I attended an Ebonite demo day here in Pittsburgh yesterday. I had the opportunity
to test several new balls from the Ebonite "family (which includes Track, Columbia, and Hammer). The event was held in a center that has the Brunswick Anvilane surfaces. A THS pattern was used. The balls that I tried were:
Ebonite Honor
Ebonite Gamebreaker 2
Ebonite Energy Source
Hammer Black Widow Legend
Hammer Deadly Aim
Hammer Absolut Flip
Track LX-05
Track MX-16
Track Tour X
Columbia Throw Down
Columbia N'Sane Antics
Most of these balls were drilled with the pins above the bridge and with the MB just right of the thumb (for Rt-handers).
My stats are: 280 Revs (stroker)
17.5 mph (avg spd)
PAP= 5 1/16 by 5/16 up
I bowl a lot of PBA50 regional events, as well as in a sport league.
First of all, I want to say that I believe these demo day events provide serious bowlers an excellent and inexpensive opportunity to try out the newest balls.
In addition, bowlers get the opportunity to ask questions and to get advice from
the Ebonite family's ball staffers at these events.
First, let me say that I believe all of the balls listed above have something for
all types of bowler styles and conditions. Since we were testing balls solely on a THS
(house shot), my comments are of course, restricted to how these balls performed on that pattern alone. I tested these balls for close to 3 hours because I wanted to judge their performance on the fresh, the transition, and finally on the burn.
The following represents how I felt these balls performed in my hands and with my style.
I will cut to the chase. Out of all of them, when it came to the "fresh", I had the best
"look" and the best carry with the Track LX-05 when I played the pattern straight
up and just inside the oil line. This ball excelled in the oil for me. I was surprised because most heavy oil balls tend to lose their "oomph" at the pocket. The LX-05 didn't.
Next, and while still bowling on the fresh, I moved a little right, just outside the
wall. Here, almost all of these balls performed well, but I had the best reaction
with the Game Breaker 2. It gave me a strong, but smooth recovery with excellent
carry. The runner up was a tie between the Ebonite Honor and the Hammer Absolut Flip.
As the lanes began to break down, more balls in this lineup began to show their
strengths, but I got the best reaction with the Ebonite Honor (again), and the Absolut Flip (again). These balls allowed me to open up the lane with strong recovery and carry.
Finally on the burn, my best look was with the Black Widow Legend. This ball
really allowed me to move inside and feed it to the right with very strong recovery and carry. The runner up was the Hammer Absolut Flip, once again.
One final note as it relates to the Columbia N'Sane Antics and Throw Down. Both
of these balls were milder, but very smooth off the breakpoint for me. Out of all of these balls, they would not be my first choice on this oil pattern and lane surface but
they would definitely be if I were bowling on a fresh challenge and/ or sport pattern.
These 2 balls are very predictable in their motion. You know were they are going.
However, due to my low rev-to- high speed release, I tend to need more "help" in the carry department, and frankly, the other balls performed better for me in that regard.
In summary, all of these balls perfomed remarkably well. But if I were bowling on a similar condition and lane surface, and if I had to pick only 2 balls to take with me,
those 2 balls would be the Track LX-05 and the Hammer Absolut Flip. The LX-05
was far superior inside the oil line. It dug into the oil and still provided excellent carry
for this old-time stroker. On the other hand, the Hammer Absolut Flip was able to
excel on the transition and the burn better than the others, and it gave me a larger
margin of error along with incredible carry.
Again, it is important to stress that this was my experience with these balls. Other bowlers undoubtedly will have different results than I had. For example, there
were several younger, high-rev testers present and as always, it didn't seem to matter what they had in their hands on that pattern. Oh! To have just half of their power! LOL