Alright. Had a chance to put a few games on the Darkness. Here is what I saw:
Lanes
I choose to practice on Sunday mornings for two primary reasons... 1) cost - special rates for league bowlers and 2) condition - get the leftover from hours of open bowling the night before. This acts to push a lot of oil down the lane, more or less taking away any "free" hook. Its about the closest thing I can find to a flat pattern.
Impressions
Anyway..on to my initial comments. This ball has a very strong core. I had flare rings 1/2 way around the ball. Reminded me of the old bomb cores from Lane#1. Even with that strong of a core, the ball pushed surprisingly far down the lane. I actually expected the ball to start up a bit sooner that it did. Compared to my Green Mamba with the same surface (45X5X70 layout), it had 3-4 ft more length. Some of this may be due to core/layout, but with the slightly stronger coverstock on the Darkness, I expect the two to be closer. Backend was very smooth. Even on shots that were sent a little wide (reached the outside boards where the friction lives), the Darkness didn't jump or over react. Very smooth backend reaction. On shots towards the middle, I found it a bit squirty though... Again, this may be completely due to the lane condition (although my mamba reacted well there). With the stronger cover, I expected the Darkenss to react a little stronger. When the ball made it to the pocket, it had very good continuation through the pin deck. Usually on this type of condition, I am able to leave wrapped 10 pins at will, due to the carry down and lack of drive through the deck. Once it turned the corned, the Darkness really continued through the pins well.
I'm planning on throwing during league this week to get a better feel for performance on a fresh shot.
S^2
