O.K., I know this is a bit late, but better late than never. I finally got around to drilling the SIDEWAYS I got for Christmas last year.
SPECS:
Pin out-------3 1/4 in.
Topweight-----3 3/4 oz.
Surface-------600/2000polish
Pap-----------4 1/8 over 1/2 up
Speed---------14 to 15 MPH.
Revs----------Around 300/350 (Down from my old release)
Tilt----------Around 30'
Rotation------Around 40'
Having decent release strength (for a nowadays house bowler),I can hook a ball plenty, but always feared that little thought of drilling the ball too weakly, so set my stuff up with strongish drilling. Lots of my old stuff had 3 1/2 pin-to-pap length with CG's out, and x-holes were ALWAYS put in the thumb quadrant.
This time, I decided to go against that, so I set the SIDEWAYS up with the pin up, over the middle finger, the CG under the ring finger-just above the midline. This gives me a 5 X 4 layout. I skipped the x-hole this time because it wasn't needed, but I could still put one in if necessary.
Took the ball out to try it on a pretty fresh shot, only to find that, with the OOB finish on it, it was FAR too squirty on our shot. Hit my target perfectly and strike, or miss a bit either way and it was over/under hades.
Seeing that the ball was 600/2000/polish, I just went back over the ball with a good 2000ab pad to test it. That seemed to really be a good guess for me, because the ball sprang to life. My target went from being 1-2 boards at the arrows to being 5-6 boards. Pull it and it held, hitting with authority, while missing wide only allowed it to read that area sooner and arc very hard into the pocket, and hitting my target perfectly virtually guaranteed a strike.
The ball isn't "SIDEWAYS", but it does have a very predictable move, and reliable recovery. The carry is a bit different than what I'm used to seeing, but it does carry at a high percentage. Most balls that get close to the pocket seem to get the pins to go down somehow, even on hits I'm used to leaving corners on. This one doesn't seem to "pound" the pocket, but it just keeps on striking anyway.
One thing I wasn't crazy about was the thickness of the coverstock. It looked thin to me, so I had the guy measure it, and it was less than 1/2 in (around 3/8 in). I don't know if that will make a difference in the long run, and it doesn't seem to affect the carry (unless it's the reason if DOES carry like it does), but I guess I'll find out.
All in all, this is a pretty sweet ball. Nothing cool, special, or spectacularly different about it, just good solid, reliable performance from shot to shot. After shooting 3 sets with it, I have registered scores of 699, 692, and 729, with only operator error keeping it from being more.
I think I'll keep it.
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