Should LAB Be Scared? TaylorMade Spider ZT Review

The TaylorMade Spider ZT gives LAB a serious run for its money.

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It seems like every week there is a new zero torque putter drop. Lab started an incredible trend in the industry that is really revolutionizing the game, taking the putting world by storm. And on today’s video, I’ve got one of the most requested zero torque options out there. Probably the only putter I have yet to review cuz I’ve looked at them all from the big names all the way down to putters you’ve probably never even heard of. But on today’s video, we’ve got the Tailor Made Spider ZT. This is a beautiful looking package from Tailor Made. When I saw this, I was actually kind of shocked. I mean, you do get the spider vibes, but it’s definitely its own animal. And on today’s video, I’m going to put it through a battery of tests for you to find out if this is one that is worthy of you taking a hard look at. There will be a short putt test, a medium putt test, as well as a long putt test. We’ll see if we can develop a feel and a rapport with this putter, and I’m going to tell you my thoughts here at the end of the video. Now, I want to give a massive shout out to Brian who let me borrow this putter and review it here for the Let’s Play Through community. I sent an email to Tailor Made, which went unanswered, but Brian was really kind to send this one my way. So, thank you so much, sir. We appreciate it. Let’s take a closer look. All right, here’s your closer look at the Spider ZT. As you can see, it’s definitely a little different than the original, and I would say it’s a little less square, a little bit more rectangular. All right. But definitely a much longer face from toe to heel there, which actually I really like. Now on the back side, you’ve got these two tungsten weights at the toe and at the heel. We see that a lot. But you’ve also got one right there in the middle. So that’s how they’ve balanced this putter. Multiaterial construction there in the back as evidenced by that multicolor. Just like most of the Zero Torxs we take a look at. It is center shafted. That face is mil. And as you can see, it’s more of a standard milling of these straight lines, almost like an iron or a driver might have. We’ve seen some interesting patterns on other Zero Torxs, but this one’s pretty normal. Good looker there. This comes with a Spider branded KBS shaft and a Spider branded Superstroke grip. All in all, beautiful package here. Let’s put it to the test. All right, just like I do with all the putters I test on this show, I just want to see if I can build a rapport, get a feel for this one. So, I hit some 15footers here. These should be just kind of breaking uphill a little left to right. Staring down at it, I’ll tell you what, the form factor of this putter is so much bigger than the regular spider. And that’s one thing I really don’t love about the regular spider is I always thought that face was kind of a little thin and it just didn’t have a lot of room really from toe to heel. This one much much bigger. Kind of a bumpy ride on this green. This green’s not in the greatest shape. We had some really tough weather conditions here in Carowwood and the greens have suffered, but I’ll tell you what, the feel off the face felt great there. It’s got the right amount of pop for me. Some of these zero torque putters have been really, really deadened feeling. This one, not the case at all. Jumps right off that head. Now, I hit that off the toe, but still got really good distance out of it. As you can see, I hit it past the hole, even though I hit it toeside. So, feelwise, this one, I think, could be a winner. I’m getting a feel for it very early here. All right, so now we’re going to go to some actual testing. Let’s get to work. All right, long putt test here. Worst thing you can do is three putt in golf when it comes to being on the green. And we can really improve our score. Break 90 for the first time, 80, get into the 70s, break par, whatever it is. You got to be able to two putt. So, let’s see if we can get a feel for this Spider ZT off the bat. About a 45-footer here. Breaking left to right, going uphill. See if I can get the speed right. That’s the most important right now. Boy, it was a bumpy ride up there. These greens are not in the best shape at all this summer. But hey, that’s golf. They say the rub of the green, right? Again, I feel like I can develop a real good touch with this if I were to use it for a bit. It just does what I think it’s going to do. Get in. Oh, well, I’ll say two out of three of those were pretty good. This one back here was a little longer than I would have liked. There’s one. Oh, just got it in. Two and three. Two putts. All right, long putt test number two here. This one’s going to be even further. It’s going to be about a 70footer. The one thing we’ve got in our favor, though, is this green is probably the best of the bunch. So, we’ll have a decent shot of getting them close. Now, this putt overall is moving right to left, and it’s on a good grade there near the hole. So, it may really snap left at the end, but we’ll find out. Uh, let’s see if it dives to the left like I think it might. It definitely did. That was a pretty good putt. A little room coming back, but that’s overall not bad from as far out as I am right here. Putt two. Take a little break off of it. I took a little too much speed off of it, maybe. Okay, that’s a little short. So, somewhere in between those two would be great. I’m going to kind of use that ball as my aim point there. I don’t know if that’s going to be enough speedwise. Great. just didn’t play enough break. So, all in all, I’m fairly happy with this. This is the trickiest one right here. Oh, just slid in. If I missed, it was going to be a long way away. All right, this one is my easiest one. That was a good putt, actually. Okay, I like a two putt like that. And this one is very makeable as well. Okay, so six for six on the long putt test. Just goes to show you how much I’ve really dialed in the speed early with this putter. It’s feeling right now like it’s an old friend, at