Same here - the AI has been my fave ball ever since it's inception. I just went back to 16# equip a month ago and was bummed that I couldn't find any NIB 16#. I got lucky and scored a NIB 16# Vapor Zone and it is just as good as its cousin - maybe even a tad better!! I've tried NUMEROUS offerings from Big-B over the last few years to find something like the AI and even though some of them look good on paper they're just not the same. I'm darned lucky to have found the NIB Vapor Zone.

Get a Prime Zone. Its the overseas version. Same ball. They have them at the Brunswick booth in Reno
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We all can hit the pocket,just carry the damn corners  
www.coachscornerproshop.com

I'm getting good at the 11 strike + big 4 combo.  

Finally getting used to the ball.  It's a little strange.  Very easy to throw through the break point if you miss your release a little.  But I do really like being able to be much straighter through the heads.  A lot of equipment on house shots make me cover more boards than I really should with my rev rate.  Moves tend to be urethane like.  Start coming in a little high and move 2 left.  Moving three will commonly come in very light, so if I have to make this "big" move, I have to get softer with my speed as well.  The other odd thing is how dirty it gets.  Most shiny equipment stays pretty clean, so I don't clean them as often.  After a few sets, it didn't seem to be reacting quite as well, so I hit it with some cleaner and I was surprised how dirty the rag was.

I've pretty much been using it every set "just because".  My teams weren't going anywhere up or down the last few weeks so it gave me a good chance to see what it could do.  I did pretty decent on the Viper qualifier.  Shot 160 something out of the gate (poor shot making), but shot over 200 the other 5.  Came in 4th or 5th, but only the top 2 got paid entries.  Viper played quite a bit slicker here (PBA oil machine, or just the new version, I don't know).  A little more surface would have been good for me.

My last two league sessions have been very good.  759 on Tuesday where my carry wasn't really that good (fought the 4 pin/10 pin thing) and 791 Thursday.  Started 263-269, had the front 6 and the big 4 bit me on the butt.  Struck out for another "almost" at this house.  The odd thing was that it looked perfect off my hand, at the arrows, and the break point.  I still find it hard to believe that particular ball jumped so hard on the back.  This was a rare night of not only throwing it well, but being able to really see the ball/board at the break point as well as my rev rate/axis rotation.  That's three 790+ series and countless 11 strike games, but no honor score at that house.  My average is always 7-15 pins higher than the Tuesday house, but I haven't been able to seal the deal yet.
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Ron Clifton's Bowling Tip Archive