Why I Chose Skycaddie SX400

[Babydaddy]

My thinking leading up to the decision to buy an SX 400:

I've been researching shot tracking solutions, range finders and GPS devices for a while now. I'm a single digit 49 year old that likes Boars Head Honey Maple Turkey and plain Lays chips, but I digress. I had a Skycaddie SG2.5 and you couldn't kill that thing. Then I got a Garmin watch and a G10. 

I have two courses that I mainly play and a couple of others. Recently my wife and I went to Austin and I was fortunate to play some new courses. One of those was Avery Ranch, and had I not had a member with me, guiding me, I would have shot 10 strokes worse. I bought a yardage book before the round and between my new friend and that I was able to navigate pretty well.

I got to thinking, what can I do to really help my game? Am I playing my home course optimally? 

I have an Apple Watch and iPhone 11, so I tried 18 Birdies walking 18 the other day. I had my Garmin G10 to check what I was seeing with the 18 Birdies app. 

I quickly learned that I HATE fitzing about with technology while I'm playing- I mean HATE it. 

I also hated being interrupted by notices on my watch, texts, etc...

The battery drain on phones and watches is a real thing with constant GPS.

I feel a dedicated golf device, that has battery life of two rounds or more is better than combining the my life and phone notification world with golf. 

The Skycaddie hardware I've had has been rock solid as opposed to my Garmin watch which died- although that can happen to any company.

Although Arccos and Shotscope are probably great shot tracking, I care more about detailed information about the course and being able to adjust line of sight with yardages and shape of green etc... for me, I want to concentrate on strategy on the course. 

 

Why I don't like rangefinders for playing on course:

Some of the guys I play with have rangefinders. I wanted to like them. They frustrate me more than help. Trying to steady my hands; what am I really pinging? 

Yes I know there are super-nice units that help with those things but then for me, using a range finder doesn't put me in a playing mentality. Telling me the distance to one object or hump is in my opinion a very narrow view of playing golf, and creates more questions than answers. Ok the mound on the front of the green is 144 yards but how much distance between there and the pin? What if I go over the pin? How many feet are on the back of that? What is over the back of the green? What miss is the least catastrophic?

A range finder tells you none of those things.

What about shot tracking and statistics that will help your game?:

Would I like to know strokes gained from the tee etc..? Sure, but for me, the thing that is going to be the most impactful to my score is my ability to have confidence in scenarios a, b and c and to spend most of my round thinking my way around the course that way. I believe making these "sweet calculations of wind etc..." help to keep me closer to being in a performance zone. I have concluded that if I look at tendencies like which way do I miss when I do, etc... needs to be away from the round and probably on a computer, not an iPhone or iPad. Also, I pretty much know what I need to work on because I am very intentional about answering questions in practice. Could some detailed analysis help, sure. Things like, putts per green in regulation and proximity to the hole with certain clubs. But, to me, if I pay attention to basic shot tracking I will be able to confirm that all other things equal, my 3 wood is a weapon and I score better from the fairway than I do the rough or woods. I thought about Arrcos and Shot Scope, but I trust the yardages of the Skycaddie more and I believe the detailed information on the SX400 will help my scores and enjoyment of the game more than just pure shot tracking. Skycaddie 360, while not the nicest or robust statistics app, will serve the purpose I need.

 

So what then?

For the way I think, being able to have a caddie/yardage book approach to a golf course is going to help me the most. The technology on the SX400 is such that I can quickly answer the questions that I would ask a professional caddie on the course. 

I know what you are thinking! But Noel, it's known that even the best GPS devices can be 3-10 yards off depending on conditions. Let me say that on balance, I have a lot of confidence in Skycaddie yardages after comparing to other GPS and rangefinders. Even if it's 5 yards off, you can account for those tolerances in your strategy IF you have a yardage book approach as opposed to a point and shoot approach. Most of the time, I have found GPS units to be within 1-3 yards of rangefinders. I still say having information right there, right now, when you walk up on your ball is better than pointing and shooting things with no real visual framework.

