The ball: 16 pounds, 4-inch pin, X-out for severely out of line MB (at 10 o'clock to pin-CG angle). Top weight of 2.25 oz.
The drill: Girard layout (pin at 7 o'clock 1.5 inches under the thumb hole, CG in grip center). Due to X-out position of MB, the MB is in the typical spot in the thumb-positive quadrant. Works out to a 7 x 4.5 x 3.5 (pin/CG/MB) drill for me. No weight hole. Surface is box grit plus heavy application of Storm ReactaShine.
Me: PAP 4 over 3/8 up, tweener revs, good speed, high axis rotation and low tilt.
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I bought this ball for a couple of reasons, one being that I hadn't tried any of AMF's new releases beyond the Heist series, which are fairly mild balls. The other was that I needed a third ball for a three-ball "Girard arsenal" to fit between a Columbia Reaction Roll and an old AMF Bull Whip.
Information on the Girard layout system can be found here:
http://www.bowlingball.com/info/unique-layout-pin-under-thumb-in-track.html . It is basically a drilling utilized to be able to play straighter in the front of the lane and manage the breakpoint. It suits my game wonderfully.
I selected an X-out Nkryption Code for this application, and after receiving the ball found the MB to be way out of line with the pin-CG line. Looking at the ball with the pin in an above-the-bridge position and the CG in a grip-center position, the MB would have been somewhere around the upper bowtie. But after reversing the ball to put the pin under the thumb, the MB marker ended up where MB markers typically do -- in the thumb-positive quadrant.
After drilling, I gave the ball a heavy coating of Storm ReactaShine over the stock grit. The maroon/purple and green pearl in the coverstock really look good shined up. Nearly all of the AMF/900Global balls are at or near the top of looks list right now.
As for performance, a Girard layout restricts the ability to swing the ball somewhat due to how it makes the ball roll, but this ball plus the polish on it makes it more useful and versatile than either my Reaction Roll (heavy oil only) or Bull Whip (light oil only).
The first thing you notice about this ball is the impressive drive it gets off the spot. I'm sure the polish was what allowed this to be possible, but the hook shape and move is still impressive. Once this ball sees friction and starts to come off the spot, it does so with a violent urgency I haven't seen from a solid in some time.
The best attribute, though, was carry. Using a Girard layout on a ball tends to change the path through the pins, so I'm not sure how much of this was due to the ball and how much of it was due to the drill pattern. But this ball carries the world on high hits. Light hits are only average, but this ball trips 4s and 6s on a regular basis, almost to the point you can plan for it.
There aren't any real standout negatives about this ball, unless you are expecting something you can use on medium-dry, because this ball is too strong for that. But on mediums to medium-heavy, this ball shines and should be pretty versatile with different surface preps.
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The good: Incredible carry on high hits, takes surface changes well, great shelf appeal.
The bad: Carry on light hits is just adequate, can't handle medium-light without a much weaker drill pattern.
Overall: Probably the best AMF-labeled ball in the past five years, at least -- a monster for mediums and the ideal benchmark ball.
Jess
