Taylormade MG4 wedges and spin rates with ionomer vs urethane balls- my observations

[bm11]

I've been meaning to post this up since I picked up a pair of MG4's at the end of October, as haven't found anyone else noting this. Probably because the majority of people who buy a brand new $180 plus wedge play premium balls? Anyhow- this time of year with snow on the ground in Maine, all of my practice is done indoor at my home studio, off a Fiberbuilt mat and measured by a GC Quad, therefore my observations are based on this.

One thing that I had read in reviews are how hard MG4's are on ball covers due to the "laser etched spin tread." Based on this, I decided I should start practicing with cheaper, more durable balls- I have countless Pro-V1's at this point that have cycled out of indoor play due to any sort of small mark (simulator screens are expensive and wear super quick from any burr on the ball due to spin) waiting to get lost outdoors already. I started with some Srixon marathons I got from a charity scramble, and ordered 

What I did not expect was how wildly different ionomer cover balls acted with MG4 wedges- they had an extremely low amount of spin (literally 5500 RPM's on a full wedge shot vs 10-11k with a Pro-V1 or TP5) and launched extremely high (from what I understand it is a function of the spin- the ball isn't grabbing on the face so it is launching higher.

 

I didn't do a scientific test of having a machine hit X amount of balls with each type and then compiling the averages, but the results were so blatant (the ball flight was wildly different) that the point can still be made easily without- ionomer balls literally spin around 5,000 RPM's less than premium urethane balls. 

 

For whatever else it's worth, I did test the other variables- I found the spin to be similar enough to be within the realm of my own swing variability between the two balls on every other club I own- including an older Vokey wedge. And it's definitely a specific reaction between the MG4 face and the ionomer balls- meaning the ionomer balls spun much much less and launched way higher on the MG4's than the Vokey I have.

 

Again- noting that this was done off a Fiberbuilt mat, a very high quality mat but still not grass. Picture attached to see the wild cover transfer on these, note that I didn't realize the middle dots on a GCQ should be located at the sweet spot and not in the middle of the face at the time of this photo, hence the weird placement. Also note the ball marks and reference the above comment of "within the realm of my own swing variability".

 

In conclusion, I figured this was interesting enough to note that it may be something of value to others around here!