Say the unit says I have 133, 148, and 159 front, middle back. I can move the pointer to a spot along that line (the green will adjust to line of play) and say, ok if I hit my stock 9 iron what happens? What if I hit my not so good 9 iron? What if I nut it at the top of my range? I can factor in a couple yards plus or minus and come up with a strategy that gives me confidence. Harvey Penick said it's more important for most players to have full confidence over a shot than to be 100% correct about exact yardage and perfect club selection. If you are a club off but hit a great shot, you are probably going to be somewhat ok. Having the dynamic yardage information helps all of this. 

 

What about fees and subscriptions?

You are pretty much going to pay (Shotscope excluded) for data tracking etc... I care about the quality of the course mapping and the ability to have straightforward, detailed information on the course that I can see with my middle-aged eyes. The stats, while interesting and important, are secondary to me. The Sky 360 app will be just fine for me. I can go back and review a shot by shot graphical recap of my shots in a round, and that's really all I need. Missing right or left, short or long, proximity to the hole, etc... are important. One statistic that I am interested in is approach game and around the green strokes gained. I knew my wedge game sucked and I worked on it, then it started to become a strength. How detailed do I need to get to know that? I think there is a point of diminishing returns for someone who processes information like I do. 

I think for me, learning to think this way is the most important thing: If there is a part of the game that seems to be a problem, in what WAY is it a problem? One issue with my wedge game was decision making about club and shot. So knowing, I lose strokes here is great but to me, the question is always WHY are you losing strokes? Is it purely a technique issue? Is it decision making? Is it mental, like you fear something about these shots, like fairway bunkers? 

Are you missing putts short on your home course short because you have been putting on fast greens and haven't adjusted or are you not making good contact with the putter? OR are worried so much about the line that you don't concentrate on speed? These are the questions I like to answer in practice.

 

Conclusion:

In researching this I have learned that we are all a little different and what will actually help us play better and enjoy the game more is different. Technology is a great thing if used in a way that stays out of the way of the golfer. I learned how much technology tolerance I have for tracking and statistics and that is very low. I did not enjoy playing dealing with that. I want dedicated, simple to use device that I know I can trust to help me strategize around the course with confidence no matter where I am on the course. Being able to go back and look at the round from a birds eye view is great too, but knowing my range of yardages is the main thing for me along with answering questions in practice about what I see in a round. My mentality is that I want to know within a range what are the potential outcomes. If I clear that bend in the fairway how many yards to the bunker behind it? What happens over on the right side? If I miss over there, what's there? Will I be blocked by trees? That's how I see and enjoy golf and when I have confidence that within my quality of shot range there is a low chance something catastrophic will happen, that sends my confidence through the roof. It's fun to play chess on the course. 

If you are a pro, and you are looking for fractions of strokes and competing against other pros, I can see why strokes gained minutia would be so important. For me, I take stock of lots of things in a round and become aware of patterns because I think that way. I knew that my 25-120 yard game was killing my scores but the question as to why was nuanced and required lots of thought and question answering practice. I learned that decision making was the primary cause. I know that 3 putt avoidance is a big deal. But putting is not always a putting problem, sometimes it's a proximity to the hole problem- or a I ended up on the wrong tier of the green problem. This is why a yardage book approach makes so much sense to me. I can tell you the number of times that I walked off the course after shooting say 80 knowing that I left at least 5-6 stupid strokes out there, just with things like missing on the wrong side or landing on a false front etc.. Confidence plays such a part in how I play.

 

What are your experiences?

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 7, 2022 by Babydaddy

[Roody]

I have been a SkyCaddie guy since 2009 if my memory serves me right. I started with the SG4, then went to the Touch, and then about a month or so ago I picked up the SX400 like you. Unfortunately because of weather I'd only had the chance to use my new SX400 once, but I really liked it. That said, I will echo some of your points:

• I love having the front, back, and middle yardages as well as yardages to reach and clear certain hazards on the course. This is what makes the subscription fees worth it, IMO. If I am faced with a tweener yardage, I can look at the front and back yardages and make a good club choice based on that. For example my 9-iron goes 130-135. If the yardage to the middle is 123, but the yardage to the back is 150, I know I can pull 9 and not worry that I am likely to go long. 
• I like that the numbers are readily available at all times. I mount my SkyCaddie to a device holder on my push cart, and I can glance down at any time and the info is already there. I don't have to fish out a range finder and fumble with it to get a number. I've also seen cheaper GPS devices that take a few secs to load the info sometimes.
• I like the fact that I am not draining my phone battery with constant GPS queries. Also, it might be debatable but I don't think GPS on a mobile phone is quite as accurate. 

