This is a review I posted on 12/29 on another site, where it didn't draw any interest. Now that this site has the Enriched up for review, here's a reprint of my review as originally posted elsewhere. It is kind of a preliminary review; subject to updating once I get a little more experience with the ball...
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I got the ball a week ago today, but last night was my first chance to try it out. Here's some relevant info. I'm a right handed tweener with slightly above average speed and decent revs--I don't have the exact numbers. I'm slightly speed dominant. The lanes are Brunswick Anvilanes and they are in good shape. I don't know the oil pattern, but it is always slicker than the wood lanes I usually bowl on. I am a sixth man in this league and they have not needed me until last night, so I had not bowled in this particular house since summer practice sessions.
I was able to get there early enough to practice. With school out, the lanes had seen a lot of open play, so I didn't really even know what to expect. My plan was to simply compare three Buzzsaws--my Uranium Solid, Tsunami, and the new Enriched Uranium. The Uranium Solid has been my benchmark ball for a long time. I have kept it at about a 1500 grit medium shine, but for this test I took it back to approximately OOB condition with a gray Scotch-Brite pad. The EU was in OOB condition, and the Tsunami slightly shined up from OOB condition.
All three balls are drilled more or less the same, with the following slight differences. The Solid has a leverage pin, just southeast of ring finger and CG in grip center. The Enriched and Tsunami both have the pin IN the ring finger, about 4 inches from PAP. Tsunami CG is in grip center with mass bias spot below and just to track side of thumb. The Enriched CG is just below grip center, but well away from thumb.
Well, you can forget all that about the Tsunami--I never actually got around to using it. I started out with the EU. In retrospect, this was not the best idea. I should have used my benchmark ball, but I was over-anxious to throw the EU. I was initially dismayed at the ball reaction of the EU--it didn't seem to want to do anything, and I finally ended up moving way outside and going up the boards, getting only a little wrinkle at the end. I switched to the Solid and immediately realized the situation. The Solid just went dead straight--not even the wrinkle I was getting from the EU. I could watch it revving along, trying to get a foothold, all the way to the pins. If it ever got into a roll, I didn't see it. The problem was carrydown. The heads and mids had held up, but the kids bowling all around me had produced a bad carrydown situation. I was on the high end of the house, and the lane man was in the process of running the lanes from the low end toward me; putting down a fresh shot for the leagues that would be starting soon. Having realized the situation, I found the reaction of the EU more impressive. Even though it was not getting into a good roll, it was by far outperforming a Solid that had a substantially rougher surface. Due to this lane condition, I didn't even bother with the Tsunami. It goes longer than my Solid even when the Solid is in a smoother surface condition.
This little exercise didn't tell me too much, but it was enough to see that the EU is a stronger ball than the Solid.
When the league started, I quickly learned that the house has gone to a heavier oil condition than it had last year. I confirmed that in conversation with some of the good bowlers--just in case the condition I had noted was something about me rather than the lanes. Having a fresh, THS condition I was able to get a little more info about the EU. The new shot was a little too heavy for my Solid--very surprising to me. I guess my usual two leagues are an even lighter condition than I thought. The lane condition, however, was a good one for the EU. According to the Lane #1 notes, the EU is supposed to have more overall hook than the Solid, with more of it on the backend. What I found last night is that the EU had more overall hook than the solid, and more backend, but also started earlier in the mid-lane. It is entirely possible that on a lighter condition, the Solid will start up earlier and the EU will skid longer, but somehow I doubt it. I probably won't be able to find out until my Friday and Saturday leagues start up again in a week and a half.
I had two good games with the EU, and finally, in the third game, the lanes started to break down and I was forced to move in. The lane transition kept ahead of me on account of cautious moves and I blew the third game badly. I could have changed balls, but the team was winning and we were WAY ahead for totals, so I continued the experiment. On shots that I tugged inside, the EU's hold was decent, but not great--it tended to want to get into a roll even in the oil. On shots missed to the outside, it's recovery was breathtaking. My normal line for the night kept the ball inside the six board at it's most outside. I missed one shot by such a large margin that I started to turn around in disgust at what I was sure would be a gutter ball. As I was turning, I saw out of the corner of my eye that the EU seemed to start to turn a bit, so I turned back around and watched as it teetered on the brink and then came back and struck! This does not happen to me.
The early evidence suggests this to me: The EU is a stronger ball than the Solid in every way I could see--especially considering the similar drill and the shinier surface on the EU. The EUs ability to hold a tugged shot is not so good--it's too aggressive--but it's ability to recover from a shot missed out is excellent.
This is an early report, and should be taken as such. Not too much has been posted about this ball yet, and I wanted to get something out there. I had been thinking that the Solid might be the more aggressive ball, but I don't think so now. I am probably going to tinker with the surfaces of the EU and the Solid again before trying them on the lighter condition of my two regular leagues. I think the way I have them prepared now is likely to make both of them too aggressive for those leagues. I will probably either leave the EU as is, or put a touch more surface on it for when my usual lanes are oilier; which happens sometimes. The Solid, I will have to polish back up some or it's entirely possible I won't be able to use either ball in my regular leagues. If I come up with anything else of interest, I'll post it.
I should note that carry was excellent. I carried both light and high. The bad third game was a result of missing the pocket due to bad adjustments, and to operator error in general.
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Listening to the monotonous staccato of rain on my desk top
