Ball NPS Score: Not Available
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The ROCK PEARL is an intense ball that features a break-through cover stock technology utlizing Columbia's NEW exclusive TEC2 (patent pending) shell. TEC2 features an enhanced lane-gripping additive that bites through oil without hollow glass microspheres or hard particles found in other balls. The ROCK PEARL is the first pearlized ball designed for medium oil with carry down. It offers a low Rg of 2.506 and a medium differential RG of .047. The core offers an efficient use of the dense mass that surrounds the ball's center. Add Columbia's new TEC2 pearlized shell and you get a strong hooking ball for medium to heavy oil. The ROCK PEARL has a hook rating of 22.

I got the Rock pearl a week ago, and just got to throw it last night.  Right off...it seems to roll a lot like my pearlized Pulse, but with an earlier breakpoint.

I got it drilled with a 4 inch pin-out, pin to the right of the ring finger, with the CG just to the right of center of my grip (much like many of my other balls).  I guess I can be classified as a power stroker.

I was throwing it late on lanes with a lot of carry down (after Thunder Alley and a ton of sloppy plastic balls going all over the lanes).  It didn't cut as hard as I had hoped it would, but I can't expect it to with that much carry down and no fresh shot out at 11:30 at night.

I did like the fact that the ball did hit hard and kept the pins low, tripping out the corner pins easier that most of my other equipment.  I am waiting to see what this ball will do on first-shift league conditions, I am hoping for something in the neighborhood of a ball that goes long with a good snap on it, but forgiving when the shot dries out a bit as the series goes along.

More on this ball later on other conditions...Paul  

I've put about 20 games on this ball now, so I figured I'd take a moment to post a review. First, some background. I'm a right-handed "power stroker" type of player, usually playing a 10 board swing shot (stand 20 throw to 10, 14 to 5, 25 to 15, or variations standing between 10 and 25). I've been averaging high 180s for the last year and a half using a Zone Pro Azure as my strike ball and an old Cobalt Rhino as my spare ball/dry lanes ball. The Rock Pearl doesn't cover as many boards as the Zone, but I find that since it goes longer before turning that I leave a lot fewer 10-pins. I typically bowl on second shift conditions, and the Rock Pearl seems to be perfectly suited for it. I rolled a 589 in league last week, the first time I'd used it, and would've shot much higher had I not blown some easy spares. I had a much better strike ratio than what I've had in recent months. I've practiced on fresh conditions as well as some carrydown conditions the next morning after a night of Xtreme bowling. I don't think this ball is the type you're going to play deep inside with on a fresh shot, but I don't think it is a light oil ball like some have made it out to be. I suppose it depends on your drilling? Mine is drilled fairly aggressively, but unfortunately I don't remember the exact specs off the top of my head. I had no trouble standing 20 and throwing to 10 and having the ball snap back into the pocket on a fresh shot, and on a drier shot I was able to throw out to around 5 from 20, though 7 was a little more realistic if I didn't want to hang 10-pins all night.

Overall, I think this is a very good ball. I'd definitely buy it again if I had it to do over again.

Will Willis

I have to agree with Sam on this one. Heavy oil with no carry down is a good conditon with this ball, but if there is any carry down, I would only pull this ball out in medium conditions only. The Rock Pearl crushes the pocket. I have left the least amount of splits and 10 pins with this ball. But I learned last night on wood lanes, especially the wood lanes I throw on, with carry down this ball was a dud. It never started to arc towards the pocket, it just skidded straight on down. However on the synthetic lanes I throw on, they have little to no carry down. I can lay this ball down on the 2 arrow and I am assured a pocket hit 9 out of 10 times. I am a 170 average bowler, but I have bowled one 289, three 279s and a couple of 260s and 250s with this ball. I have only thrown 15 games total with this ball, so I would say I love this ball for me. This ball is not for everyone, but if you are a high rev player I recommend this ball. It goes great for a one two punch with the cuda 2000.

my stats: righty, tweener. I just recently purchased the rock pearl. This ball is very strong , I drilled it with the pin at about 2:30. The pin is 3 to 3 1/2 inches from the cg. It is drilled on label. I had this ball drilled with 7 inches of flare or you could say that I put the pin at a 45'(3 and 3/8) angle according to my axis.This drilling pretty much maxes it out!  I would not reccomend this drilling for the rock though. The ball rolls well on the longer oil patterns or when there is more carry down than usual( I keep the ball pretty polished). the ball tends to set up real early,with energy left on the backend to kick out alot of corner pins.