 

[Babydaddy]

16 minutes ago, Roody said:

I have been a SkyCaddie guy since 2009 if my memory serves me right. I started with the SG4, then went to the Touch, and then about a month or so ago I picked up the SX400 like you. Unfortunately because of weather I'd only had the chance to use my new SX400 once, but I really liked it. That said, I will echo some of your points:

• I love having the front, back, and middle yardages as well as yardages to reach and clear certain hazards on the course. This is what makes the subscription fees worth it, IMO. If I am faced with a tweener yardage, I can look at the front and back yardages and make a good club choice based on that. For example my 9-iron goes 130-135. If the yardage to the middle is 123, but the yardage to the back is 150, I know I can pull 9 and not worry that I am likely to go long. 
• I like that the numbers are readily available at all times. I mount my SkyCaddie to a device holder on my push cart, and I can glance down at any time and the info is already there. I don't have to fish out a range finder and fumble with it to get a number. I've also seen cheaper GPS devices that take a few secs to load the info sometimes.
• I like the fact that I am not draining my phone battery with constant GPS queries. Also, it might be debatable but I don't think GPS on a mobile phone is quite as accurate. 

 

Yeah-the fumbling with the rangefinder! Total buzzkill to me when it comes to visualizing shot and thinking about scenarios! Good point. 

[BirdieBob]

I have the SX 550 and it is awesome....BUT realize it (skycaddie) does not do slope.  So, if one has elevation changes in the shot you must estimate what the actual shot distance is going to be.

A rangefinder with slope will make that estimate for you...and yes I have a rangefinder also so if any question I can get a better yardage with it.

Edited January 7, 2022 by BirdieBob

[Babydaddy]

2 hours ago, BirdieBob said:

I have the SX 550 and it is awesome....BUT realize it (skycaddie) does not do slope.  So, if one has elevation changes in the shot you must estimate what the actual shot distance is going to be.

A rangefinder with slope will make that estimate for you...and yes I have a rangefinder also so if any question I can get a better yardage with it.

Yep that is true- it's a fair point.

[Hickory4ever]

I like you want to play golf more than focusing on information overload. I prefer to evaluate my round after the fact and look for reasons for errors, usually it is course management anyway.

 

I started with Skycaddy several years ago but gravitated to using a Rangefinder mostly on approaches. I recently bought a Garmin G20 as it does not require charging as often. It gives me front, middle, back yardages and yards to hazards when required.

 

Since I play historical clubs most of the time and I like to compare yardages between sets, the G20 is very good at getting yardages sorted out.

 

I think too many players get more confused than benefits from all the apps, phone distractions and the like. I just want to play golf.

[Babydaddy]

2 hours ago, Hickory4ever said:

I like you want to play golf more than focusing on information overload. I prefer to evaluate my round after the fact and look for reasons for errors, usually it is course management anyway.

 

I started with Skycaddy several years ago but gravitated to using a Rangefinder mostly on approaches. I recently bought a Garmin G20 as it does not require charging as often. It gives me front, middle, back yardages and yards to hazards when required.

 

Since I play historical clubs most of the time and I like to compare yardages between sets, the G20 is very good at getting yardages sorted out.

 

I think too many players get more confused than benefits from all the apps, phone distractions and the like. I just want to play golf.

Yeah I think ultimately the hybrid approach is probably the very pinnacle for non-pros- I know it sounds weird but I can play guitar and tie flies but I just can's seem to get along with range finders. 

[Hickory4ever]

Almost everyone playing golf seems to have a measuring device these days. The strange thing is I have not noticed much if any improvement in most golfers which brings into question how much value all this information has. I am not saying there is no value, I like to know where and how far my target is.

 

Even with these devices being available, a lot of golfers do not really know how far they hit each club (especially carry distance). And given that the huge number of casual golfers are so inconsistent that the data may be more confusing than helpful.

 

Decent golfers can of course use these tools to better manage their game. I just think that too much information is counterproductive. Know your yardages, choose your target and hit the damn ball. 

