What a great compliment to the original Power Drive.  I drilled this one up with a 3 1/2 pin below.  This ball rolls up nicely in the heads for those lovely house shots with a little more oil.  It still has great continuation to the pocket without sacrificing its great hitting power.  Compared to my power drive drilled w/a close layout, this ball is about 3-5 boards stronger with a earlier roll.  Great choice.


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Wes McKleroy
Columbia 300 Amateur Staff
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The Complete Bowlers Pro Shop[/i

Updated stats are in profile.

Alright...  finally have sufficient games on this ball to allow a review.  I picked this ball up from the AMF/Circle/Columbia/Track booth while at nationals. In the past I have have little experience with Columbia equipment, so I decided to give this one a shot. I was looking for a ball with early roll to help combat over/under when there is lots of oil up front. I was drawn to the power drive sanded because of its high-end core (mallet used in the bullies) and the strong particle cover in the mid-line price range. I had my hand fitted up (just to compare against my old spans... which actually were off according too them) and gave them my PAP measurements... A few minutes later I had one of the best feeling/fitting balls that came out of the shop is quite some time (thanks Dan at the Columbia booth!). It was layed out with the pin above and between the fingers and the cg directly below the ring finger with a small weight hole on my VAL, just below the midline. This layout put the pin 5" away from my PAP and the cg approximately 4" away from my PAP. I left the surface of the ball in box condition.

I have throw this ball on a number of conditions in two differrent houses.  First house is AMF synthetics.  The fresh shout is a medium heavy oil house shot, that's pretty forgiving while its fresh.  Once the oil has started to move, it becomes a nightmare.  The second house has old wood lanes (boards stained from 10 to 10 from oil saturation) with a heavy oil fresh shot and clean backends.  

Over the past month or so, I have been working with my coach on achieving a greater amount of forward roll through a tweak of my release.  This small change has also increased my ball speed a couple mph.  Combined, these changes allow me to play straighter lines.  The issue now is getting the right roll and entry angle to carry.  This ball seems to be the perfect compliment to my new type of release!  It starts up early and gets into a strong forward roll.  In the first house, I was able to start out standing around 18 at the approach and playing straight up 12 at the arrows. The ball cleared the heads easily, but started up early in the mids and got into a heavy roll. A touch inside of 12 at the arrows would hold (thanks to the wall) and as long as the ball started to roll, it would carry.  If I missed the release and the ball was skidding, count on a 10 pin.  If I missed the other direction and pushed the ball anywhere outside of 10 at the arrows, it would start up too early and have nothing left at the pocket (again not carry often).  Even so, I had 3 or 4 boards area at the arrows which is a ton when playing straight up.  Once I used up the oil playing the straighter line, I was able to bump inside and start swinging the ball. Surprisingly, the ball still had plenty left on the backend to finish and carry.  Strong and smooth is how I would describe this one.

On the second shot (heavier oil), I was able to stand 12 on the approach and shoot 7 at the arrows.  Again the ball started into a roll early and absolutely carried everything.  I think playing a little further outside (as opposed to house 1) gave a little more angle and increased the carry.  I was able to miss anywhere right and get to the pocket and carry (more often than not).  Pulling inside (i.e. over 10 at the arrows) put the ball into the soup and was sure to leave a 10 pin.  Once the night had progressed and the track area burnt up, I was able to move inside and play a straighter line in the oil.  I was standing 22 at the arrows and shooting 15 at the arrows.  Again I had a little room to miss right as the ball would hit the track area and come roaring back.  Didn't have much room inside due to playing a tight line, but luckily didn't need much.  

Over the past couple weeks, I have shot a couple 700's (had a 278 game) and a couple middle 600 sets.  To this point I have no complaints whatsoever.  The ball rolls and reacts just as I had hoped.  I would say this ball handles anything from heavy oil (for most bowlers) down to mediums if you have tons of speed or like to play deep.  The ball will play from inside angles, but I had the best success with a more direct line.  Overall I like the ball and am probably going to look into more Columbia equipment in the future.

S^2
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-Strapper Squared

Wow...Pick up Sam Adams and LaVaar... What a DEFENSE!Bengals News

POWERDRIVE SANDED

Coverstock: Vaccine Particle
Core: Mallet Core with Extension Arms Featuring a Top Flip Block
OOB Finish: Fine 1200 Grit

Drilling: Pin above ring finger with the cg kicked out about 30*

I needed a dull ball in my arsenal that would hook less than my ACTION, go long and not snap on the backend. A few of my peers suggested i invest in a POWERDRIVE SANDED. What a choice! The ball does exactly what i wanted it to do. The POWERDRIVE SANDED gets through the heads well and revs up in the midlane. As the ball comes out the oil, it starts to make a strong, yet very predictable move into the pocket. When this ball hits.................IT HITS! The pins just disappear off the deck when this baby hits flush and go a little light, messenger are everywhere.

Many thanks goes to Dave McEwan at OTB Distribution for hooking me up with this fantastic ball. Thanks also to Columbia 300 and to Patrick Birtig for drilling this baby up.

Matt Watson

last week, house shot, playing up 12, 299,258,237=794 series. Would have broke 800 if not for a ringing ten pin in the tenth of my last game. Ball can hook alot but if drilled correctly, can easily be a straighter ball. Good job Columbia300.