5 Tips About Golf GPS You Can’t Afford to Miss

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If your golf game is anything like mine, then you’re always looking for the Next Big Thing to help you improve. Sure, going to the driving range and spending time on the putting green is important, but what else can you do to help get rid of those extra strokes? Well, in the last couple of year, modern technology has given us a lot of things to help our overall game. From better designed clubs to more responsive balls, the game of golf has never been more high-tech than it is now.

For many players , though, one of the most useful and innovative inventions has been the best golf GPS. If you haven’t bought a GPS yet, you don’t know what you’re missing out on. And if you have bought one, chances are you aren’t aware of how to get the most out of this handy little miracle. If that’s the case, then read on to learn five pro-tips for getting your money’s worth out of your golf GPS.

​1. Use Your GPS to Learn Your Distances

Ask a golfer how far they can hit a ball with a certain club, and chances are most of them will say something along the lines of, “I don’t know.” The fact is, though, that you will never get your game as good as it can be without knowing the answer to this simple, yet crucial, question. In fact, we would argue that if you don’t know how far you can expect to hit a ball with a given club, you shouldn’t even use a GPS in the first place – -because really, what’s the point? What is the good in knowing how far you are from a certain destination if you can’t take that information and turn it into action?

The good news is the GPS can help you with that question. Most GPS units have a practice function that can help you measure the distance a ball travels. So, next time you’re going the range, spend some time gauging your shots. Hit 10 or 15 balls with the same club and measure. You might find a great variety in the distances, which shows that you need to work more specifically with that club or some other detail of your stroke. However, once you start noting a consistent length in your shots, record an average number. In the future, refer to these numbers when using your GPS to show you how far away you are from the green.

​2. Target the Center of the Green

Many golfers make the mistake of targeting the cup, wherever it’s placed. This is fine in some cases, but when the cup is close to the edge of the green even a small mistake can send you off the green and into trouble. Your GPS can most likely give you information about many different parts of the green, but for most players, the center should be the target. That way, if you make a mistake, or don’t allow for wind, or something else happens, you haven’t hit the ball so far off course that you waste stroked getting it back.

​3. Learn Your Strengths (and Weaknesses) and Play to Those

This is similar in some ways to point one — use your GPS to figure out how you play and handle your clubs. However, this takes that one step further. In addition to knowing how far you are away from the green and the appropriate club for the shot, consider other scenarios as well. For example: an errant tee shot often sees balls go into the woods. Most players simply chip the ball back into the fairway without considering how far they’ve actually hit it. Or they’ll try and lob it closer to the green along the way, without paying attention to the distances. What happens, then, is that these players often find themselves setting up for shot three at awkward distances — distances they’ve never really encountered before, because they typically don’t happen in a normal approach.

So, if you find yourself in this situation, before you hit it out of the woods and back onto the fairway, look at your GPS and figure out where you should actually hit it to play to your distance strengths. It might even be that hitting it away from the green works out better in the long run, as this sets up a much more comfortable third shot.

​4. Use Your GPS To Record Your Stats

Many GPS units can actually record your playing stats as you go. If yours does this, then it is imperative that you use this feature to study your game. Once you’ve got about three or four full rounds under your belt, then the GPS can start to give you really useful information about the strengths and weaknesses of your particular game.

​5. Use Your GPS Before You Play

Knowledge is crucial. This is true for just about everything we do, and it’s certainly true for golf. Many GPS units have full graphical renderings of thousands and thousands of courses world-wide, which you can bring up and view at any time. So, before you hit the links, use your GPS unit to study the course. Familiarize yourself with the fairways, the hazards, the greens and all the other pieces of information you can. Knowledge like this could make the difference in the future!