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Choosing a golf GPS proved to be a more involved task than initially thought. Its amazing the amount of choice out there.

There are several brands of which the most well known is probably Skycaddie. But delve a little deeper and you come up with a list of brands that include:

Golf Buddy
Golf Guru
uPro
Sonocaddie
SureShot
iGolf
And then there are options to buy software that works on your mobile phone.

Each brand has more than one model making choosing a golf GPS even more difficult. You could spend months researching!

The best way to get help is to go to golf forums and ask for it. Anyone can join and post on a golf forum. If you prefer to only read the posts without contributing this is quite acceptable. The way to find golf forums is to go to Google and enter “golf + forums” without the inverted commas. You will find a whole lot to choose from. Select only those that are active. You don’t want to be reading a forum where the latest post was months ago. That sort of information may well be outdated.

Once you’re in the forums go to golf equipment reviews and see what people have to say about using a GPS for golf. If you can’t find anything post your own question. The best way to get some quick response is to make your heading interesting.

What you need to look for in the unit itself when choosing a golf GPS are things such as:

Reliability. This always includes after sales or customer services
Where the GPS can be used. Is it confined to one area or can it be used anywhere in the world?
How accurate it is. This is determined by the method of mapping the courses and the number of satellites available to lock on to.
The annual membership plan. With some units you need to pay an additional annual fee to have access to the courses.
The power supply. This can be external, usually AAA batteries, or an internal rechargeable power supply.
How long the battery lasts. You don’t want to be caught half way through a round and find your caddie has gone to sleep on you.
The size and weight of the unit. Ideally you want to be able to carry it with you and not leave it on your cart.
How the GPS can help improve your golf. All of them have distance markers to various parts of the course but only some can give you very helpful statistics. This includes fairways and greens in regulation and putts per round.
The shot distance feature is common to most models. This tells you exactly how far you hit each shot.
The type of screen and the ability to read it in all lighting conditions. Colour screens are the latest rage and great to impress your buddies with. But be warned they do come at a price.
The ability to map your own points. Not all models allow you to plot your own favourite points on a course. This can be an extremely useful feature.
Price. We all have a budget. The frustrating thing about choosing a gold GPS is that for just a few extra dollars you can get a lot more! Do take into account the annual membership fee when working out your costs.
The warranty terms and conditions.

There are a few more features that I have no doubt missed but you will find heaps of information in the forums whilst you are deciding which golf GPS you want.

You will also find that everybody that uses a GPS says that they slashed 3 – 7 shots off their very first round that they played using a GPS. Isn’t that what the whole idea is?

Choosing a golf GPS can be a lot of fun as you learn more and more about what they have to offer and how they can benefit your game.

If you are choosing a golf GPS for a friend as a gift then you will no doubt be driven by budget. The range is from $150.00 to $450.00 so you have a wide choice to choose from.

As a qualified EGTF golf coach Lawrence Bredenkamp takes great pleasure in helping people improve their game. Why not head over to Digi Caddie? There you will find a detailed chart of the different golf GPS models and recommendations based on budget.

All the works been done for you!

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Choosing the right clubs when it comes to playing your best golf game can be quite the tricky proposition. In fact, if you decide to just walk into a golf store you could very well be overwhelmed by the shear number of options that are so readily available to you. There are all kinds of brands that claim they do ‘this’ and ‘that’ for your golf game (most beginning golfers have no idea what ‘this’ and ‘that’ are much less whether they need improvement with ‘this’ or ‘that’.)

The sheer truth of the matter is that no club is going to be best for you simply based on what problem it claims to fix. Well, maybe big Bertha can help you make longer drives, but most serious golfers consider that to be cheating. The trick is choosing the right golf clubs for your individual golf game.

The reality of that is that it isn’t always possible to find a set that will be optimized to your need. The best way to go will be to have an analyses done at Ping and order custom made equipment. The problem with this is that the average golfer truly can’t afford such an investment in a hobby that is quite expensive to pursue even without cost prohibitive clubs.

If you’ve played the sport a little while and your old set of clubs is tired and you are looking for ways to improve your score a little at a time, then perhaps you should consider incorporating one of the nicer clubs at a time into your golf set (all the while eliminating less effective clubs). This will help you improve a little as you go and slowly get the best set of golf clubs for your game at the same time. ‘A little bit is better than nada’ after all.

I do not recommend going out and buying a set of clubs because you see your favorite pro golfer wearing a shirt representing that brand. Your pro golfer’s clubs are going to be custom made and fitted for him and her and not the same clubs you can go in and buy off the shelf. I also don’t suggest buying a set of clubs because you like their name or they look different from the other clubs. Talk to the salesman at the shop, ask questions and discuss problems you are having with your golf game. Get his suggestions, then go home and research that. You do not want to fill his pockets with a commission check that is best for him and own a set of clubs that aren’t best for you.

No matter what steps you take towards choosing the right set of golf clubs, they will not magically fix your golf game. Combine the right set of clubs with lessons from a pro and regular practice and you should begin to see slow and steady improvement. You also keep in mind that if everyone could be Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson, we’d all be on the pro tour. Some of us are just not naturally talented in the golf arena and no clubs are going to fix that. It’s about fun after all, that’s the most important thing.

Edward Charkow is the administrator for Analyze Golf Swing [http://analyze-golfswing.com]. For more information please visit [http://www.analyze-golfswing.com]