[Roody]

13 minutes ago, Hickory4ever said:

Almost everyone playing golf seems to have a measuring device these days. The strange thing is I have not noticed much if any improvement in most golfers which brings into question how much value all this information has. I am not saying there is no value, I like to know where and how far my target is.

 

Even with these devices being available, a lot of golfers do not really know how far they hit each club (especially carry distance). And given that the huge number of casual golfers are so inconsistent that the data may be more confusing than helpful.

 

Decent golfers can of course use these tools to better manage their game. I just think that too much information is counterproductive. Know your yardages, choose your target and hit the damn ball. 

 

For me personally, I saw a pretty big improvement in my game once I got the SkyCaddie. I am almost embarrassed to admit this, but before I had a rangefinder I would select my approach club off yardage markers in the fairway, which would always have been to center of green. I didn't really pay attention to front vs back vs middle yardages. It wasn't until I got the SkyCaddie that I realized "hey dummy, if it's a blue pin, and the distance between middle and back is 20 yards, that's 1 more club".  Now having that info is crucial on a lot of shots, especially tweener shots. 

I will also say that over time the SkyCaddie has also aided me in learning what I distances I hit my clubs too. 

[ChaosTheory]

@Babydaddy Color me intrigued.  I didn’t know all the capabilities.  I’ll have to dig into this.  I also like Boars Head honey roasted maple turkey, and plain Lays.  How do you feel about Havarti cheese?

[Argonne69]

I play a ton of new courses each year, and I find that one of the biggest advantages of the Skycaddie is the ability to move the pin/cursor around on an odd-shaped green to determine the depth of the green on the line to the flag. I'm not particularly interested in the exact distance to the flag. Knowing that the pin is tucked behind a bunker with only 15 yds of green to work with is the true value of the device. Move the cursor to the center of the green and see that you now have 30 yds of green to work with is invaluable in making a smart decision.

 

[ChaosTheory]

Is the device bricked if you stop your subscription?  Or can you continue to use it on the one course that is in the memory?

[Argonne69]

11 hours ago, Snowman9000 said:

Is the device bricked if you stop your subscription?  Or can you continue to use it on the one course that is in the memory?

 

All recent models of SGs have thousands of courses preloaded. 

 

Not sure if it'll continue to work after the subscription expires, though. It has to be synced initially to load the subscription data, so the device does know when the subscription expires.

 

I've never had an issue with paying for the "service". I've had the "Eagle" (National) plan for years, and it costs me less than 30 cents per round.

 

[Babydaddy]

On 1/8/2022 at 5:42 AM, Argonne69 said:

I play a ton of new courses each year, and I find that one of the biggest advantages of the Skycaddie is the ability to move the pin/cursor around on an odd-shaped green to determine the depth of the green on the line to the flag. I'm not particularly interested in the exact distance to the flag. Knowing that the pin is tucked behind a bunker with only 15 yds of green to work with is the true value of the device. Move the cursor to the center of the green and see that you now have 30 yds of green to work with is invaluable in making a smart decision.

 

Yes- That is so true- Having some idea of what's going on in front of and behind the flag is a big deal

[Green Valley]

On 1/7/2022 at 8:03 AM, Babydaddy said:

My thinking leading up to the decision to buy an SX 400:

I've been researching shot tracking solutions, range finders and GPS devices for a while now. I'm a single digit 49 year old that likes Boars Head Honey Maple Turkey and plain Lays chips, but I digress. I had a Skycaddie SG2.5 and you couldn't kill that thing. Then I got a Garmin watch and a G10. 

I have two courses that I mainly play and a couple of others. Recently my wife and I went to Austin and I was fortunate to play some new courses. One of those was Avery Ranch, and had I not had a member with me, guiding me, I would have shot 10 strokes worse. I bought a yardage book before the round and between my new friend and that I was able to navigate pretty well.

I got to thinking, what can I do to really help my game? Am I playing my home course optimally? 

I have an Apple Watch and iPhone 11, so I tried 18 Birdies walking 18 the other day. I had my Garmin G10 to check what I was seeing with the 18 Birdies app. 

I quickly learned that I HATE fitzing about with technology while I'm playing- I mean HATE it. 

I also hated being interrupted by notices on my watch, texts, etc...

