These rating don't make any sense to me. According to the Tech Center page on the Hammer website, higher SF ratings for coverstocks mean that the ball has a greater angle created when the ball reads friction on the backend. If that's the case, why do the two particle Blades (the Blade Particle and the Sharp Blade) have higher SF ratings than all three of the reactive Blades? The particle Blades turn sharper and create more backend angle than the reactives? That doesn't make sense.
The ER ratings are also weird. In the ER rating system, the higher number is supposed to mean that the ball picks up a roll sooner. If that's the case, how do the Diesel Particle and the Diesel reactive have the same number, when they have the same core and differential? With the same core and differential, wouldn't the particle pick up it's roll first? The (reactive) Turbo Diesel has a higher ER number (earlier roll) than the Particle Diesel, even though the lower RG of the Particle Diesel and it's particle coverstock should pick up a roll before a higher RG reactive. The new (particle) Power Diesel has a higher ER number than the older Particle Solid. Does this mean that the Power Diesel, which has a higher RG and a lower differential picks up a roll sooner than the lower RG, higher differential Particle Solid? This last one I can perhaps buy, if the new Power Diesel has a dramatically more aggressive coverstock than the older Particle Solid, but the rest of this stuff just doesn't make any sense.
While these rating numbers can't possibly be used to compare Hammer equipment to another company's stuff, the numbers ought to at least make sense within the Hammer line, and especially within a particular ball line. (The Diesel Particle Solid was an ER-25 when it came out, and has now dropped to ER-12, but let's not even get into that--this is confusing enough.)
I'm not Hammer bashing. I have two Diesels and a Sling Blade, and I'm picking up a Sharp Blade tomorrow. I'm just a numbers guy, and I like to see numbers make sense.
What's up with these numbers?
Shiv
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He says he can shout, don't hear you.
Edited on 12/3/2003 7:22 PM