BRAND NEW WEDGE vs 9 MONTH OLD WEDGE... SHOCKING SPIN RESULTS!!! 

I change my clubs when I break them or loose them. Other than that I don't think I need to change my stuff as I am pretty bad at golf.

Like to see this again with sharpened grooves on the old

Hey... I'm 80 Yrs old and play 2 to 3 times per week.... and use my 60-Deg & 56-Deg Vokeys on probably 50% of the holes played. I'm pleased to know there is so little difference in performance over the years of play. Mine are about 6 years old.

How about a video of the 5 most popular wedges in 60° and their spin differences from green side to 75 yards. I have ALWAYS wondered which face design/pattern gets the most spin. Is it Vokey? Cleveland? Taylormade? Calaway? Unknown? Let’s do it... and let’s do it...really soon please!!

Do you think you can incorporate more on course testing? I just think the ball reacts differently off real grass.

That has really surprised me,I was expecting a bigger spin difference over the longer shots, I’m quite pleased if I’m honest because I thought I was going to be looking at changing mine after this video Still extremely happy with my vokey sm6 wedges and they still have good spin and life left in them They are getting on to being 3yrs old now

Paused to comment here. I thought smooth surface produce more spin? Therefore older wedge should spin more. I thought grooves help in wet weather on spin.

Would be interested to see how the older club would perform after you re-groved with a grove tool

My previous set of wedges were Titleist Vokeys (52, 56 and 60), and when they were showing real signs of wear I swapped them for Cleveland wedges (same lofts) and they are excellent, these things really spin the ball. Very similar results with the video, not much difference on the full shots, but the “finesse” shots from 80 yards in, my Cleveland’s are just superb.

Clubs are far too expensive I never change wedges

I have 2 new ping glide wedges this year and it has really made a difference in my game!

Time for a groove sharpening tool. Those “old” vokeys still have plenty life in them 😁. I’ve still got my Mizuno MP T5 wedges and they’re working great.

Those shoes are 🤑. I typically go through 2 sets a year, and I order 4 lw's. One for practice and 3 for year.

James are you able to test if rusty finish wedges spin more than non rusty wedges? I have Rtx4 rusty and always assumed that they do.

Great content today! I change my wedges every few years in the past, now maybe every 5 years.

I usually change wedges when I change clubs after 20 + years. That’s right I hardly ever change clubs. Traded my Calloway S2H2 irons that I purchased during the 80’s The only wedges I purchased were the Cleveland CG 15 with “Zip Grooves” for specific par 3’s. Grips get changed when they show signs of wear.

Excellent video, some great info. here. I was honestly surprised with the over 100 results. Ninja Edit: would be nice to see a vid. seeing if a groove sharpening tool makes a difference.

I suspect you'll show me that changing wedges every 35 years is to long :)

Very interesting results. You can't beat a new shirt straight out the packet 😂

Still got my 3 sm6 wedges ,they are in very good condition ,I practice with old VR Nike wedges at the range ,keeps my gamers in good nick .On launch monitor last week I was getting 9400.00 spin average on full shots with the sm6 so happy that they are doing a good job still .

Been playing my Nike VR Pro wedges since 2012 -play once a week and go to the range once a week - still perform on course exactly as they did the day I first used them. Kept clean, but not had grooves sharpened yet.

Really interesting seeing the spin numbers on the old wedge to 100yds as the spin varies with strike, if you think the new ones look better - then go for it (keep the same stamping though, maybe with a splash of colour)

I've got 3x SM6s and 1xSM4 not changing any time soon as I'm more concerned with missing left/right/long/short than how quickly they stop 😂😂😂

I change my sand wedge when the grooves wear out, other wedges not so often, maybe they need to make the face out of tougher metal, by the way I use volkey wedges which seem to wear out quicker

I had a 52deg oil can vokey and a 60 deg muzino tour style forged both clubs were about 10 years old only reason I changed was could not find if Mizuno grooves were legal on R&A web site and oil cans were not legal.

Wedges are my nemesis club. I love them so much, I usually have 3 sets, different brands to choose from when I play. Generally though a wedge set doesn't last more than a year. I don't play vokeys however. I prefer forged wedges and the standard vokeys are cast and don't feel as good as say the Cobra raw Rickie Fowlers, or even the Callaway Mac Daddy's or the Hogan wedges. Yes I'm a wedge snob! I freely admit it.

Good video as normal James 👍 One thing always gets me with these spin videos is ,the ball on 50 yds in air for 2 seconds ! Calling in on revs per minute seems ridiculous as 6000 revs is 100 per second x 2 =200 revs per shot Compared to 5400 revs is 90 per second x 2 = 180 revs 🤔 Something spinning that fast will that 20 revs make a difference....... don’t think so !!!

A more interesting question is how often do you dust the pyramid of balls on that mat..??

I tend to change Wedges every 12 months !

I try and change my wedges after 100 or so rounds. I use my lob the lost so my sand doesn’t get switched as much. When I switch, I use the old wedge for practicing so I don’t wear down the one I use during actual play.

