I have been slow getting a review up on this ball as I decided to play around with the layout going 45x2"x45 (pin at least an inch right of my ring finger). The intention here was to give me a ball that I could use in lieu of urethane for when the oil pattern is shorter and I need to keep my angles in front of me with a slow response. It is not often that I require this shape, but without proper short pattern balls, I can make short look a lot more difficult than it needs to be. I should also be honest that I am not a big fan of urethane. I track low, so they just don't hit well and I am lazy about wiping my ball between shots.
Out of the box this ball just straight up rolled. My first experience was on the Nationals Singles/Doubles pattern and I was very comfortable playing dead up 5. Unfortunately, most of my experience over the summer was on wet/dry house patterns or longer oil so this ball just wasn't needed, but as of late we started on a 36' Challenge pattern in our scratch league. The Jagged Edge Solid has been my ball of choice on fresh every week since we have went to this short pattern. It tractions very early, rolls up heavy in the midlane and lays off down the lane to give me a little bit of tug room that I wouldn't see out of any other resin ball. This short pin layout on a strong cover like this would roll out and hit flat on a standard THS, but on short oil it is the shape that I need to read the help in the front part of the lane and not jump at the sight of clean back ends.
Compared to other balls in my bag, the 2" pin Jagged Edge Solid is a bit stronger in the mids than my True Motion and at the same surface can handle more oil plus be a little more responsive if I desire to get my hand around it. When my Jagged Edge begins to roll too early I switch to my pin in ring Vintage Phantom and can make a slight bump right. Another similar ball is one of my favorites from last season - the Cutting Edge Hybrid which gives me comparable length to the Phantom, but a little more movement on the back end.
I recommend the Jagged Edge Solid to anybody looking for a lot of hook + traction at a very reasonable price. I also recommend the short (2" or so) pin-pap layout for any tournament bowler playing on short or challenging lanes where there is no forgiveness down the lane. This type of layout will get the ball rolling much sooner, read the fresh oil in a way that your pin ups would never even dream of and give you a look that completely under-appreciated in bowling. This ball belongs with the short pin layout belongs in your tournaments arsenal.