least from long distance. Let’s go now to the short putts. All right, time for the short putt test. Here we are going to set up my favorite drill, which is a circle of balls from 4T that we are going to see different brakes. Some will be downhill, some will be uphill, some will be left to right, some will be right to left. This is where these zero torque putters generally really, really shine. But let’s see what we do here with the Spider ZT. Good start. You want to have real nice loose hands with these short putts. When you grip down on them, that’s when you can add some torque, and that’s what we don’t want. This is going to be downhill, steady, and solid. So far, this one’s breaking right to left downhill. Oh, I feel really confident with this one. Right to left. Slightly uphill now. Bam. All right, let’s see if we go six for six. This one is straight uphill. Did I give it enough? Yes. So, six for six. That is excellent to see there on the shortcut test. Really pumped about that. Let’s move on now to what I think could be the most critical test of them all. At least when it comes to zero torque putters. I feel like this is where they give us the most advantage. It’s that 8 to like 15 ft range and we’re going to be hitting some 8footers here. The pro average from 8 ft is about 50%. Whereas us mere mortals are generally more like one out of three. So if you can improve this with a zero torque putter, you can go a long long way to dropping your scores. And I think this is where it gives us the best chance because it keeps those putts online. The other Zero Torques that I’ve tested on this channel have done it. Let’s see if the Spyder ZT does well from this distance also. All right, so I’ve set up four zones here for us. We’re going to be taking two putts from each zone. The reason I take two is because the pros who make from this distance 50% of the time have the benefit of a second set of eyes. They’ve got a caddy to help them read the greens. We don’t have that as mere mortals unless we’re playing a real special course somewhere or we’re a member of a real fancy private club. We generally don’t have someone helping us. So that’s why I take two because on that second putt, I feel like it’s very telling because if I know the break, I know the speed, can I keep that face square? That’s the last variable when it comes to good putting. And that’s where I found zero torque putters really seem to shine. We’ll see if the Spider ZT does that for us. Now, this putt downhill, break it in a little left to right. Probably like just outside the left edge, I think. Is it enough? Did I hit it? Oh, I did. Oh, just just snuck in there. Had to be a little careful here on this downhiller. Now I know the line. So yes, we’re two for two. Great start. Let’s move to zone two. This putt is now uphill and fairly straight. Maybe at the end it will dive just a little to the right. Yep. Stayed very straight. So see if I can improve on this. Going to hit it nice and firm up this hill. Yeah. All right. That’s exactly again where a zero torque putter comes in, knowing that line’s so important. Let’s go to zone three. Okay, now this putt’s going to break right to left. It’s also uphill. These are the putts that generally to righties we like. We generally like a little right to left breaker. I’m aiming right about there. If I get the speed right, I think this is going in the back of the cup. [Laughter] There’s my confidence for me. All right. So, I know it’s a little less than I thought. Oh, man. Even less. But I will say that putter went where I wanted it to. I just can’t believe it didn’t break as much as it did. All right, our fourth and final zone. Right now, we’re right on the bubble of 50%, which is great. Let’s see if we can improve on it. All right, last zone. And this one’s going to be our hardest because it’s downhill. This one’s going to be breaking a little left to right as well. It is a touchy putt. I’ve got to get both the speed perfect and the line. Let’s see if we can do it. I’m about a ball outside the left side. I’d say that’s what I’m going to try here first anyways. Is it enough? That was shocking. It actually right at the cup dove the other way. And they do that here at Kirwood a lot of times. They put these cups in weird spots where it can break one way or the other. And I cannot believe that one broke late left on me. But now I know that. Let’s see if I can convert putt two. Bam. Just like that. So, we are right on the pro average there of 50%. And every single one of those putts I hit was where I was aiming. The line I was on. This putter does so well staying on plane. Really, really good. So, let’s go ahead and wrap this up. All right, time to wrap things up here on the Spider ZT. I’ve got to say, this is one of my favorites. sits right up at the top of my list. And we’re going to have to be redoing that list very soon because like 6 months ago, I gave you my top picks for zero torque putters, but we’ve probably tested another five or six since then, and some of them have been really heavy hitters, including the Spyder ZT. But I’ve got to say, this is probably at least top three for me, maybe more. I got to do some more testing. Really enjoyed the feel coming off the face. Really loved the fact that this is a bigger overall form factor. This putter’s head stayed square as good as any of the ones I’ve tested. So, a lot a lot to love here about the Spyder ZT. Now, there’s always cons with golf clubs, and one major con is the fact there’s just not that many options to customize this. If you really want a truly lie angle balanced putter, and you really want it fitted to you, there are only a couple of good options out there, and Lab of course being the number one choice. This one doesn’t have so many options for customizability and adjustability, but out of the gates, man, is this one a contender. I hope you’ve enjoyed this video. And if you are continuing the journey and really trying to find out the best zero torque putter, these are two that are right at the top of my list. Check those videos out. Hit that subscribe button. I’ll catch you back here next time on another edition of Let’s Play Through.