OK, haven’t done this in a while, but here goes.
Got this ball off e-bay. Opened up the thumb for fit, and changed the finger inserts. Pin is at 1:30 to the ring finger hole, about 1/2 inch away. The mb is stacked, and next to the thumbhole. The cg was out of line, and ended up way out to the positive side, but ball only had 2.5oz top and no x-hole, so remains legal.
Most guys here have seen some of my posts, and know I tend to like nice, controllable, urethane type reactions. I’ve tried other “urethane like†balls before, with quite varied results, but nothing really seemed to fit.
Until now.
You want that nice, urethane control? This ball was an almost identical match through the fronts with an older sanded pearl urethane (red pearl hammer) I’ve been using some, so I was able to keep my target out in front of me. Ball got through the fronts pretty easily, but does begin to read the pattern quickly. A little stronger/earlier than the old Hammer, but not so much I didn’t adjust quickly to the difference.
Ball has that “eye appeal†that people who throw a lot of urethane will love, but a backend reaction that people who throw mostly reactive will hate. If you like having a ball roll early with a mild, hard rolling move, you’ll love it. If you are waiting for it to read the backend and make a strong move off the breakpoint, you will NOT like it.
Where this ball made ALL the difference was not in its overall reaction, but in the way it hit the rack, and the way it went through the pins. Time after time, this ball finished up high flush, and just rolled through the rack with authority, and without the deflection I would often get with my older, “regularâ€, urethane stuff.
And, after I got comfortable with it and started trusting it, I found that it also tended to give a little miss room (a board or two in AND out) and still carry much better than my other urethane options.
Never felt like I needed to pull out my reactive to get the finish or the carry. No, I couldn’t “open the lane up†like you can with resin, but I also never had to move my feet more than a couple of boards all night long either, and that’s a trade off that I’ll take every day, especially when a ball will generate the roll and carry like this thing was doing. Watched it snap out tenpins time after time after time.
Shot 224-234-245-703. Not bad for an old hack just trying to have fun.
Bottom line is this. If you really like urethane reaction, you will love this ball. If you’re looking for something to give you that reaction AND carry better than you’re used to, go get you one of these, add your favorite drilling, and go have a blast!
