Hey all;

Have had a chance to throw the Vortex II for a couple of weeks and It took me a little fine tuning and a little time to find a place to throw it.

I have mine drilled with the Pin over the ring finger 5" from my PAP and the cg 4-1/2 away from the PAP . The ball started out with a 2-3/4inch pin out and 3-1/4 top. I slug my thumb and use no grips span 4-3/8....4-1/2.

Smoothed the surface of the ball to 1000 grit sand paper and used Ultimate Quik Kut.....love that stuff.....and went bowling.

The first night lanes were fresh strip, 20 units from 10-10, 5 to the ditch ran 42 feet and all I had to say to describe this ball was...HOOK. and shot 630 throwin a BIG over/under shot until the whole 60 feet of lane had 10 units on it.

The next night my Skull Ball wouldn't stay right of the head pin so in the bag with the Vortex II but I took It to the press and put a hole on my axis point( 6" ). Just a 5/8" hole deep enough to nick the core.

Next night, new house,league, this thing is making the prettist move to the pocket but too strong for that house to carry well with(what my Vortex III will do)but leave it alone because I know It will work at the house up north which I had a chance to sub there tonight so here's the good news.

The Vortex core has the ability to let the bowler change hand positions and vary the lenth of the break point, meaning I could use the ball for all four games without having to change balls which is what I look for in a good ball.

The shell on the ball intreaged me because it is the only solid Trimax cover in their whole line up which should alow it to be fine tuned more than the pearl which we all love on our Matrix's.

Oh Yea, I didn't shoot a 300 or 800 but I shot 972 for 4 games winning $60.00 in the eliminator pot Great Core,Great shell, great price, Great Ball! Thanks Brian!          Tony

Ebonite really has a great line of equipment at prices that can't be beat with thier Vortex and Cat series.  That might sound like an advertisement but we really can't say enough good things about these balls.



Perhaps our favorite ball of the Vortex and Cats is the Vortex II.  This ball is as versatile as anything on the market.  Depending on drilling pattern and shell preparation the Vortex II can handle a wide range of lane conditions from the heavier side of medium to the very dry.



We have drilled the Vortex II for a number of different styles including; straighter players with speed (18 1/2 to 19 1/2 mph.), lower trackers, spinners and power strokers.  We had excellent results with all the above mentioned styles.  With our faster players, strong pins 3-4" with dull shells are well suited to league conditions and walls.  Our lower track player throws less speed (15mph) and likes to swing the ball from inside.  A 600 grit polished shell with the pin over the fingers 5 1/2 to 6" from p.a.p. works really nicely for him on most common oil patterns we see here.  The power stroker uses a 6 1/2" pin over the middle finger with a 1500 high gloss polish for dryer lanes, in fact his Vortex II is his last reactive option before urethane.(for dry)



All of our bowlers have commented about the II's consistency and outstanding carry.  The ball seems to have just enough deflection to carry well under virtually any circumstance.  To summarize:  The Vortex II is an extremely versatile ball which we can recommend for virtually any stlye on a wide range of lane conditions, as long as the proper layout and shell preparaion are employed.  Our only caution in related to the ball's low r.g. If the shell is too dull, it can start it's move too soon as the lanes dry up.



You can e-mail us at proshop@bowlero.com if you have any questions about this or any other review.

I was lookin forward to gettin this ball , cause there are some good reviews on it.  I like for my ball to have as much hook as it can so it was drilled that way.  I know it was drilled leverage, im not a pro shop grou so im ot that sure on the #'s but its 3 1/2 pin out.  Im a right handed bowler an I can make this ball do things i wouldnt dream about with my others.  I can hit the 7 pin hard or keep it straight an hit the 10.  I havent found another ball that i can do that with.  I got it out of the box an threw it,  an man it had one heck of a turn signal...hehe.  I could put this ball anywhere i wanted to an it seemed as if i was in total control of it an not the other way around, as the case with alot of my other balls.  Id recomend the Vortex II to anyone that wanted a great ball at a great price.  Im in love with it ...hehe                               Keep the scores high an win as much as you can.......Dean

The Vortex 2 is a versatile resin ball with power, it has been a dominate ball in the PBA and on pro shop displays for well over a year. As for myself I have used Vortex 2's with 8 layouts.  My positive axis point (PAP) is 5 1/4 by 3/8 up. Layouts I have used for heavy oil are pins below finger level at 5 and 3.5 inches with the cg kicked out and low holes 3 inches below my PAP on both. These layouts in a Vortex 2 have helped overcome many situations where other balls would skid too far before reacting in the midlane area, including many particle balls. For situations that require me to play deeper inside angles but still have a resin ball that gets into an earlier roll I have used pin high layouts with cg's kicked out and stacked pin high label drillings with pin 5-6 inches from PAP. These layouts works well for my medium hook style on medium oiled lanes and on hooking track shots from deeper inside on both wood and synthetic lanes. The coverstock is easy to adjust and with a shiny surface preparation allows me to have more prolonged use out of one layout from inside angles. The Vortex 2 isnt the ball with the most angular hooking motion but it is VERY predictable in the midlane. The Vortex 2's very low Rg combined with the Trimax coverstock spends its energy, and for that reason can be seen as rolling/hooking out, similar in motion to the Danger Zone performance several years ago, but earlier and with a versatile coverstock. This rolling nature is the Vortex 2's strength the reason why it is a consistent benchmark. As for others I have noticed that the Vortex 2 works very well for people with faster ball speed and or weaker roll/rotation. This style of bowler has trouble on oily lanes--where their ball will skid in the oil and recover too late down the lane. Overall the Vortex 2 can be a solution in many situations, as long as the lane has a decent amount of oil this ball almost always has a chance to perform. The Vortex 2 has been the best resin ball on the market for the past 18+ months and highly recommend this ball due to its performance and value.


Jim Lewis
Ebonite Regional Staff

See profile for my specs

Ball drilled stacked 3 3/8 X 3 3/8
with a 9' hole in thumb quadrant
3 to 2 ratio of top to side
highly polished with 800 grit

Ball is an early revver with an
excelent backend.
Carry is very good also.

very controllable unless you have a desert
outside. Wont cut through soup with the polish.

I never tried it it with the box dull finish.
I like this ball from Ebonite I give it an 8/10

This has to be one of the best balls to come out in a long time. When I finally got my hands on one, the local supplier had been out for over a month, I thought it would be a nice control type ball. Surprise, if I want to open this one up I can cover the lane. It is also with a little hand postion adjustment can create a nice smooth arc. On the team I bowl with in a local mixed league all four of us now have one of these, including our lady, each with a different style game and it works for all of us. We currently average just under 850. This is a must for any arsenal and is my first out of the bag. I have mine drilled withnthe pin a 4 1/2" from the PAP and the CG out 2" from center of my grip towards the PAP, the weight hole is located 2" below my PAP. This allowed me 1/2oz of positive side and finger weight. Having rolled this one for one week and in three different centers, I have not found anything that has some oil this did not work on. My first game of full competition was 280 and the first night on my house condition produced a 767/287 (pattern 42 1/2ft edge to edge, blended.) This one is a 10+ and very versatile.

I paid $30 dollars for this ball used, but in great shape and I still feel I got ripped off.  I throw my ball between 17-18 mph with above average revs and I got this ball on an arc, it will hit like a pillow and leave a 10 pin everytime.  I have tried this ball shiny and dull and nothing seems to help, except for throwing it straight up the boards with much speed.  This is the last ebonite ball I will own.  On a scale of 1 - 10 i give it a 3 (save your money)