Bowler's Stats:
Right Handed
Speed: 18.5mph
Rev rate: 450rpm
Axis Tilt: 8*
Axis Rotation: 30* to 60*
Layout:
50* by 5.75" by 30*
Purpose:
To serve as a go-to ball for when I need the ball to clear the fronts easily with a strong response off the downlane friction.
On the lanes:
Thanks to the cover/core combo and the layout, I got just what I asked for. My first time with the ball was on a house shot still out from league the previous night. With the easy length through the fronts, it was almost as if I was bowling on fresh. The Mutiny would glide through the heads, pick up just past 40' then stand up and rush back to the pocket. Although my original Marauder had a slightly stronger layout, I could easily tell on this condition that I had to concentrate harder on getting the original through the heads which led to a less pronounced move off the dry downlane.
Moving to a fresh low-med volume house shot at my home house, the ball started looking even better. With the new, lower volume house shot, most higher-end balls don't react to well to my release stats. Until this ball, I was relying on my Strike King to give me the push through the heads and the punch at the pins. Just as before, the Mutiny let me clear the fronts without worry and get far enough down to my desired breakpoint before making the turn. Thinking about it now, I don't think I've had a symmetric ball stand up as quickly on the backend as this Mutiny. I can hit it as much as I want at the bottom of the swing and still have it clear the heads. Then, as soon as I think it's not coming back, it stands up and kicks back to the pocket. This ball makes it much easier for me to play inside of 5th arrow when the lanes dry up but I still need to send it out to the dry. I always feel like playing deep is my weakness due to my heavy forward roll. The Mutiny gives me much more confidence in getting that far inside and knowing that I can still send the ball out and not worry about it facing up to the pocket. This Mutiny is now a staple in my bag for that reason alone. Compared to the original Marauder (recall the original has a slightly stronger layout), the Mutiny is a 3 and 2 move outside. The Mutiny easily "out-backends" the original while the original gives more midlane roll.
I have yet to alter the surface of this ball due to loving what I see at the box surface. That being said, I would need to scuff the surface to be able to use this routinely on more competitive conditions. With the coverstock formulation and the polished finish, the Mutiny doesn't read the midlane enough for fresh sport patterns (especially with such a flippy layout like the one I used). Even on short WTBA patterns I found it a little too flippy for my taste off the end of the pattern. That's not what this ball is really designed for. This ball thrives on conditions where there is a defined hook spot to throw to, regardless of it being a house shot or a sport pattern with track blown into it. As stated before, I could scuff the surface but I'd rather keep it where it's at to be able to exploit the hook spots when they develop. Once I tracked up the 2-3-4 on WTBA Stockholm, I could play 2nd arrow out to the 3 board and crush the pocket. Once I tracked up 4th arrow on 51' flat, I could get just inside of the hook spot, send it to tracked up area around the 14th board downlane at 50', and have it quickly flip to snap out corners.
Summary:
The Mutiny is golden in situations where there is a defined hook spot downlane, whether by pattern design or pattern wear. I love the fact that it gets so easily through the front part of the lane while retaining a lot of energy to unleash at the pins. Once again, the feeling of knowing this ball is going to get back from 5th arrow for me is huge. This will be an awesome ball for league bowlers, especially those with higher rev rates and/or those whose house patterns are medium to medium-dry in volume. If you're a serious tournament bowler and needing a ball to be able to move inside with as the lanes breakdown then the Mutiny should give you exactly what you're looking for. From league to tournaments, regardless of the pattern, I can't imagine traveling without this ball in my bag!
