-About me:
Right handed. 16lb. Power tweener. About 16mph. Higher rev rate. PAP: 5.25†level. Thumb slug and oval grips.
-About the ball:
This ball has a solid reactive cover (Proton). The core is symmetric (Radial Velocity, RG:2.48, Diff: 0.044). The cover uses a new “Smart Aeration Technologyâ€, which helps keep the oil from accumulating in the pores. It was described to me as rounded pores (as opposed to jagged), which is designed to help the oil thin out and evaporate.
-Layout/Finish:
This particular ball weighed 16lb 2oz, has 3.8†pin and 3.5oz of top weight. The pin is above and outside the ring finger by about an inch, with the CG towards the palm (we didn't lay it out dual angle, but eyeballing it looks about 80x4x20). It now has just under an ounce of positive weight. Box finish.
-On the lane:
The Talent has a lot of backend for me. It’s strong and continuous. Even at the box surface, it’s currently the most hook in my bag on most conditions. It’s not a hook monster that chews thru a lot of oil, but it is very strong off minimal friction and crosses a lot of boards once it gets into a roll… without losing control and becoming unpredictable.
It’s very clean thru the heads. The mid-lane read is consistent. This ball is strong but not jumpy off the break point, with a heavy roll at the pins for minimal deflection. Once it gets into a roll it usually just doesn’t want to stop. Its niche is heavy to medium heavy conditions. This hasn’t been one of those hooking balls though that I can still use when they’re dry.
This Talent is also what I call “user-friendly†when it comes to the release (which I am finding is a Lord Field trait that I like a lot). This ball doesn’t roll drastically different if you tweak your release at the bottom. What you get is another ball from LF that is pretty forgiving when your release isn’t perfect.
-Compared to other equipment
This ball crosses maybe a board more than my Terra Power Resurrection; it’s longer and stronger. It’s about 3-5 boards stronger than my Get Some, and more continuous. It rolls on today’s conditions kinda like my old Speed Zone did back in the day.
-Dislikes:
At the box finish, it does sometimes push a little long in heavy oil. As much backend as it usually has, sometimes it tricks me into thinking it’s a hook monster that chews thru oil. I’ve had success with it in heavy oil (most recently on 52ft Badger), but it may need a touch of surface to be a ball that normally sees a flood. The layout also shares some blame here.
-Summary:
I would recommend this ball for anyone who wants a ball that hooks, and is normally on house shots that start off pretty oily and end up medium by the end of the night. It’d be a great ball to replace a ball that used to hook a lot, but just doesn’t anymore, yet you still have a good medium/dry ball to go to. You don’t have to put the Talent up as soon as they dry up, but you’ll probably need to when the lanes are really dry. It’s been good for me on most house shots, as well as longer tougher patterns (it rolled great for me on Viper/Shark/Badger, but it’s not a Cheetah/Wolf ball). Layout plays a part in all that though, consult your ball driller for more info.
