SWAG FANTASY DAZE REVIEW
Monday January 3rd: a series of firsts for me in bowling…
1. It was my first outing of 2022.
2. It was the first time this season my Friday morning league bowled on a MONDAY morning due to the holidays.
3. I was able to debut the new SWAG Fantasy Daze, the newest orb from California Bowling.
4. It is my first review as a recently-promoted area staffer!
The SWAG Fantasy Daze contains a symmetrical mushroom-shaped block encased in the patented Elastic-E outer core… which is wrapped with the Reverie 3 Solid reactive coverstock. The Daze continues the legacy of the original Fantasy, SWAG’s very first bowling ball!
I used a long pin layout with a smaller vertical axis line (VAL) angle to delay the transition from oil to dry and get the necessary entry angle to the pocket with continuation: 55* x 5†x 25*. The house is natural wood, oiled for league play.
In watching a few videos before selecting the layout, I was skeptical if this ball might be a bit too strong… given my slower speed (14-15 MPH), lower rev rate (300-330 RPM), medium axis rotation (45-60 degrees) and tilt (13-15 degrees). On a typical house shot, I normally stand with my slide foot around the 30th board at the line; my target is between the third and fourth arrows with my breakpoint at around the eighth board at 45 feet.
Playing the line I described, the Daze had good roll with read. It had no problem getting through the front, even with the box finish. On the fresh backend, the ball did make a strong change of direction and finished strong in the pocket. Playing a straighter trajectory would probably suit on a longer oil pattern or lanes with significant oil carrydown. I have yet to use the Daze on modern synthetics.
Through two games, I enjoyed success with this ball, rolling games of 226 and 269. However, I ran into trouble in the closer… missing three 10-pins in four frames and finishing with a 182.
I wanted to see if I could use the Daze from start to finish. The answer was yes… despite leaving too many corners in the final game. We had two other keglers on the same pair using traditional urethane, and my thinking was that the hold area they were creating via oil migration would extend the Daze‘s usability. However, the 10-pin leaves were the only caveat… but two of them were ringers, not flat. My downfall was simply not converting the leaves! Guess I need the new SWAG Wiper to wipe out those pesky corners… LOL!
Overall, this is a great benchmark ball for my growing California Bowling arsenal. The SWAG Fantasy Daze will be the first ball out of my bag to dictate if I should ball up or down in league or tournament play. So get your SWAG on… and get caught in the Daze!