How about incorporating the old wedge, but have the grooves recut? Then see the differences. I'll bet for most golfers, the difference won't really matter. A clean wedge will still perform better than a dirty one. JM2C

I had a pair of Vokey wedges that I really liked - for about 6 months. It was at that point I realized that I was not able to get the spin from them I had been. Since I refuse to replace my wedges every 6 months (while tolerating deteriorating performance) at a cost of about $50/month, I went back to Cleveland wedges, which maintain their grip/spin at least a year in my experience. I don't notice any real difference between the Vokey and the Cleveland wedges anyway. Maybe it's just me, but that's been my experience.

Makes me feel better about my old rusty Vokes

James you should try this test outside and see if there’s any differences

So this is not what I'd suspect, but it looks like my strategy is going to be replace my 62* every year since I used that for 50 and in mostly and my other wedges when a new model comes out since I take more full swings with those. Very interesting results.

Like many, I am not consistent enough to worry if my one month old or my 20 years old wedge will give best results. Far more relevant is whether the other end of the club - the grip - needs renewing or not. You James, on the other hand are a consummate professional who requires the absolute best performance from your clubs and you should show no hesitation in discarding any clubs more than six months old - I will send you my address.

For an very good to elite player who plays tournaments, etc, and cost isn't a factor, one can see how a new wedge would spin more than a year old one with similar use. The problem is, more guys I see play have an inconsistent strike pattern on the face of their wedges, which means they aren't able to take advantage of a new wedge's spin the majority of the time. One time strike is high, next low, next on the toe, next they lay the sod over the ball. Might as well give them a 10 year old model as the results are not much different.

I’d like to see this comparison redone after you’ve resharpened the grooves in the old wedge, see if spin rates go back up, seems to me if resharpening helps, most of us weekend players won’t have the need to repurchase wedges every year or 2

A noticeable difference, I like to get my regrooving tool on my sm6, that’s sharpens and makes them spin a lot more

I could do with changing mine, so happy to take your “let’s do it” “ and let’s do it” “now” if you get new ones!!!

Saw other RU-vid reviews showing spin to be very varied dependent on strike, that grooves didn’t make that much difference as much as strike did. Saw that your full wedges according to average did a drop and stop. Usually switch out wedges based on conditions more than wear.

The wedge you use for bunkers is the one that gets ripped up badly. Other than that I wouldn't bother changing unless I was having a full set.

I wonder if it has to do with the higher club head speed meaning the ball "flattens" more against the face with the longer shot. This means that more of the club face, and therefore more grooves, are putting action on the ball, so it shouldn't make that much difference if some of the grooves are deeper. It's the same amount of grooves. It's just friction over a similar surface area. For the shorter shots, less of the ball "flattens" against the face, so there is less opportunity for the club to put action on the ball. In this case, deeper grooves matter, as they are what cause the spin for these type of shots. So intuitively, it feels like a case of two different things imparting the spin on the two types of shot: deeper grooves for softer shots, vs more grooves for fuller shots.

I don’t really change my wedges to often. Have you considered sharpening the grooves? Also you can very easily play the roll you gain on an older wedge.

I recently bought a brand new TM 60 degree wedge. The first day I used it I couldn’t believe how much backspin I could get from it. My old wedge hardly gave any

surprising! i think most avarage golfers hope to get some stop on the green by hight of the shot more than thru spin.. so no real difference between old and new

How's the toe? I hope you're staying off it awhile. BTW you looked like you really enjoyed stripping the wrapper off that wedge ... As for results, I suspect that the half shots rely more on the groove depth than the full shots, whereas the full shots get roughly equal treatment from the grooves.

My 20 year old 'rusty' Cleveland 56 CG-12 RTG-DDG spins a PROV1 10.5k on a 100 yard shot. I would agree that the difference is on 1/2 shots where newer wedge faces (not the grooves but the faces) are less smooth / worn and that is where the difference is - on full shots there is no difference in my opinion.

I've been using the same sand wedge for about 16 years, might need to think about changing it

An old rusty wedge with a nice wear pattern looks way cooler than a new wedge. My oldest is an 18 year old Vokey Raw 254 10 that gets thrown in the bag in the winter.

I think I'm getting enough spin even with an old wedge. As I'm getting 13 560 rpm of spin with a 52° vokey sm 7.

Love all your videos and there is plenty of them keep up the great work

Love the content! Humorous and very insightful.

So ive just finished watching. Basically there isnt a difference. My clubs go the same distance albeot 3yards or so. I would say the test would be new and old on course when there is grass/dirt/sand interaction aswell. Maybe a damp ball compared to a dry ball especially for prooving or disprooving whether you should pick and place in winter

I had my Vokey SM6's that I got second hand about 3 years ago, and I replaced them this past month with the Cleveland RTX 3 wedges. Sure they are from last year, but they were brand new with the plastic on them. No comparison the new wedges performed better. James, are you going to do a best wedge(s) of 2019? Would love to see that.

Did you clean the grooves of the new wedge after every shot James? Could be that bits of chewed up prov1 have reduced the spin? Either way I’m happy. Going to keep my wedges for at least another year now. You’ve saved me a couple of hundred quid mate. Thanks.

