Golf mode for Suunto 9

Hi all, besides running, swimming and playing squash, I also love golf. I am not really interested however in having the full details of all possible golf courses on my watch, but rather would suggest a simple and pragmatic golf mode for the Suunto 9 to track distance and strokes. This mode is designed for those of us who walk the course :-):

Golf-specific Events:

Start of game
Start of hole
Strokes
End of hole
End of game

Golf-Specific Logs

Total walking distance from “start of game” to “end of game”
Total duration from “start of game” to “end of game”
Distance between strokes (i.e. shot distance, as opposed to walking distance)

Additional logs:

heart rate, calories

Events:

(1) Start the game: top right button. Starts the duration count, the walking distance log, and labels the start hole as “hole 1”

(2) Log the first stroke: push the middle button

(3) Log the next stroke: push the middle button. This also calculates the shot distance (GPS function needed) between the first stroke and the second stroke. Shot distance should be linear from stroke point to stroke point (i.e. corresponding to the flight and landing path of the ball) and different from walking distance.

(4) Finish hole: bottom right button. Actioning this button also logs the number of strokes for the first hole, calculates the shot distance between previous stroke and where the “end of hole” has been pushed, and switches the display to “hole 2”.

(5) Continue with (2) to (4) for the duration of the game

(6) Pause: Push the top right button

(7) End of game: push top right button and confirm by pushing bottom right button. This stops the duration count and the walking distance measurement.

Egika

@MartinLX great ideas!
Why not automate the stroke detection? The inbuilt accelerometer should easily be able to detect a golf stroke and then log it automatically, no?

@Egika many thanks, I think this would indeed be great!

I am just wondering how reliable the detection work of the accelerometer can be. For example, many golfers do one or two practice swings to make sure they have the right position and feeling for the next shot. The practice swing is not intended to hit the ball (is carried out next to the ball) and does not count as a stroke, but is actually (more or less) the same movement. So could the accelerometer detect that difference?

Also, the intensity of strokes varies greatly between using a driver (very intense stroke) down to a putter (very soft stroke). And a “real” stroke with the putter is a fraction of the intensity of the practice swing (i.e. trial swing without hitting the ball) with a driver or an iron. If the accelerometer could indeed still detect the difference between a practice swing and a real stroke irrespective of the club used and the intensity of the stroke, that would be great!

Egika

@MartinLX I love this discussion - and have to admit that I have no clue about golf
Thinking technically you are right - it will not be possible to tell which swing is the practice and the real one.
Still - if there is a certain procedure involved - like all practice and real stroke happen in the same position, you could combine the accelerometer data with GPS position to get your data. From all strokes in one place the last one is counted (or do you do strokes in that same place after playing the ball?).
So basically the wtach needs to detect all strokes and buffer the information until you move on - then the last stroke is countetd.
Accelerometer data could also tell if a stroke was a driver or a putter (with some grey zone inbetween…)

Now while I like this idea of innovative thinking - I highly doubt Suunto will focus on this

Dimitrios Kanellopoulos

This could be a good candidate for S+

@Egika thanks a lot and am sure the approach you suggest is technically feasible! I thought maybe having a basic but still very useful golf mode (without movement detection and buffering them) actually increases the chances to be taken up in a future release Let’s see and we then lobby for a “Tech Golf Mode” as a next step? And probably an excellent opportunity for you to discover golf…

@Dimitrios-Kanellopoulos Thanks Dimitrios - what or who is S+? Happy to develop a use-case if needed/useful, and would love to have @Egika on that as well!

Likarnik

@Egika said in Golf mode for Suunto 9:

@MartinLX great ideas!
Why not automate the stroke detection? The inbuilt accelerometer should easily be able to detect a golf stroke and then log it automatically, no?

I think this should not be difficult, last time I found out that it measures cadence when stand up paddling

Egika

@Likarnik yes - this is standard function. It also does swim style recognition (with mixed results ;))

freeheeler

@Dimitrios-Kanellopoulos
S+, yes… but not as dominant as we know it from garmin… otherwize I need to get a golf club and drive my watch far away

isazi

@TELE-HO I remember you didn’t like Garmin showing golf in the main screen

@Likarnik Worth giving it a thought, although in golf not all strokes count so I wonder how the watch would be able to differentiate between real strokes that count, and “test strokes” where you do not intend to hit the ball. See the exchanges between @Egika and me earlier. What do you think?

@isazi, @TELE-HO, @Likarnik, @Dimitrios-Kanellopoulos and anyone else: do you use a Suunto 9 for golfing?

I think the default golf mode is not much different from a running or walking mode, so not useful if you want to use the watch as a digital scorecard and furthermore track distances (ball flight distances on top of walking distances) between strokes.

For the moment I am using the lap mode to count each stroke, which gives me a sort-of digital scorecard:

At the start of the game at the first hole, I start a new golf activity. The start of activity marks the first lap and hence the first stroke
Once I have reached the ball and perform the next stroke, I generate a new lap
After the first hole is finished, the number of laps is equal to the number of strokes
For any subsequent hole, the number of laps however only increases so I have to deduct the strokes from the previous hole(s) to get the correct number of strokes for the current hole. I write the per-hole strokes down on paper or on the iPhone (…)
At the end of the game, I have the total number of strokes (i.e. laps) in my watch, and need to look at my manual (!) list to see many strokes each hole represented. Counting strokes per hole via web after the watch has synced with Suunto and Strava is not great.

This approach at least allows me to track the number of counting strokes (i.e. laps), walking distance between strokes (laps), time between strokes (laps), and of course total activity duration and walking distance.

It works well but counting only a total of strokes of the entire game is not great. Of course, I could create a new activity for each hole, but I do not want that since a 18-hole golf course would be 18 different activities…

Maybe you have found other ways? Would be interested to get your views!

Mff73

@MartinLX
I have answered something in your other post.
Please don’t duplicate .

@Dimitrios-Kanellopoulos got it now and filed a suggestion there as well. Thanks!

freeheeler

@MartinLX
no I don’t play golf and while I normally say “never say never” you can believe me, I will never ever play golf and I’ve got reasons that I don’t want to put in here

BUT(!), as you use your watch for golfing, it’s not what a golf watch would actually do. I know from a friend of mine who does play golf, and who I really do not envy for this, that there’s a garmin watch available only made for golf… obviously it does not only count strokes and times for each strokes, but also analyzes your motion and efficiency and if you’re holding and swinging that club how it’s supposed to…

but well… while I think everyone should do what he likes, I really respect what everyone does, but golf is nothing for me, really

@TELE-HO said in Golf mode for Suunto 9:

@MartinLX
no I don’t play golf and while I normally say “never say never” you can believe me, I will never ever play golf and I’ve got reasons that I don’t want to put in here

BUT(!), as you use your watch for golfing, it’s not what a golf watch would actually do. I know from a friend of mine who does play golf, and who I really do not envy for this, that there’s a garmin watch available only made for golf… obviously it does not only count strokes and times for each strokes, but also analyzes your motion and efficiency and if you’re holding and swinging that club how it’s supposed to…

but well… while I think everyone should do what he likes, I really respect what everyone does, but golf is nothing for me, really

I know that watch, and I think this is total overkill - hence why I am looking for a pragmatic golf mode. Maybe that could convince you one day to play? No, jokes apart, everyone has its reasons to like or dislike, and welcome to diversity!