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TaylorMade ATV Wedges Review - Forum Testing

SuperStroke
JeffReedMO said:
I agree with the spin aspect, and that's coming from a guy that has never spun the ball a lot to begin with. I much prefer the land, hop, hop, and stop of the ATV, than shredding balls and spinning them back 10 feet.
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I find it interesting that players here are having such widely varied results for spin. Everyone agrees that these wedges hold the greens well, but some folks just don't produce nearly as much spin. Maybe it's just differences in the swing?

I've found that these wedges can actually produce ludicrous amounts of spin. Yesterday every single shot with the 54* was spinning back in some fashion. One shot at 90 yds hit into the false front of the green and sucked back almost 20'. The next hole featured a 105 yd shot onto the back of the green that sloped away. That sucker pulled 4' UP the slope!
 
TrapShot said:
I find it interesting that players here are having such widely varied results for spin. Everyone agrees that these wedges hold the greens well, but some folks just don't produce nearly as much spin. Maybe it's just differences in the swing?

I've found that these wedges can actually produce ludicrous amounts of spin. Yesterday every single shot with the 54* was spinning back in some fashion. One shot at 90 yds hit into the false front of the green and sucked back almost 20'. The next hole featured a 105 yd shot onto the back of the green that sloped away. That sucker pulled 4' UP the slope!
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In my opinion, spin is generated through the swing and technique, not in if a wedge is "spinny" or not. Some golfers are high spin players, some are not. For the longest time I was a low spin player, and after a good bit of work on my swing and technique, I am now able to generate the spin on the ball.
 
War Eagle said:
In my opinion, spin is generated through the swing and technique, not in if a wedge is "spinny" or not. Some golfers are high spin players, some are not. For the longest time I was a low spin player, and after a good bit of work on my swing and technique, I am now able to generate the spin on the ball.
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I agree with WE on this 100%. Some wedges may create a bit more RPM in spin than others based on their grooves, face texture, etc., but ultimately, it is the player and their swing that is going to make a wedge spin, or not spin. For me, I create a lot of spin...I have a steep angle of attack, with high clubspeed. This = a lot of spin. I have to work to control how much spin I put on the ball on fuller shots, i.e. "control the spin". This is why I resort to a lot of low, dead hand wedges, as it allows me to have the hop-hop-stop-check spin (which I very much prefer), instead of a hit and suck back 15 feet.

With my ATV's, if I go full on a swing without regard for controlling my spin, I have brought them back a good bit (in some cases a ton, depending on the greens). If I limit my swing speed/effort by not swining 100% at a wedge, I can limit it to a controllable amount of check on "full" shots....say 5-8 feet.

I think overall these wedges provide a very fair amount of spin, but not that of, say...a Callaways Jaws wedge, which has too much spin IMO.
 
TrapShot said:
I find it interesting that players here are having such widely varied results for spin.
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The kind of ball you play has something to do with this too. Wedge spin for a distance ball can be many hundreds of rpm different than of a tour ball. Even tour balls are in some cases 100's of rpm apart with the same club and swing. for instance the old TP Black spun about 500 rpm faster off a partial wedge shot than the Penta of the same vintage.

All most people need to know is if you usually hit it short of the flag, you don't need backspin.

In my case with wedges, especially the ATV I would say I'm getting the right amount of spin for my game, and it seems controllable with technique. I can get the ball to stop dead when needed or run out a few feet if I want.
 
To put it in simple terms, by my estimation of the ATV's spin, I will use the familiar launch angle scale for shafts which most are comfortable with:

ATV is a "Mid-High"
Callaway Jaws is a "High"

I'd say the spin of the ATV is right for most people, the only time I could see a use for higher spin would be in 58° or 60° wedges for players who are abnormally low spin levels, for shots around the green where they need the most spin help they can get. Outside of that, :thumb: for all.
 
ATV 56* wedge update

ATV 56* wedge update

Quick update from last night. Went to the range to work on two things last night, the ATV wedge and a putter. I didnt buy any balls just grabbed one of my used balls from the bag, threw it down on the fringe and got to work.

Toe down wedge shot: This shot is a great tool in and around the green where you want less air time and more roll. Its a great control shot and I have no issues pulling it off with the ATV. I dont practice this shot for very long as I feel very comfortable with it and find it easy to do. I did find that going to a hole further away was more challenging then one closer with the 56* which again brings in the need for the 50*.

Greenside from the rough: Its been well documented that the ATV performs as well and for me even better then any other wedge Ive used from the rough. As long as you stay down and aggressive through the ball it will pop out and even from the deepest, thickest rough. Right now I have 100% confidence in this wedge from the rough.

