This question has been top of every parents lips since the awful riots began in earnest over the summer, so how can you stop your son from becoming one of the awful statistics and avert any unwanted behaviour that may lead to his life lying in ruins?

Well what were going to suggest may shock you into thinking about the way you approach your son a little differently, for instance did you know that with a little bit of subtle hinting you can guide your son into a whole new way of life without having to spend months and months talking to him in length. This simple answer to avert any unwanted behaviour is all about helping him discover a love of sport that will shape his life from the moment he picks up a club.

This is what we suggest- with a love of golf at his fingertips, your son will be keen to spend a lot of time out and about on the golf course leading to a lot more savoury behaviour than if her were to spend his time roaming the streets unsupervised. Golf is the perfect example of a sport that will help keep your teenage sons mind on track and stop him from being lead astray as he will soon realise the many benefits of being out and about rather than falling in with the wrong crowd and ending up getting arrested or worse. So how does golf help your son?

Well for one it gives him the chance to actually spend some time put and about in the fresh air, rather than spending his days playing on the xbox. In all golf has been voted the number on sport to stop kids going down the wrong path, so you can have faith that your son will stay on the straight and narrow all thanks to the gentlemanly sport of golf.

Over the years distance measuring devices have evolved into truly outstanding pieces of kit. With a large number of manufacturers now hitting the market and the big boys now producing upto their fifth generation, they are becoming increasingly popular to any generation and common knowledge to all. Some still may feel this is a form of “cheating” but with many devices being accessible for tournament use and the avid golfer now possessing one of these, don’t you think it’s time you bought one too?

As a GPS supplier we feel it is about time we tested these units and let you fellow golfers know what we feel are the positives of each of them. What we must remember is each of these units has been designed and manufactured containing attributes that will suit you more than your partner. For example the two options on offer, GPS or Laser. As our article "GPS vs Laser" outlined the clear differences between the two it might be worth having a look at that before you read on, to give you a clear understanding of what really is the difference between the two.

The decision was made by our technical team accompanied by fellow friends to test all the top units and a two day event set in stone at a local club in the South West to give each of them a thorough review. Each of the units stated below were taken fresh out of the box “as new” to give that first usage review, the units analysed were:

We feel that the units above are what could be classed as either the top spec, or most popular via generated sales with each of the top manufacturers. The units mentioned were classified based on the following:

• Value – initial cost, download costs if required

• Set-up – initial setup ease and downloading courses if required

• Ease of use – Ease of reading yardages including all other features

• Information on offer – as stated

• Ergonomics – the use in hand, button layout and if required ease of clipping to bag/cart

• Accuracy – reading yardage markers, books etc

• Performance – how robust is the unit, battery life and overall usage

So let’s get started:

UNFORTUNATELY, there is no definitive answer to this question, as both types of device have their advantages and disadvantages.

Lasers are ideal if you need to know the exact yardage to the pin, and also excel if you want to find the distance to a tree on a dogleg or a mound at the back of a green for example.
You can use one everywhere you go, and never have to worry about pre-loading courses.
On the downside, some, especially those with an unsteady hand, struggle to zap their targets reliably.
And when facing a blind shot or if you've sprayed one offline, you must walk to where you can spot the flag and attempt to work out the yardage by firing back to your ball and adding up the numbers.
Lasers also give you no indication of the shape of a hole if you've never played it before.
This is where GPS devices come in – they show you exactly what is ahead of you and give you numbers even if you're 70 yards into the cabbage.

However, they can be fiddly to use (those who aren't tech savvy may struggle) and are obviously useless in winter when on temporary greens.
They also require regular charging so are not ideal for those of us who are forgetful and disorganised.
GPS devices also fail to give you an exact distance to the pin, which for the many is the be-all and end-all.
They just give figures to the front, middle and back) so there is still an element of arithmetic and guesswork when using one.

That said, for many golfers, hitting a shot to within five yards of where they want is a decent effort – so there is a lot of sense in taking the 'middle green' number and hitting your club for that yardage.
One thing beyond doubt is that a rangefinder of any kind will help improve the games of any golfer – and soon teach you how far you really hit each club in your bag!