About Me: See my profile.
About the Ball: 15 lbs, 3 1/2†pin from center of gravity, 3 1/2" x 3" (close to stacked leverage), pin just right of ring finger, CG right and down from grip centerline (thumb positive quadrant), shallow weight hole at positive axis point, static weights: 3/4 oz side, 1/4 oz thumb, 1 1/2 oz top weight. Prior to drilling: 15 lbs 2 oz, 3 7/8 oz top weight. Durometer: 75 ‘D’ scale hardness on surface (no mill hole). Medium load Traction Diamond particle coverstock, Radius of Gyration: 2.559 (same as Black Pearl and Black Pearl Reactive), Differential RG: 0.055 (same as Black Pearl and Black Pearl Reactive).
I picked up my Black Diamond Saturday afternoon from Impact Bowling in Sun City, Arizona. By Sunday afternoon, the Black Diamond had paid for itself several times over in winning a monthly scratch tournament. Nine games including a 275, 253, 269 and a 279 in the championship game. My apology for the FIGJAM but this is more about the ball than mei. I’m not used to instant success with new equipment but the Black Diamond gave me a look that was at least as good as; better than most in a strong field of experienced, quality bowlers. In a year that I’ve been looking longingly at the reaction of those rolling Cells, Rogue Cells and Virtual Gravities, my Black Diamond had the best reaction among many excellent pieces.
Black Diamond characteristics with out-of-the-box factory polish: Good length and a pronounced back end reaction. Not quite skid-flip but excellent length with a strong move at the break point. LaneMasters’ new catalog shows this ball as slightly stronger than the Black Pearl with a slightly stronger back end reaction. This is consistent with my experience yesterday.
The tournament was contested on newer Brunswick synthetic lanes. The bowling center uses a Kegel lane machine and had put out a modified Kegel Main Street pattern (40’ instead of 41’ with a double head run.) I started out rolling 15 board to 8 board, ranging from 13 to 5, 15 to 5, 18 to 5, and 18 to 8 on seven different pairs of lanes. The Black Diamond was predictable with only a couple of “surprises†all day: A 2-8-10 on a shot that I thought was going to make it back and a freakish mid-pocket 7-10 with the 7 pin spinning but remaining standing.
In charting my games with the Black Diamond: 84% pocket strikes, 76% in the pocket, 67% strikes in nine games (using Frames for Palm OS software). In comparison, over my most recent 422 games with all balls used: 72% pocket strikes, 72% in the pocket, 55% strikes. In other words, I hit the pocket at close to the same rate as I’m accustomed but with much better pocket carry.
We’ll see how the Black Diamond ages but I would sure recommend keeping your eyes open for these. I like all of my Lane Masters/Legend balls and indeed have had success with Ebonite, Hammer, Brunswick, Storm/HSP, Columbia, AMF, Randolph Classic, Nu-Line and Manhattan Rubber equipment over the years, but the Black Diamond is my best “instant match†to date and I can’t wait to hit the lanes Wednesday evening in league play.
Special thanks to Joe and Patrick at Impact Bowling for their excellent recommendations and consistency in drilling all of my recent equipment. Their support of junior, high school and college bowling is second to none as these kids are the future of our sport.
