How does Apple Watch track golf activity when riding in a cart?

MD_Gene wrote:

Where can I find more details about the Apple Watch activity monitors. Yes there is walking, hiking…. And there is a golf one. If I am riding in a cart while golfing there is still a lot of walking involved and swinging of the clubs. Does the monitor track walking (and not cart riding time) and arm and waist movements?

I don't think all those details are published by Apple, they may be considered proprietary, as there are competing products that also do this.

However, the watch is designed to distinguish between walking a certain distance, versus riding in a vehicle a certain distance. These can be distinguished by heart rate, breathing rate, arm motions etc. Keep in mind that at the speeds that a golf cart moves, one would expect heart rate and breathing to increase significantly (and arm motion as well), but if all those indicators decrease when the speed goes up to golf cart speed, I think the Apple algorithms can conclude that one is riding in some sort of vehicle, and not walking (or running).

I don't know how the golf swings are handled, but I suspect those are readily detected also.

I am a long distance cyclist and one of my routes goes around a 3.1 mile loop around the periphery of a golf course. I am working pretty hard on those cycling workouts but the golfers I see are certainly getting some exercise, but nothing like the joggers or my fellow cyclists who are going around that loop. There are a few golfers I see who walk the entire course but the vast majority are riding in a golf cart, which strikes me as a somewhat sedentary form of exercise.

MD_Gene wrote:

Thanks for the insightful answer. I agree that riding in a cart playing golf is not a strenuous activity. But I am 74, not 54 and play in the desert. Thanks again.

74 is not that old!

I think playing golf is a good activity, it keeps you moving and as you point out, there is walking involved. You can use the golf cart in a way that makes you walk further. But I think even if you don't walk huge distances, golf keeps you much more limber and flexible than just being sedentary.

Yes

Thanks for the insightful answer. I agree that riding in a cart playing golf is not a strenuous activity. But I am 74, not 54 and play in the desert. Thanks again.