Hey Everyone,

I have been reading reviews on this ball and have a few friends that have this ball as well. Looking to possibly add this to my arsenal as my "bail out ball," or "backends hooking like crazy ball."

I am a High Tracker with a pap of 6" and am thinking of drilling the ball with a Long Pin to Pap placement (probably over the Middle finger with CG in my palm). I am just afraid that I'm going to kill it!

My intentions are to use it on the tougher patterns where the backends are just flying or when the lanes start to get pretty dry.

From what I'm hearing, it seems to blend the wet/dry pretty well.

Thanks for your help in advance!
Regards,
Ramtarticus Maximus

Ram-a-lama-ding-dong,

The Hornet, like all Lanemasters balls, has a ton of backend, unless
a) your release or ball speed reduce that backend, or
b) you drill the backend out of the ball.

I have a 5x0 PAP and I drilled mine, pin in ring finger, CG 1/2" on the negative side of grip center. That makes it roughly 4.5" x 5.5" drilling. I just sold mine because the backend on dry lanes was almost uncontrollable.

The ball clears heads like nobody's business, but when it grabs the lane, it's "left turn, NOW! Clyde"

Your 6" PAP indicates a lot of roll and not much tilt. So you should be fine, THEORETICALLY! However I wouldn't go with a high pin; that will just make it flippier. A 5" - 5.5" pin to PAP should be fine. I wouldn't kick your CG out too far, because you don't want to kill the backend entirely: maybe a 3.5-4" CG-PAP distance. That core is deceptively strong, despite the numbers. My Buzz backends a ton and I have the surface smoothed out!

If I had to do it over again, I might have been inclined towards a 2"x5" drilling or a 5.5" - 6" x 3" drilling.

FYI like almost all Lanemasters balls, the cover is adjustable; don't be afraid to manipulate it, if necessary. A 2000 grit sanding followed by a high gloss shine helped mitigate my Hornet's backend, just not enough for me.

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"None are so blind as those who will not see."
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Edited on 5/1/2008 10:55 PM

This is a incredible ball for second set conditions, lots of predictable backend motion.  This ball gives you the length you need to play the drier conditions, but when it makes it move, it moves with authority.  You need to be consistent with you ball speed, it gives you a sharp angle to the pocket, creating a high risk, high reward type of ball.  Lots of strikes, but mistakes are major splits.  Still, on 2nd and 3rd set type conditions, I was able to put up a 235 average with this ball, where as I couldn't break two with my WCR, WCPP, or Rebellion.

I'm using Hornet about 6 months. With Hornet I can play on any conditions. Was struggling with OOB surface, was too flippy. Week ago changed surface to 2500 sandpaper grit and got smooth reaction off the breakpoint. On 39 feet oil I am playing from deep 40 board to 5 at breakpoint.

I have seen a Sting with a Rico drilling. Evened out the backend nicely but it still had very good recovery and that "LM/L" pop at the pindeck.

quote:

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Anybody ever Rico one of these things?

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Repetition is everything..