Fairway: Last night I was able to take a lot of shots from the range onto the green from the 50 yard and longer distance. This has been a bit of a struggle lately with some swing issues. Last night I only chunked one and had several that landed in the gimme range. It was pretty awesome to hit these shots and see them land soft with very little roll. My goal was to try and get every shot within one putt range. Two putts is ok but no three jacks. I came away with only a few that might have been 3 putts.

Fairway close to the green: If there's been one shot lately while playing that has caused me some bother its been those shots that are maybe 5-10 yards off the green but in the fairway. Those where you just come up short. My round on Saturday I had this shot and chunked the crap out of it. This is one that is hard for me to practice as the practice green is surrounded by rough and no false green or fairway. I think this is all user error and I also think this is a shot better suited for the 50* or even another club.

The only other area of concern Ive had with the ATV has been on full swing shots in that 90-100 yard range. Again, all user error and swing struggles. Since I wanted to focus on the short game last night I didnt buy any range balls as this is the only way I can not spend time beating balls. But I did grab a couple loose range balls and took aim at the 90 yard marker. I peppered that sign with each one.

I continue to enjoy the ATV and think its a phenomenal wedge. Last night was a ton of fun throwing balls from 70 yards onto the green and watching them roll up close. I kept thinking "that's an easy par" each time.
 
I was at the range last night smacking some balls to pass the time. Got to hitting the ATV's for some full shots and I almost forgot how high the ball launches into the air on full swings. Wow, these launch high! I like it though because it's not hard to bring em' down if need be.


Tapping till 12-21-2012
 
Kmac said:
Quick update from last night. Went to the range to work on two things last night, the ATV wedge and a putter. I didnt buy any balls just grabbed one of my used balls from the bag, threw it down on the fringe and got to work.

Toe down wedge shot: This shot is a great tool in and around the green where you want less air time and more roll. Its a great control shot and I have no issues pulling it off with the ATV. I dont practice this shot for very long as I feel very comfortable with it and find it easy to do. I did find that going to a hole further away was more challenging then one closer with the 56* which again brings in the need for the 50*.

Greenside from the rough: Its been well documented that the ATV performs as well and for me even better then any other wedge Ive used from the rough. As long as you stay down and aggressive through the ball it will pop out and even from the deepest, thickest rough. Right now I have 100% confidence in this wedge from the rough.

Fairway: Last night I was able to take a lot of shots from the range onto the green from the 50 yard and longer distance. This has been a bit of a struggle lately with some swing issues. Last night I only chunked one and had several that landed in the gimme range. It was pretty awesome to hit these shots and see them land soft with very little roll. My goal was to try and get every shot within one putt range. Two putts is ok but no three jacks. I came away with only a few that might have been 3 putts.

Fairway close to the green: If there's been one shot lately while playing that has caused me some bother its been those shots that are maybe 5-10 yards off the green but in the fairway. Those where you just come up short. My round on Saturday I had this shot and chunked the crap out of it. This is one that is hard for me to practice as the practice green is surrounded by rough and no false green or fairway. I think this is all user error and I also think this is a shot better suited for the 50* or even another club.

The only other area of concern Ive had with the ATV has been on full swing shots in that 90-100 yard range. Again, all user error and swing struggles. Since I wanted to focus on the short game last night I didnt buy any range balls as this is the only way I can not spend time beating balls. But I did grab a couple loose range balls and took aim at the 90 yard marker. I peppered that sign with each one.

I continue to enjoy the ATV and think its a phenomenal wedge. Last night was a ton of fun throwing balls from 70 yards onto the green and watching them roll up close. I kept thinking "that's an easy par" each time.
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Good review, Kmac. For those short ones out of the fairway; ball back, forward shaft lean, shorter swing with more acceleration. Thank me later.

Oh yeah, and you are right, the 50° brings more toe down shots into the equation for the longer ones that you need to roll some more.

COLT said:
I was at the range last night smacking some balls to pass the time. Got to hitting the ATV's for some full shots and I almost forgot how high the ball launches into the air on full swings. Wow, these launch high! I like it though because it's not hard to bring em' down if need be.


Tapping till 12-21-2012
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You ain't lying, man...on full swings, these things send some balls into orbit. The first time I took it out, it wasn't too terribly high, but ever since if I go after one it goes insanely high. Like you said, it is easy to bring the flight down, which is what I do most often.
 
I had a really rough round yesterday. I had ZERO touch with the wedges around the green, which was frustrating, because coming into yesterday, I was really encouraged with the direction my short game was trending. A lot of old bad habits started showing up yesterday and my game struggled because of it. The toe down just wasn't working for me yesterday. I was running everything, no matter where I was at, 10, 15, sometimes 20 feet past the hole. This shot has been my savior the past few weeks, so I don't know whether it was rust from taking a few days off, or what, but it wasn't good. I was decelerating into chips, hitting them fat. I had one shot from the middle of the fairway (though basically from a pile of dirt), about 120 out, with the wind to my back, that a thinned over the back of the green. Frustrated to say the least.

