The ball: 16 pounds, 5-inch pin, 2.3 oz. top before drilling
The drill: Pin on VAL 4 inches up from PAP, CG below and left of middle, MB in the middle of the track at 9 o'clock from the center of the grip (pic link:
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh311/ConStar8788/Bowling%20balls/dscn0769.jpg). Works out to a 4x5.5x6.5 drill (pin/CG/MB) for me. Surface is box grit plus Storm Moon Shine.
Me: PAP 4 over 3/8 up, tweener revs, good speed, typically throw with high rotation and low tilt but can adjust both.
---
I bought this ball not only to test 900Global stuff, but also to test out a specific drill pattern. The pattern I wanted to test was to place the pin directly on the VAL, 4 inches up from the PAP. Since I'd had good experiences with the "Tommy Jones" layout, which puts the pin high above the fingers and about an inch away from the PAP, I wanted to see it at its most extreme.
Putting the pin there on this ball had the effect of sending the CG and MB into weird places (see photo link above). So I didn't know what to expect with this ball.
I decided to add Storm Moon Shine to the cover at drilling because of the oil volumes I typically see in my house. There is great debate over what kind of cover is on this ball. Sales pics make it look like a pearl, it's listed as a solid and 900Global employees say it's a hybrid. In my experience, it moves and acts like a hybrid and looks like a particle pearl. So we'll call it a hybrid.
The layout allows the ball to lope early, rev up in the back half of the mids, then make a strong, continuous arc through the pins. The ball won't recover from absolutely everywhere, but it pretty much owns everything from third arrow out to about the first arrow, perhaps a bit further outside. There is more room for error in this ball than just about anything else I own.
Pin action with this ball is some of the best I've ever observed, particularly on light hits. The pocket is wide for this ball. High hits also carry above-average, but it's the light hits and mixers that really spur on the "wow" factor.
The ball responds very well to changes in speed, hand position and other inputs. The cover does a nice job of smoothing out over/under.
On the negative side, some oil is a must. Once the overall volume, particularly in the track area, gets too low it's time to put it up. If this ball starts reading too early, it will puke out in the back. However, it will let you know that point is coming up beforehand. A couple of ringing 10-pins usually preclude the arrival of more drastic leaves, such as blower 7-10s, buckets and the like.
As a final note, this ball provided me my highest game to date (297) about two weeks after I drilled it. It's earned a permanent spot in the bag. A summary follows.
---
Positives: Unrivaled carry on light hits, increases margin of error substantially, easy to apply adjustments and achieve different performances.
Negatives: Needs some oil to work, not as strong off the edge as one might think.
Summary: Easily the best ball I've drilled for myself in two years now and perhaps ever, a great tool for bowlers of all ability.
Jess
