Golf on the Band 2

[HSolo]

Hmm....the comment on the Band recording a practice shot as an actual shot leaves me with some questions. I thought long and hard, for a while, on how does the Band (original and now version 2) know what is a practice swing, and what is an actual swing. I thought about the contact with the ball being the catalyst.....but then wondered why taking a divot on the practice swing did not register as a stroke. Finally I came up with what seemed to me the easiest and simplest answer: It was done via GPS. In other words, if you took 4 practice swings......and then took 4 swings hitting 4 golf balls, all without physically moving more than a yard or so, it should only register one shot. Now, I have not done an actual test of this, but I have 20+ rounds with the Band 1 and Band 2 where this has seemed to be the case just in normal play observations.

So with "peterrod116" stating that a steeper swing angle affect this, I may have to do some actual testing on my theory of how shot counting works. I was convinced I had figured out how it did this, and now with one sentence, I have to question everything I previously thought :wink:

 

[obsidianzodiac]

Pretty sure I read somewhere that's how it differentiates, by GPS coordinates. One shot logged per unlimited swings at X/Y coordinates. It was in the same article talking about short putts, because if you walk only 4 feet and putt again it might not pick up multiple short putts due to inability to sense a GPS change.

Should be pretty easy to prove true or false.

 

[gbafam]

They could, you know, just tell us instead of making us guess.

 

[insight3fl]

Pretty sure I read somewhere that's how it differentiates, by GPS coordinates. One shot logged per unlimited swings at X/Y coordinates. It was in the same article talking about short putts, because if you walk only 4 feet and putt again it might not pick up multiple short putts due to inability to sense a GPS change.

Should be pretty easy to prove true or false.

I believe there is a time element component too. It mentions that when you take a shot to wait a few seconds (like leaving it in the bunker ie; no gps change) before hitting it again.

 

[CarlGalgano]

I currently have a Moto 360 and a Garmin golf watch and am interested in the Band 2 to replace both. Is there a way to get a list of courses that are availabe in the golf app without actually owning the band? I have never not found a course with my garmin watch the last 3 years that I have owned it. I wonder if they use the same database? Thanks in advance.

 

[HSolo]

I currently have a Moto 360 and a Garmin golf watch and am interested in the Band 2 to replace both. Is there a way to get a list of courses that are availabe in the golf app without actually owning the band? I have never not found a course with my garmin watch the last 3 years that I have owned it. I wonder if they use the same database? Thanks in advance.

Since Microsoft Health app is available on WP, Android, and iPhone, you should be able to install the app and then go to the golf section of the app and view courses by country and state / province.

 

[CarlGalgano]

Perfect answer! I downloaded the app and the courses I usually play are listed. Thank you very much.

 

[Snapperlicious]

Hmm....the comment on the Band recording a practice shot as an actual shot leaves me with some questions. I thought long and hard, for a while, on how does the Band (original and now version 2) know what is a practice swing, and what is an actual swing. I thought about the contact with the ball being the catalyst.....but then wondered why taking a divot on the practice swing did not register as a stroke. Finally I came up with what seemed to me the easiest and simplest answer: It was done via GPS. In other words, if you took 4 practice swings......and then took 4 swings hitting 4 golf balls, all without physically moving more than a yard or so, it should only register one shot. Now, I have not done an actual test of this, but I have 20+ rounds with the Band 1 and Band 2 where this has seemed to be the case just in normal play observations.

So with "peterrod116" stating that a steeper swing angle affect this, I may have to do some actual testing on my theory of how shot counting works. I was convinced I had figured out how it did this, and now with one sentence, I have to question everything I previously thought :wink:

I am fairly certain this is correct, and with my test it didn't appear that there was a time element to it. I took a shot that it counted, walked to the cart which was about 20' away, grabbed another ball, walked back to the spot I hit the first, and hit another. It did not count the 2nd shot. Maybe it was a coincidence, but it seems to support the GPS theory.

 

[Dave47]

Played first round of golf with my new B2 today. Bright sunny perfect autumn day in Chicagoland.
Selected the course we played on. OK. Got to the first hole and pushed the action button. B2 told me what hole I was on, length and par. OK. Got a 4 on the first hole (par) and that's what I saw (squinting) on the B2 screen. OK. Moved to the next hole. Felt a vibration as we walked up to the tee box. B2 told me we were on hole #2, etc. OK (so far).

Again, It was a very bright and crisp day. Low humidity, no clouds - problem #1 screen very hard to read. I wanted to play golf and not squint at a screen and that's exactly what I did. Felt the vibrations on the tees so I thought all was well. I'll now cut to the chase.

