Alrighty...the wait is over...and the results are in!
Okay league night, fresh league shot. Basically flooded fronts with OOB anywhere outside 5, with a track area straight up around the 7-9 board and clean backends.
League stats:
I have been struggling. We just got the new lane machine so that has helped with making the shot a lot more consistent and the house is notorious for bad leaves, that and some recent slumpage on all parts of my game. A safe guess is to say that I average a modest 155ish average on a normal night.
So here we go...
2 teams each with 5 people. 2 lefties. 1 playing a deep swing, and 1 throwing polyester with a slight backup. Everyone is else straight up the track area around 9-10. I am playing up the track around 7 just outside of that.
I have had lots of trouble with balls over-reacting and hooking too soon. A combo of slow ball speed and too much side turn. I was determined to make a good shot. So basically it was a lot of forward roll and leading the ball rotation with the ring finger. Two concerns were the ball not coming back, and carry when it does hit.
Results: Ball played the same as the night before...smooth roll down the lanes, started reading cleanly in the midlans, definitely sooner than my The One or the Xcel Pearl in the bag. Normally the ball starts hooking when it starts reading, but this ball held line for a few more feet, flipped and made a smooth turn into pocket.
On the left lane this line held all game, with a 1 board left adjustment towards the end of the game. Aside from a few bad shots, this ball struck and pushed all 10 into the pit, no pin scattering, just a strong push and all 10 in the pit. Very nice.
The right lane was a whole different monster. I played this lane better IMO. Played the same line, but had to stand 1 board deeper overall, and made the same transition move late game. The ball again crushed the pocket but left those massive ringing 10's. I moved back on the approach a little to try and get a little better carry. The result was the 10 got knocked out, but left a solid 8. Blah.
Anyways...stayed clean and ended up unable to string strikes because of the right lane. So I shoot a 196. Good start.
2nd Game: This is the "problem game" the lanes are breaking down and this is when everyone's lines start to disappear.
I hold and throw straight up. The ball reads off the same breakpoint but starts coming in stronger. Split. Same result on the right side. So two splits to start. Lovely. Make a 1 to 1 move again, ball strikes. Next lane, same move, ball takes off too hard at the breakpoint and goes Brooklyn...split. Strike on the next shot. Overall...I'm perfect...aside from the splits. =p
At this point I say screw it and bag the ball and take out the Xcel and play a swing. Ball doesn't come back, so I play straight up and manage to stay clean for around a 160ish. Not good, but better than other outings.
Last game: I'm officially lost. I say what the heck, you wanted to see how the Big One does, and 1 game won't cut it...so I put it back on the rack and make another guess by moving 1 over again. Time to pray and throw.
Results:
Ball didn't make the turn to pocket. So I move back a couple boards to compensate (total move for the night is back to 1 board). Ball holds line, and when I got it right, it struck on through. So I stay clean and lose it in the tenth for a decent 186.
Overall...great night for me. 4 openings out of the entire 30 frames...all splits...not bad at all.
Summary...carry is still an issue, but even just putting forward roll this ball comes back, very predictable and smooth reaction. None of my other balls that I have thrown can match this type of reaction in terms of overall hook on this line, predictability, and smoothness. Most of the time I am playing around 30 with a deep swing, and am up against the ball return by the end of the night, alongside making several ball changes.
I can easily see using just this ball the entire night. I couldn't be more pleased...and I can deal with the corner pins.
This ball is steadily climbing becoming my favorite ball. I can honestly say that this is a great ball considering I have had horrible results with every other dull hook monster out on the market. So this is definitely a winner.
Side note: After I knew I blew my chances at cracking 200 with the ball, I moved way in on my last shot. Standing on 31, aiming at 17, breakpoint at 7 about 40 ft downlane. Ball swung out cleanly through the heads, hit the breakpoint, made a smooth turn, but blew past the pocket going through the nose. Left me with an 8 count. No one else touched this area of lane, save for my Excel for a couple shots (which hung out and finished around the 3-6).
I wasn't able to break out The One since all my other equipment was holding line. I normally take that ball out when I run out of room and need to push through the heads cleanly...no problems with that for the first time in a LONG time.
In general, despite the aggressive ball characteristics and the aggressive layout, this ball is still by far one of the cleanest, smoothest, and most predictable balls I've ever owned. Not to mention the fact that even though the oil has been moved around and the shot torn up, this ball still holds line to pocket. Normally I move 10-15 boards a night; tonight just 1...kind of ironic.
*The End*