The battery drain on phones and watches is a real thing with constant GPS.

I feel a dedicated golf device, that has battery life of two rounds or more is better than combining the my life and phone notification world with golf. 

The Skycaddie hardware I've had has been rock solid as opposed to my Garmin watch which died- although that can happen to any company.

Although Arccos and Shotscope are probably great shot tracking, I care more about detailed information about the course and being able to adjust line of sight with yardages and shape of green etc... for me, I want to concentrate on strategy on the course. 

 

Why I don't like rangefinders for playing on course:

Some of the guys I play with have rangefinders. I wanted to like them. They frustrate me more than help. Trying to steady my hands; what am I really pinging? 

Yes I know there are super-nice units that help with those things but then for me, using a range finder doesn't put me in a playing mentality. Telling me the distance to one object or hump is in my opinion a very narrow view of playing golf, and creates more questions than answers. Ok the mound on the front of the green is 144 yards but how much distance between there and the pin? What if I go over the pin? How many feet are on the back of that? What is over the back of the green? What miss is the least catastrophic?

A range finder tells you none of those things.

What about shot tracking and statistics that will help your game?:

Would I like to know strokes gained from the tee etc..? Sure, but for me, the thing that is going to be the most impactful to my score is my ability to have confidence in scenarios a, b and c and to spend most of my round thinking my way around the course that way. I believe making these "sweet calculations of wind etc..." help to keep me closer to being in a performance zone. I have concluded that if I look at tendencies like which way do I miss when I do, etc... needs to be away from the round and probably on a computer, not an iPhone or iPad. Also, I pretty much know what I need to work on because I am very intentional about answering questions in practice. Could some detailed analysis help, sure. Things like, putts per green in regulation and proximity to the hole with certain clubs. But, to me, if I pay attention to basic shot tracking I will be able to confirm that all other things equal, my 3 wood is a weapon and I score better from the fairway than I do the rough or woods. I thought about Arrcos and Shot Scope, but I trust the yardages of the Skycaddie more and I believe the detailed information on the SX400 will help my scores and enjoyment of the game more than just pure shot tracking. Skycaddie 360, while not the nicest or robust statistics app, will serve the purpose I need.

 

So what then?

For the way I think, being able to have a caddie/yardage book approach to a golf course is going to help me the most. The technology on the SX400 is such that I can quickly answer the questions that I would ask a professional caddie on the course. 

I know what you are thinking! But Noel, it's known that even the best GPS devices can be 3-10 yards off depending on conditions. Let me say that on balance, I have a lot of confidence in Skycaddie yardages after comparing to other GPS and rangefinders. Even if it's 5 yards off, you can account for those tolerances in your strategy IF you have a yardage book approach as opposed to a point and shoot approach. Most of the time, I have found GPS units to be within 1-3 yards of rangefinders. I still say having information right there, right now, when you walk up on your ball is better than pointing and shooting things with no real visual framework.

Say the unit says I have 133, 148, and 159 front, middle back. I can move the pointer to a spot along that line (the green will adjust to line of play) and say, ok if I hit my stock 9 iron what happens? What if I hit my not so good 9 iron? What if I nut it at the top of my range? I can factor in a couple yards plus or minus and come up with a strategy that gives me confidence. Harvey Penick said it's more important for most players to have full confidence over a shot than to be 100% correct about exact yardage and perfect club selection. If you are a club off but hit a great shot, you are probably going to be somewhat ok. Having the dynamic yardage information helps all of this. 

 

What about fees and subscriptions?

You are pretty much going to pay (Shotscope excluded) for data tracking etc... I care about the quality of the course mapping and the ability to have straightforward, detailed information on the course that I can see with my middle-aged eyes. The stats, while interesting and important, are secondary to me. The Sky 360 app will be just fine for me. I can go back and review a shot by shot graphical recap of my shots in a round, and that's really all I need. Missing right or left, short or long, proximity to the hole, etc... are important. One statistic that I am interested in is approach game and around the green strokes gained. I knew my wedge game sucked and I worked on it, then it started to become a strength. How detailed do I need to get to know that? I think there is a point of diminishing returns for someone who processes information like I do. 