Never change!

Full shot you may be compressing the ball more so the newer groves may not be making a difference compared to the half swing shots. Love your channel Bro :)

Your clubhead speeds were quite different for both yardages, especially the 110 one. Overall the difference in performance is negligible unless the grooves are gone with the old one.

Great video! Could you try to guess how much damage going to the range twice a week and hitting 150-200 balls does to irons and wedges? Maybe an approximate age club as a comparison?

Very good video!! I do not change wedges as often as I probably should. I was quite interested to see that OLD Vokey did just as well as NEW Vokey from 100yds. I agree with a couple comments below...can you do a video with a groove sharpening tool on some OLD wedges/irons, to see if it improves anything? If you head over to the States again.....and bring your OLD Wedges with you, I would pay for the US POSTAGE :)

Very interesting thought there would have been more spin with the new club on full shots

Outdoor test would actually be better since new grooves will displace dirt/water/grass better.

i change mine when my son buys new ones so i have hand me downs, they are still better than anything i would ever have.

Isn't there a video on RU-vid somewhere of a wedge with no grooves that sound the ball a billion rpm or something? I thought the grooves are there to remove moisture/debris rather than create spin. Isn't it spin loft that creates spin?

Dry ball data is great, need to take this outside now and repeat the tests

Never have changed my 56 bought in about 1996 Wilson copper face

Useful info, I've wondered about this for a while.

I put 3 lead strips on the back of my berrilium bronze Cleveland. Gives me a more solid impact and control. Can you compare two , one with 30g one without. Cleveland are better in my view.

I think they'll be within a couple hundred RPM of each other.

Every 2 years its my scoring clubs so they need to do what i hope it will and i can

Does that mean that the ball is the dominant factor on a full shot, but less speed on a partial shot brings the grooves more into play?

Quick question, did you clean the groves after each shot, only reason I'm asking is because there seemed to be alot of prov 1 left in the groove of the new wedge after one shot so if those grooves are full of ball for the rest of the test then that might possibly affect the spin numbers.👍great video though.

I change every 2 years , play about 40 games not including practice for 9 / 14 holes and the driving ranges over the winter

I keep the wedges until they stop performing and run a flat headed screwdriver through the groves every 6 months or so to renew the edges......

I plan to change my wedges someday. Maybe... If I break or lose them.

can you regain the performance when/if you do a home-diy groove cleaner and regroover with one of those tools of the interwebs ?

I just put a new SM7 into play yesterday, 56/08M, and even with the X100 shaft I had that thing ripping back off greens to the point of being punished by it...so I vote for fresh grooves/face making a difference...I look forward to it wearing down a bit but the Slate Blue finish is the ducks guts so I hope that holds up in the meantime...how often do I change wedges? Only out of necessity

Plan to keep my Vokey 60degree for 15-20 years at least

I’d like to see the strike pattern on those 50 yard shots

Guessing 500 less spin with old wedge. Lower launch too?!

Can u review orka rs10 irons please

Very interesting great vid keep it going.

Change your wedge and a lot of what you learned as gone, you have to learn what it does all over again. Isn't that change going to lead to a negative result in the short term? 👍 ☺

That's crazy.

Strike quality will make so much more difference than age of club.

Great video James. I'm looking to replace my wedges right now, so these are interesting results. Are your old wedges the black finish? How would you say the finish is holding up?

Great video! I have to admit that the results did surprise me. I was expecting a pretty good difference on partial shots and maybe half as much from the full shots. Boy, was I off on the full shots! The full shot numbers totally threw me for a loop! They do make sense though. I've never really noticed much of a drop off in stopping power over time on full shots into a green. I have noticed a big difference in spin on chips over time though. This video was quite the education! HOW OFTEN I CHANGE WEDGES: I tend to keep my wedges longer than I should because I get really attached to them. They become comfortable, like an old shoe. Once the grooves wear down enough that i'm not getting "enough" spin I change them. That's usually every other year. Admittedly, I've changed them alot lately because of changes in my swing and for the purposes of gapping them better with my new irons, My AP2s. I fully expect further changes in the near term for 2 reasons... 1) I have been practicing so much that my SM7s are alot more worn out than they normally would be so soon. 2) I am experimenting with different grinds for my SW and am trying to decide between an M and S grind (currently F grind)

My cg10s are super old now

What finish is the new sm7 in?? As it’s proper sparkling ✨

James, rather than spending £££’s on new wedges wouldn’t it be sensible to reface the grooves?

Great test jamas .what model Adidas shoes are u wearing very nice

What is the name of the background song ?

Nice shoes.

Buying new wedges vs keeping your old ones. Wallet SHOCKING RESULTS

Welp the wedge I use was my great grandfather's and pretty much stops on a dime. Lol

Would love to change my wedges more often but 3 wedges is £360 that's too much so every 3 seasons! for me

I change my wedges every 15 years wether they need it or not

Why not compare a new wedge to one that’s two or three years old, at least! Would love to be able to buy new clubs every year but it’s just too expensive.

I change my wedges once a year