Just picture this: the sun peeks over the horizon in the early morning light, birds are your only audience as you set up your swing, and your watch tells you exactly where to place your feet. Your swing dynamics, breakdown of each shot, distance from target – virtually everything besides putting is at the touch of a button on your top golf and running watches. It feels like magic, but here there’s not a wizard in sight. How You Hit Memory’s brilliant new SWISS is nothing short of a master’s great work.
Golf watches have shifted gear from the days when they were straightforward devices devoted to measuring distance. It’s now more like cramming a seasoned pro of the turf whispering things that will help improve your scores. The Garmin Approach S62, for example, brings this home to you endearingly. Now Watchdog, For Free: Your arm will feel like it has a new buddy -a big one. If you’re on a budget, the Callaway GPSy is beckoning. Not too steep and snug on your wrist.
Shift attention to laboring on the roadside. Running watches are like Batman on your Gotham evenings–reliable. They command miles, pick up your heartbeats, and even tell you to go sleep. Take the Coros Apex Pro. This guy can keep going longer than the last piece of gum in a pack without getting stuck to your shoe –as you’ll surely appreciate during your next marathon. Its GPs has smarts that seem to verge on surreal, a top pick for those who feel like ranging farther and taking the road less traveled.
Next we come to everyone’s darling: the Apple Watch The Ultra. Yes, it will set you back a fair amount. But its features? Unforgettable. It is the Swiss army knife for sportsmen–virtual coaching, VO2 max measurements and all. Pilates is not yet in its skill set, but give it time my friend.
A respectful nod to those devotees who favor Fitbit and Samsung’s Gear Sport. These seem to be firmly entrenched in the “quietly awesome” department. The Fitbit Charge 5–you would never know it to look at its unpretentious shell is actually full of all kinds of goodness. At a price that’s easy on your wallet but rich in data filling. As for Samsung, it mixes quaint –just right for an afternoon’s meetings with friends or colleagues over coffee and Danish–with sturdiness for hills and swamps.
After all is said and done, the thing to remember is that choosing your next timepiece is a bit like picking from a grand banquet which affords you many delicious morsels. A lot of the time it boils down to whatever takes your fancy most–or in this case, which apps, looks and outlooks are most important to Have satisfied boxes beside them. So whether you’re standing out in the blue golf course sun or treading the city’s arterial streets, there is a timepiece out there that just might do away with your best buddy altogether-too briefly.