I think for me, learning to think this way is the most important thing: If there is a part of the game that seems to be a problem, in what WAY is it a problem? One issue with my wedge game was decision making about club and shot. So knowing, I lose strokes here is great but to me, the question is always WHY are you losing strokes? Is it purely a technique issue? Is it decision making? Is it mental, like you fear something about these shots, like fairway bunkers? 

Are you missing putts short on your home course short because you have been putting on fast greens and haven't adjusted or are you not making good contact with the putter? OR are worried so much about the line that you don't concentrate on speed? These are the questions I like to answer in practice.

 

Conclusion:

In researching this I have learned that we are all a little different and what will actually help us play better and enjoy the game more is different. Technology is a great thing if used in a way that stays out of the way of the golfer. I learned how much technology tolerance I have for tracking and statistics and that is very low. I did not enjoy playing dealing with that. I want dedicated, simple to use device that I know I can trust to help me strategize around the course with confidence no matter where I am on the course. Being able to go back and look at the round from a birds eye view is great too, but knowing my range of yardages is the main thing for me along with answering questions in practice about what I see in a round. My mentality is that I want to know within a range what are the potential outcomes. If I clear that bend in the fairway how many yards to the bunker behind it? What happens over on the right side? If I miss over there, what's there? Will I be blocked by trees? That's how I see and enjoy golf and when I have confidence that within my quality of shot range there is a low chance something catastrophic will happen, that sends my confidence through the roof. It's fun to play chess on the course. 

If you are a pro, and you are looking for fractions of strokes and competing against other pros, I can see why strokes gained minutia would be so important. For me, I take stock of lots of things in a round and become aware of patterns because I think that way. I knew that my 25-120 yard game was killing my scores but the question as to why was nuanced and required lots of thought and question answering practice. I learned that decision making was the primary cause. I know that 3 putt avoidance is a big deal. But putting is not always a putting problem, sometimes it's a proximity to the hole problem- or a I ended up on the wrong tier of the green problem. This is why a yardage book approach makes so much sense to me. I can tell you the number of times that I walked off the course after shooting say 80 knowing that I left at least 5-6 stupid strokes out there, just with things like missing on the wrong side or landing on a false front etc.. Confidence plays such a part in how I play.

 

What are your experiences?

 

 

 

 

 

Do you prefer the device over the watch?

[dbdors]

I have the SX 400 as well.  Won it in a testers review.  I had an SG5 (i think) many years ago, but sold it and got a garmin.  I now back to skycaddie.  One one thing I wished it did was sync with the SkyGolf sensors.  I use Arccos and would drop them in a minute if the SkyGolf sensor worked with the SX 400.  I dont want to use the phone GPS when I play.

 

I like 90% of what Arccos does, but hate that none graphical maps.  Can see anything.  I really like the graphical screens of the SX 400.

[WPStangs]

I just purchased an SX400. Any after market magnet cases that fit the device?

 

I have a ROKFORM magnetic case for my phone and stick it to the cart--I would like to do that for the SX400. I know they have a cart mount, but I would prefer a magnet. Thanks in advance! 

 

@Babydaddy @Argonne69 @Roody

[Argonne69]

1 minute ago, WPStangs said:

I just purchased an SX400. Any after market magnet cases that fit the device?

 

I have a ROKFORM magnetic case for my phone and stick it to the cart--I would like to do that for the SX400. I know they have a cart mount, but I would prefer a magnet. Thanks in advance! 

 

@Babydaddy @Argonne69 @Roody

 

Sorry, I use a nylon case that attaches to my belt. If I'm riding I just put it in one of the cup holders. 

 

[Roody]

17 hours ago, WPStangs said:

I just purchased an SX400. Any after market magnet cases that fit the device?

 

I have a ROKFORM magnetic case for my phone and stick it to the cart--I would like to do that for the SX400. I know they have a cart mount, but I would prefer a magnet. Thanks in advance! 

 

@Babydaddy @Argonne69 @Roody

I actually use the device cradle accessory that fits on my MotoCaddy:



Sorry, I don't know of any magnetic cases for it. There has to be something that would fit it and work though. 

[Argonne69]

I think it's going to be tough to find a magnetic case given it's odd shape. 

 

I'm thinking about picking up an SX550 this year. It appears to have a smartphone-like shape. Could be easier to find accessories.