shot Scope app, sync over Bluetooth with your mobile device and go play golf. The data captured can be viewed in real-time (a no-no during a tournament, but otherwise OK) or after the fact, through the app or on their website.
The Shot Scope V3 Smart Golf Watch is available now, including 16 club tags and one strap (available in black, blue, red, gray and purple) for $179 through the end of July before going to its regular price of $219. Additional straps are $40 each.
The company is also offering the ShotScope G3, which has only the GPS watch functions, without performance tracking, for an introductory price of $159 through July, with a regular price of $179.
