*drilled 5 x 5, cg in center of palm, and a small balance hole on axis (only had 1 oz top)
*left in box condition
*right handed power stroker
I have had this ball for 2 months now. It is a much stronger ball than I had originally thought it would be when I bought it. I was pleasantly surprised with the strength the Firehawk has being a mid-priced ball. I have used the Firehawk on a variety of conditions, but it found it's home in my aresenal for when there are fresh backends. It seems to carry the light pocket hits very well for me becasue it just slaps the pins all over the place. When playing a deep inside line trying to hold pocket, I had some problem with the 10 pin, but if I am able to send the ball out, I normally carry very well.
Some conditions i have used the Firehawk on:
*Wood lanes w/gaurdian 25'. An out-of-bounds outside of 7. I played a line of 17 at the arrows out to 9 at the break-point, but if I missed to the out of bounds, you could tell this ball wanted to come back. The coverstock on this ball just wants to keep coming.
*Sythetic lanes, fresh shot Oiled 35' buffed to 42'. This condition was where this ball reacted the best for me. I played 14 at the arrows out to 5 and the Firehawk would just some roaring back. I tried taking off some speed and moving deeper to 5th arrow and the Firehawk still made the turn back to the pocket.
*Wood lanes, long flat oil. This was the one lane condition that I really struggled with this ball on. I am just learning to play a down and in shot and I did me best to play straight down 2nd arrow. When I did manage to hit what I was throwing at, I had some serious problems with carry, but I figured I would since the ball was still revving up, not yet into a roll.
*Synthetic heads, wood backends with carrydown. This condition really changed the looked of this ball from a skip/snap type reaction into a long arc. It still had quite a bit of energy left at the pocket and still threw the pins around. Seemed liek every shot I threw there was a messenger flying.
Overall, I am quite impressed with this ball and it is a great option off of my Menace Tour Edition. I use the Menace tour to read the lanes and if I need something a little stronger, I can pull out the Firehawk. I've been a long time reader of this site and do not like the 1-10 rating system, so I will stay away from that.