My experience with cartridge razors was always that a WTG pass left me feeling completely unshaven, so when I used to use them I would only go ATG. I didn't bother going WTG first -- not only did it do no good, it always seemed the ATG pass was closer if I didn't do WTG first, as if the razor had more whisker to get underneath and grab onto. (Of course, my face always ended up a bloody burning pulp, which is why I gave up cartridge shaving years ago except to clean up around my beard.)

Now I've been shaving with straights for about 2 weeks. Again I find that the WTG pass, while nice and comfortable, doesn't do too much, and XTG is a little better but still not satisfactory over much of my face, so I have to go ATG almost every time to get a shave that is close enough for me. So my question is, if I'm going to do an ATG pass anyway, why bother with WTG and XTG? Won't I get a better shave if I skip those passes? Anyone have any experience with this?