Picked up an epx blem for a steal, drilled it up just to mess around a bit. I think I have found the ultimate in strange reactions out of a ball. This has got to be the most interesting ball I have tried in a long time.
Drilling-pin leveraged, no weighthole, pin under finger line
Lanes-multiple conditions, 1. 36 foot heavy volume sport shot on wood2. broken down house shot with carrydown on pro anvil3. fresh house shot, pro anvil
I first threw this out of a whim in my sport league, was searching for a game and a half with the rest of my equipment and figured "what the heck, try it for 2 or 3 shots and see what happens." I found that the reaction it gave me on the outside was JUST what I was looking for. The ball started up VERY early, but did not overreact like the rest of my equipment, and did not roll out and hit like a wet noodle. I was so surprised that it started up so early, yet still had continuation threw the pin deck.
Came accross a broken down house shot, and threw this ball, expecting it to roll out and hit like crap. Didn't happen here either, the ball started up extremely early again, did not overreact, and still had tremendous continuation threw the pins. I was so surprised that shots i thought would come in flat had the ball finishing near the 8 pin spot.
Finally, threw it on a heavy volume house shot. Figured since it worked so well on the 2 other patterns, there was no way it would be able to cut threw the oil. I was wrong yet again, it gave me literally the same reaction-very early, but still continued. I honestly have no idea how this ball starts up so early, yet still has continuation through the pins.
This ball, however, will not recover when swung from deep inside like a lot of reactive equipment will. It is not an impressive ball motion by any means. So far, after 20 or so games, it has just been very impressive in that it handled multiple conditions and performed equally to my other equipment on 2 of them and much better on 1 (the sport shot). It was great for playing up the boards on any of these conditions, and really surprised me with the hit, from hearing how bad of a ball this was.
Maybe its because i came in not expecting a hook monster that i wasn't dissapointed. I came into this thinking it was going to be a piece of junk and wouldn't hook at all. What I got was the most strangest ball reaction that i have seen in quite a while. I can't stress enough how weird it is to see a ball start up 5 feet earlier than everything else and not roll out at the same time. I am really liking what i'm seeing, and can't wait to get another when they go on closeout (as long as the cracking issue doesn't come into play, that is). warning: this ball does require meticulous cleaning, or it starts looking downright nasty!
--------------------
stanski