After we finished our round I wanted to see how B2 golf scored my round, etc. Problem #2 - no where could I find any history of my playing golf today. Hummm.... Maybe it takes awhile to get the data recorded. Waited an hour. Still nothing.

So... I guess I musta missed something kinda important WRT telling B2 to save my score. Steps worked fine during the round. Golf score not so much.

Final observations. I *caught* myself staring at the B2 screen way too much and thinking "is there a button I need to press now, etc." This has *nothing* to do with one's trying to hit a ball which takes a fair amount of concentration. Maybe a natural first time thing. But I'd rather not stare at a screen when I'm outside with Mother Nature. Observation #2 -- the brighter it is outside (which is a good thing) the worse it is to read a screen. Today couldn't be any brighter.

Hope I get a few more chances to play golf with the B2 before winter sets in. Seems like I need to learn things about how to "drive" the B2 for golf.

 

[insight3fl]

Dave 47,

It does not get any brighter than here in Southwest Florida on a cloudless day. I pre-set the brightness to as bright as it gets. I had it set on auto and it was too dim and had to squint. I can see mine even through polarized glasses, though I found my self lifting them go get a better look. Did you hit the action button at the end of your round and then scroll over and "end the round" prompt on the touch screen?

 

[Dave47]

Didn't hit the action button. Was having trouble reading the darn screen. I'll maximize brightness next time but I was disappointed there was nothing saved. My fault.

 

[golfingasu]

You have to end the round on the band for it to show up in the app.
I can read my band find in the sunshine but can barely read it with my sunglasses on.

 

[Dave47]

Today as I checked MS Health, I noticed a golf icon appeared at yesterday's date (11/9). I played golf yesterday. See post north of here for details.

Humm... I clicked on the golf icon and the scorecard for the course I played appeared, so it "knew" where I played yesterday. I then looked at the scores registered and lo and behold I shot 72 under. :shocked: Ripley's Believe It Or Not here I come.

This B2 thing is quite a gadget. Excuse me now it's time for the 19th hole.

 

[Snapperlicious]

Again, It was a very bright and crisp day. Low humidity, no clouds - problem #1 screen very hard to read. I wanted to play golf and not squint at a screen and that's exactly what I did.

Yeah, no doubt the screen could be brighter. My first time using it in full sunlight I quickly realized that auto brightness was not going to cut it. I set it to high and now leave it on high all the time. It could still be brighter in full sunlight, but it's good enough. It's brighter than it needs to be indoors, but the screen is so small and I view it for such a short duration that it doesn't bother me.

 

[Captain_Eric]

@Dave47: Good posts. Honest and funny .

I encourage you to keep with it. You need to set it up before you tee off, make sure it grabbed GPS, and take a quick look to make sure it got your strokes right after each swing and make sure the total is right before you go to the next hole. And save it when done.

Turn up the brightness as others have said.

After I settled in, I really liked it. Didn't get in the way.

Good luck. Keep em in middle!!!

 

[Jake52]

Thanks to everyone for the great info on how the golfing feature works on the Band 2, it's very informative. I'm definitely considering getting one because I like the idea of having the Band 2 and I play in a golf league each summer so I'll get a lot of use out of the golf tracking features.

One question, for the people who have the large sized Band 2, is the size an issue at all? I have large wrists and I tried on the medium Band 2 at a MS store a little while back (they didn't have the large) and it was pretty tight. I'll have to get the large but I'm hoping it's not too large. Do you notice it while wearing it and does it effect your golf game at all?

 

[Captain_Eric]

@Jake

I've used only the Band 1, but I understand the Band 2 has a similar racket design on the clasp. Just pick the size that fits well within range of the rackets.

One thought, I wear the Band above the "knuckle" of the wrist, meaning up the arm from the wrist bone. That way it doesn't interfere with the free movement of the wrist during the swing. Even with the "bulkier" Band 1, it was never in the way, didn't mess with my swing. I forget about it.

Good luck and report back!

Thanks to everyone for the great info on how the golfing feature works on the Band 2, it's very informative. I'm definitely considering getting one because I like the idea of having the Band 2 and I play in a golf league each summer so I'll get a lot of use out of the golf tracking features.

One question, for the people who have the large sized Band 2, is the size an issue at all? I have large wrists and I tried on the medium Band 2 at a MS store a little while back (they didn't have the large) and it was pretty tight. I'll have to get the large but I'm hoping it's not too large. Do you notice it while wearing it and does it effect your golf game at all?