I can sum up the whole review to follow with one word: FLIP!
Ball: 15#, offset CG so this is essentially drilled like a label leverage ball with a kick...that is pin slightly above and to the right of ring, CG slightly right of center of grip, MB about 1 1/2 inches down and to the right of thumb.
Me: Med/High track, medium speed, med/high revs.
Lanes: 2 games on a mostly fresh house shot, 4 games on a 44' sport shot, 3 more games on the same house shot lanes. Old, but well maintained wood surface, part of it is Guardian overlay.
I bought this ball to replace my Nemesis, as I wanted a different reaction to go between my Scorchin' And Smokin' for my arsenal. Mission accomplished! On similar amounts of oil, I would throw the Scorchin' for an early read and smooth back end from anywhere I need to; Smokin' for outside lines, long length, and moderate snap; and the Vapor for middle to inside lines, medium length, and lots of snap!
On the house pattern, I basically didn't need to move a single board all 5 games (2 1/2 hours between the first two and last three). This ball gave me a great look on a line that is deeper than most tweeners/strokers play, but further outside than most crankers play. I'm talking about roughly boards 16 or 17 to 12 at the arrows. The ball was not very forgiving, no matter where I started with my feet or release point, I basically had to get the ball to a certain point distance laterally from the head pin, or it wouldn't come back or it would hook too hard. I would know halfway down the lane what the result would be: Strike, or disaster.
This ball was actually BETTER on the long sport pattern. The longer oil tamed the reaction just a hair, but it still made a devastating corner turn off the oil into the pocket...I just had a little more area to play with.
This ball does NOT work on an outside line for me AT ALL, too much flip and angle. If I want to play outside, I'm definitely bagging the Vapor and switching to the Scorchin' or Smokin', depending on the oil.
I'm going to have another 6 - 10 games of practice this Sunday on a house shot, so I may add a 2nd review at this time because my Absolute Inferno got WAY stronger at about the 12th game (I'm at 9 now).
This is a ball that's going to be great for exploiting a house shot (or house-esque shot, like tonight's sport pattern turned out to be), but something to put away quickly on more a difficult shot. I played around with it from a deeper line and it seems like it will work there too, when trying to follow the oil in the 2nd block of a tournament (I remember seeing a pro do this on one telecast last year, rather than switching to a weaker ball).
I give this ball a 10 out of 10 for what it's good at, but about a 6 for versatility. That's ok, because I have other balls that are "jack of all trades, master of none".
Edit: 2nd review, still at the top so no reason for a new post. The ball did not change in overall hook potential after the break-in period but did "calm down" a bit. Reading over my initial review, I have found that my opinions have not changed...this is a fantastic ball for me when I want to play 3rd arrow and left, but to the right of that I'm pulling out my nearly as strong but much tamer reacting Smokin'.
I was bowling on a flat 40' sport shot on the same lanes as above, and unbeknownst to me the summer lane maintenance was done between my Sunday practice and Tuesday league sessions. When my Scorchin' was flying off the breakpoint like never before, I knew something was up. I figured I'd have the same issue or worse with the Smokin' so I switched to the Vapor. Shot 221 with a 6-bagger (dang greek church in the 2nd frame) doing this, I think the low RG core is causing it to burn a little energy in the midlane and not fly off the breakpoint like the higher RG Scorchin', because the reaction was much more smooth and predictable than with the Scorchin' (usually it's the opposite).
For me, this ball is one of the better core/cover combos to come along in a long while. This has become my "first ball out of the bag", though I feel my Smokin' hits a bit harder when comparing ideal conditions for both. Both are great balls that will have a place in my bag for a long time!
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