Let's start off by saying that I've owned two of these. The first one I let my driller decide what to do with the ball. Originally, I thought that maybe part of the mistake was in where the drill was. The pin was about an inch below the ring at about almost 6:00, with the CG directly below and the LMB under that, close to the thumb at 3:30 to it.
Later I found the problem to be the factory finish though as the ball last me all of maybe 10 shots. With the finish and the drill, I got nothing on the ball. In oil, which at that time everyone thought it was for, it did nothing. In the dry, it did very little. On a drier condition, I would pull out my Blade Pearl and see a nice controlled hook with the ball (wasn't drilled for skid/flip), but the same shot yielded nothing with the Deal. Needless to say.....SOLD.
Heard some rumors that the ball was a good ball if the factory finish was taken off......Hmmmm....so I got another one. This one with drilled more aggressive to start with the pin about 1 inch away in the 3:00 position to the rind, CG slightly kicked out and LMB at about 3:00 to the thumb as well. Small weight hole needed. Difference this time?? Finish was taken down to 400 with an Ebonite product simulating wet sanding!!
Now.....a lot better. Don't get me wrong......I am not saying the ball is set up for heavy oil. But if there is oil and the backends are at least less oiled, or clean, or even dried, this ball has the potential to shine.
I will usually play this ball up between 5-10 and let the ball just drive the pocket. It is not a hard nosedive to the pocket, but still more of a controlled hook. As the lanes dry out, I am able to adjust slightly to the left and move the shot with me as well. As long as the ball gets to some dry boards, it's coming back. If I really want to, I can stay on the outside, so long as I take a little off the ball in terms of hand and maintain, if not increase the ball speed.
Finally, last weekend I was able to play a dry shot. When I say dry, I mean to the point where we were using our spare ball to shoot. On this condition, I was able to easily play a swing shot. Problem is it was speed sensitive because it was so dry. I had to keep the speed up on the ball and if I did, the ball crushed the pocket.
My take. The ball has serious potential. I have shot with a lot of different Hammer balls. In the pocket, this one has to have the best drive I have seen through the pins. Light shots keep the pins down and the ball offers some great carry in my opinion.
My thoughts on this ball are that this is a perfect light to medium shot ball, with the ability to do so devastating damage to the pins. For me, it will be interesting to see how this ball works on shorter tournament patters or on the lanes as they begin to break down.