As much as I praise the ATV, how much it has helped my game, and how much I look forward to adding other ATV's to my bag, I must say, these things are far from dummy proof. You still have to have sound technique and they aren't going to cure ALL the bad mechanics. I need to go back out to the chipping and pitching area and get comfortable again.
 
Half day today, day off tomorrow.

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I will be heading to the range later for a jumbo bucket, and then some short game practice (which I haven't done in probably 3 or 4 weeks). Playing 18 at a nice course an hour away tomorrow, so I will have some thoughts to come on the ATV's performance.
 
InHartWeTrust said:
You ain't lying, man...on full swings, these things send some balls into orbit. The first time I took it out, it wasn't too terribly high, but ever since if I go after one it goes insanely high. Like you said, it is easy to bring the flight down, which is what I do most often.
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I find if I just keep my hands dead and drag through the ball I can get it as low as I could want to go. Flighting is a snap and also, I don't know if this has been touched on before but has anyone noticed that if you make a concerted effort these are very easy to move right to left and left to right as well? Moreso than my 588's are.


Tapping till 12-21-2012
 
COLT said:
I find if I just keep my hands dead and drag through the ball I can get it as low as I could want to go. Flighting is a snap and also, I don't know if this has been touched on before but has anyone noticed that if you make a concerted effort these are very easy to move right to left and left to right as well? Moreso than my 588's are.


Tapping till 12-21-2012
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I haven't made mention of it because I have always been able to move the ball with pretty much ease, so I never can discern between if a club is easy to or not but...but yes, I like to hit low draws with my wedges a lot, and it is very easy to do so. Very simple and very consistent.
 
COLT said:
I find if I just keep my hands dead and drag through the ball I can get it as low as I could want to go. Flighting is a snap and also, I don't know if this has been touched on before but has anyone noticed that if you make a concerted effort these are very easy to move right to left and left to right as well? Moreso than my 588's are.


Tapping till 12-21-2012
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Left to right is my typical ball flight. I don't work the ball much, or even try to, to be honest. But, I like my little left to right ball flight.
 
JeffReedMO said:
Left to right is my typical ball flight. I don't work the ball much, or even try to, to be honest. But, I like my little left to right ball flight.
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On a typical calm day I don't either. But it gets crazy windy here in HI. Especially on some of the ocean courses I play. If I want to score well I have to hold the ball up agains the wind or if I'm getting too creative for my own good I like to aim wide right or left and let the ball curve with the wind and ride it out. Especially important with wedge shots as the wind will knock em' out of the sky real quick like.



Tapping till 12-21-2012
 
Some great updates in here fellas! I really can not wait to get back out there Saturday and Sunday with my new set, playing 18 both days!
 
Alright, yesterday I played 9 holes at my local course, I played the front 9 which was much easier in my opinion than the back 9. Second hole I end up in the rough on the left of the green, I was about 73 yards from the pin and hit a small pitch with the ATV, it hit the slope on the left and ran to the hole leaving me 1 foot from the hole. A nice putt left me a par.

On the 3rd hole par 4 I hit my driver off the tee left it in the rough on the right and used my 7 iron to leave the ball on the slope in front of the green, I chipped with my ATV (no flipping wrists here IHWT) and I left it about 15 feet from the hole-the lie was uphill and kind of tight so I was happy to even leave it close to the green. I was able to 2 putt for bogey.

4th hole, was a dog leg left par 5, I hit my driver and then a 5 wood but hit into a bunker and then I used the ATV to get out of the sand leaving it 5 inches from the hole. I always walk into sand bunkers and swing with confidence because the ATV gets me out every time. I then putted for par.

On the 5th hole Par 4 I hit a drive, then a hybrid and then missed the green into the rough behind the green. I tried to get out of the rough but I hit it to short so I tried again and the ball rolled onto the green, I then putted for bogey.

On hole 6 I hit a 9 iron off the tee and left it in the bunker on the left and again I walked into the bunker with my ATV and confidently hit the ball out of the sand high and soft. the ball rolled towards the water which left me 5 feet from the hole. I used my putter to make par on that shot.

Those were the holes that I used the ATV on, I actually scored my best ever on 9 holes- I decided to play from the whites instead of the blues and wow, I should delay from here more often I scored a +2 on the front 9 (38)

Spoiler
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Overall, I know that my ATV has kept me consistent on my short game and when I am sucking at my long game I know I can play consistent with my ATV 56 and my putter which helped a lot. I don't know if this was a once in a life time round or what but it was solid

Once again the ATV helped me out tremendously
 
you guys and you're damn ATV's keep making me think "well what if i traded my vokeys for a set..." >:/
 
TrapShot said:
I find it interesting that players here are having such widely varied results for spin. Everyone agrees that these wedges hold the greens well, but some folks just don't produce nearly as much spin. Maybe it's just differences in the swing?

