BRUNSWICK MASTERMIND EINSTEIN REVIEW
James Goulding III
Brunswick Ball Tester
Left Handed
350 RPM
PAP: 4 5/8†x 0â€
17* Tilt
18.0 – 18.5 MPH
Brunswick Mastermind Einstein
Layout: 45* x 4 3/8†x 20*, pin over ring finger
X-hole: None
Review:
I drilled the Mastermind Einstein to be the perfect compliment in my bag to two other balls in the Mastermind series, the Mastermind Intellect and the Mastermind Scholar. I wanted the Einstein to fit between the two balls, and give me a ball that would be aggressive enough to handle a medium-heavy volume, but versatile enough to be used on broken down patterns or shorter, heavier patterns. I got exactly that with this ball.
USBC White Oil Pattern
This house shot is one that I bowl on in two different centers on completely different lane surfaces. In the higher friction house, I was able to start around 14-15 and bump it out to 5-6 with great recovery and good pin carry. I shot 727 for three games with it, migrating about 3 and 3 right through three games. I found the Einstein to be about 2-3 feet longer than the Intellect and conversely 1-2 feet shorter than the Scholar. This set up perfectly for my game and the arsenal as a whole. Overall hook was similar to the Intellect, but the reaction shape was vastly different. The Einstein was much more responsive to the change form oil to dry, with a more violent backend reaction than the Intellect. It was not as violent as the Scholar, which has the largest backend motion in my bag to date. I really enjoyed the comparison to the other two Masterminds, and if you’re looking for that perfect blend of aggressive ball motion and good length, go no further than the Mastermind Einstein.
WTBA Mexico City Oil Pattern
This 45 ft. longer pattern showed me where the true difference between the Einstein and the Intellect lie. The Intellect is the go to ball on this pattern at box finish, as it picks up the mid lane and has a hard continuous move to the pocket. The Einstein I had to play around with various lines and angles to achieve better pin carry, going 229, 226, 219, 208, 256, 258. As you can see, as I broke the pattern down, the Einstein was incredible. The opposite was true of the Intellect on this pattern, it was much better on the fresh oil. Once again, the engineers at Brunswick know what they’re doing, they do not make overlapping balls in a series, and my real world testing proves that point to me without a doubt. If you’re going to bowl on longer formats, with heavier and/or longer oil patterns, both the Mastermind Einstein and Mastermind Intellect should be in your bag at all times.
WTBA Beijing Oil Pattern
This 35 ft. oil pattern was more challenging for the Einstein, as the nature of the cover-core combo wants to pick up sooner than it should for consistent pin carry at box finish. I shot 198. 203, 212, 227 on fresh oil at box finish. But, I took the cover up to 4000 siaair with Royal Polish and achieved much better results. I changed pairs and shot 237, 228, 269, 247 after the cover change. This ball worked incredible with a higher grit underlying finish and polish. It had a similar motion to the Scholar after the surface change, but was still smoother and a tad bit earlier than the Scholar, even after the polish. In my review of the Scholar I covered how incredible that ball was on friction, so no surprise the shorter pattern favored that type of ball reaction, even from the Einstein. On shorter, heavier, blended patterns, you can’t go wrong with either a polished Einstein or a box finish Scholar in your bag.
Summary
I hope you came off as impressed as I was with not only the versatility of the Mastermind Einstein, but also how it fit perfectly into the Mastermind lineup. If you are going from earliest and strongest to longest and most angular you have to go Intellect-Einstein-Scholar in that order. All three should be in any serious players’ bag, and at least one of those should be everyone’s bag at all times. The Einstein is the more proven bench mark type of ball of those three, and if you were going to get only one, I would go with the Einstein. Get all three and lay waste to any pins in your path. Thank you for reading this review of the Brunswick Mastermind Einstein.
James Goulding III
Brunswick Ball Tester