I bought the Hy-Road last season with very high hopes. Everyone was telling me they love what they see out of theirs and how great of a ball it's been for them. I'm not sure if I have the wrong drilling, or if maybe the ball just doesn't match up with me. I have a 4 1/2 pin to PAP drilling, with the CG kicked out about ten degrees or so. It has a weight-hole on my PAP to keep it legal. I've tried plenty of surfaces (OOB, 500, 1000, 2000, 4000, 500/4000 all sanded and polished), and none have really driven me crazy. This ball is just far too rolly for me. There is no angularity at all in this ball. In fact, my Rico drilled Rapid Fire has a more angular move off the spot, and that ball is notoriously smooth. Not only is it the rolliest ball I own, it also doesn't handle anything more than light medium conditions for me.
I'm by no means bashing this ball, I've seen a ton of people throw this ball with a ton of success, and every person that throws it gets a fairly angular, but controllable move off the spot. I just think that either the drilling, or just the ball in general doesn't match my game. I track really high, and I usually don't have much axis tilt. My PAP is 6 1/4 over and 1/4 up. I'm just trying to decide what route to go... I can either re-drill the ball with a different layout, or pull a ball out of my closet and drill it up in its place.
First off, I'm wondering if a weaker, more angular drilling might actually make the ball move more, and give me the reaction I'm desiring. I wonder this because I have a Mutant Cell for heavy oil that was drilled 4x4 and while that ball was strong, I was fortunate to pick up a used Virtual Gravity for free and threw a really weak drilling on it. It was drilled pin over the middle finger, MB next to my thumb. It's roughly a 6 3/4 x 5 3/4 drilling. I found that this ball was MUCH more ball than my Mutant Cell, and I love the reaction I get out of it. I guess with my roll, the Mutant Cell was burning up before it even had a chance to move, I'm wondering if the Hy-Road is doing the same thing. Which of the following options do you deem to be the best?
Let's keep in mind that my ball selection on league night looks something like this:
Virtual Gravity
Hy-Road
Freeze
1. Redrill the Hy-Road with something like a 5 3/4 pin to PAP, pin up drilling, with the CG kicked out about 20 degrees. I'm wondering if this will promote more length and backend, and in the case of the Mutant Cell/Virtual Gravity situation, I'm hoping it might bring this ball to life. I just want to see the ball that everyone else is falling in love with.
2. Drill something else that's sitting in my closet, with a drilling that would squeeze the ball into my arsenal where the Hy-Road was supposed to be with relative ease. I have three balls that might fit the bill:
-Global 900 Breakpoint Pearl: Got a great deal on this ball NIB, and was thinking that a pin above bridge MB kicked out about 20 degrees would be a suitable drilling to squeeze this ball between the VG and the Freeze. I've never thrown a G900 product before, so I could be wrong, this is strictly based on looking at the specs.
-Brunswick Swarm: Picked one of these up NIB for under $50 and just threw it in my closet. I'm thinking maybe a pin under ring drilling (5 3/4 pin to PAP roughly) would put this ball between the VG and the Freeze. This was a fairly quiet release from Brunswick, so I'm not sure what the options and general thoughts on this ball are.
-Another Columbia Freeze: Picked up one of these for about $45 shipped to my door. I love my first one so much it warranted getting a second one! (And I'm currently considering getting a third one too!) The one I have now is drilled 5 1/2 pin to PAP, pin up with the CG kicked into my center grip... this ball thrives in medium light, and what I love about it is that when I move further inside I see no loss in carry with this ball. I figured I could drill a second one a little stronger, pin under ring, or maybe even a RICO drill, and knock the polish off. Not sure if this would be strong enough to cover that medium-heavy condition.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, as always your input is appreciated and very much wanted. Hopefully this season goes well for me!
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"So there I was... BALLS DEEP!!!"