I've found that these wedges can actually produce ludicrous amounts of spin. Yesterday every single shot with the 54* was spinning back in some fashion. One shot at 90 yds hit into the false front of the green and sucked back almost 20'. The next hole featured a 105 yd shot onto the back of the green that sloped away. That sucker pulled 4' UP the slope!
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The ATV's(I have 3 in the bag) spin a little less than my Wilson TW7 wedges but the Wilson's had the old squared off grooves that are illegal now. I prefer the lower spin as on my home course they only come back a foot or less. I did have problems spinning them too much(10-40 feet) at a resort course in Minnesota this month but it was quickly solved by switching to a lower spinning ball.
 
Oregon Jack said:
you guys and you're damn ATV's keep making me think "well what if i traded my vokeys for a set..." >:/
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Try it man, it may be fun, I loved my custom Vokeys that I gave to 907 golfer but I don't miss the Vokeys at all with the xFT/ATV combo
 
Mr. Satchmo said:
Try it man, it may be fun, I loved my custom Vokeys that I gave to 907 golfer but I don't miss the Vokeys at all with the xFT/ATV combo
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i would if i had the money..
 
Satch - Nice round, nice review, and good job on not flipping those wrists buddy!

Just got home from the range myself. Not a good swing day with the irons, but was pretty damn solid on the range with the 56° ATV hitting 50-75% shots, and was fantastic with them at the practice chipping green.
 
InHartWeTrust said:
Satch - Nice round, nice review, and good job on not flipping those wrists buddy!

Just got home from the range myself. Not a good swing day with the irons, but was pretty damn solid on the range with the 56° ATV hitting 50-75% shots, and was fantastic with them at the practice chipping green.
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I had a rough day yesterday and most of today with my ATV wedge plus all my short irons from 60 yds in. I shot 86 today and several of my throw away shots with my wedge were sha*ks :angry:. I can't blame this on the ATV or any of my other short irons because it was mechanical. My new advatar name should be "Flipper" :bulgy-eyes:. Towards the end of my round I had a few more in close shots so out comes the ATV for some action. I kept my fricking hands quite and BOOM, I was cooking like an egg in a frying pan full of Crisco! The ATV wants so bad to help us hit beautiful shots however we have to be willing to cooperate and not fuss when our technique blows a fuse.
 
Ole Gray said:
I had a rough day yesterday and most of today with my ATV wedge plus all my short irons from 60 yds in. I shot 86 today and several of my throw away shots with my wedge were sha*ks :angry:. I can't blame this on the ATV or any of my other short irons because it was mechanical. My new advatar name should be "Flipper" :bulgy-eyes:. Towards the end of my round I had a few more in close shots so out comes the ATV for some action. I kept my fricking hands quite and BOOM, I was cooking like an egg in a frying pan full of Crisco! The ATV wants so bad to help us hit beautiful shots however we have to be willing to cooperate and not fuss when our technique blows a fuse.
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Sounds like you and I had very similar recent times out. Oh well. I know we both have good shots in us. I have seen them. We will be planting her close again, in no time.
 
Ole Gray said:
I had a rough day yesterday and most of today with my ATV wedge plus all my short irons from 60 yds in. I shot 86 today and several of my throw away shots with my wedge were sha*ks :angry:. I can't blame this on the ATV or any of my other short irons because it was mechanical. My new advatar name should be "Flipper" :bulgy-eyes:. Towards the end of my round I had a few more in close shots so out comes the ATV for some action. I kept my fricking hands quite and BOOM, I was cooking like an egg in a frying pan full of Crisco! The ATV wants so bad to help us hit beautiful shots however we have to be willing to cooperate and not fuss when our technique blows a fuse.
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haha, you and your analogies crack me up man. Glad you got it figured out, the great thing about hitting rock bottom in the game of golf is there is no where to go but up. You'll be on fire next time out.

JeffReedMO said:
Sounds like you and I had very similar recent times out. Oh well. I know we both have good shots in us. I have seen them. We will be planting her close again, in no time.
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Love that attitude, dude! Go in confident and aggressive, and the ATV will reward you handsomely.
 
InHartWeTrust said:
Love that attitude, dude! Go in confident and aggressive, and the ATV will reward you handsomely.
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That was primarily my issues yesterday. Getting too cute and laying off, instead of staying aggressive and trusting my weapon. My touch was all kinds of goofy and all over the place. I have a meeting tomorrow afternoon, but I am hoping to get back in enough time to go out to the course and work on getting my touch and confidence back.
 
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