P.S. I just bowled a 700 with this ball and I went 280 233 187 the ball was going very long and used up a pretty good bit of it's energy on the back end. The lanes were pretty walled up but the ball didn't hook up early when it hit the dry.

Here's a followup review, I originally reviewed this ball last fall after having it for a relatively short time.



Well, I still love this ball. It's great on the second shift conditions I typically bowl on, and the ball isn't quite as jumpy as it was when I first got it. The Rock Pearl still flips pretty good on the backend, though like most balls it isn't nearly as violent a reaction now that I'm well past the 100 game mark on it. It became more of a smooth rolling ball though, somewhere between and arcing and skid/flip reaction. I had it resurfaced for the first time a couple of weeks, which has pushed it back towards a skid/flip reaction. The resurfacing wasn't something I went out of the way to do though, the ball got chewed up in a couple of spots from a broken ramp in the pit, which the resurfacing fixed.



Anyway, I am playing a slightly different line with it than I was in my previous post. I'm standing about 20 now and throwing out to 7 and bringing it back to the pocket. Moving inside I can play it to about 25 throwing through 15, then I've got to put it up because it won't come back from any further inside. I finished the summer league averaging 189, where I used a Zone Pro Azure for all but the last two weeks of the league before getting the Rock Pearl. This fall/winter/spring season I'm averaging 201 and am on a serious roll. Coming into this league my personal high series was a 678, shot last year. In the last six weeks of league I've shot 678, 782, 570, 606, 712, and 725. Still using my Cobalt Rhino for spares and sometimes late in the third game as a strike ball, but basically using the Rock Pearl for my strike ball.



The house shot is pretty typical second shift stuff. I think they start with an oil pattern of 10 to 10, and a guy who works there says the "house shot" is to throw down 13. By the time we get the lanes there is carrydown and the oil is a little choppy (conditioner technically, the lanes are synthetic).



I throw with above average ball speed, so the drilling is more aggressive, letting my speed do some of the work in getting the ball to go longer down the lane before making the turn to the pocket. I think it might be a 4x4 layout, but I'm not positive. It wasn't the absolute most aggressive drilling pattern, but it was one of the more aggressive layouts.



I haven't bowled with anything newer than the Rock Pearl, so I can't compare to other stuff, but I still think this is a perfect second shift ball and for conditions where you need a good medium oil ball. Definitely not suited for heavy oil unless you're willing to play it down and in.

With my high speed, this is my "go to" ball on medium-oily conditions.  The pin and CG are stacked 4X4.  The box shine helps me get the ball down the lane and there is still plenty left to knock down a lot of pins.

I am a stroker, 16 mph. Ball was drilled maximum leaverage. I bowl in two houses, one wood and one synthetic. Both are oiled to 36 feet, 10 to 10. Have used this ball in combination with the black rock. Where one leaves off the other fits in. Ball goes nicely thru the heads and mid line with a nice break to the pocket. I leave corner pins with the carry down. For me I need a dry back end. My son also had one and our stories matched. He also left numerious corner pins and finally gave up on the ball. He had more hand then I only at 15 mph. I liked the ball as it very predictable and responds to different hand positions for the changing lane conditions. Have tried different surface finishes to no avail. It works best polished. I traded another ball with a fellow bowler for his storm Xit and the only thing I can say is its the pearl with and attitude. My corner pin leaves were reduced by 80%. I use the pearl in practice as I get numerious shots at the corner pins. For league play on syhthetic the first ball out of the bag is the Xit.