Ball - 2 1/2" pin, 3 oz top, CG out of line 1 1/2". Ball drilled close to label leverage with pin next to ring, CG slightly above grip center, PSA below and to the right of the thumb at about 60 degrees. Drilled very similar to my Vapor Zone which I will be comparing it to...Vapor has pin above ring, MB a little closer to thumb at about 45 degrees. My stats are in my profile.
House #1: Super-slick synthetics, longish oil with little buff, very walled. There has definitely been some play on this lane; 7pm Friday night.
This ball was obviously not made for this condition, but I was eager to try the ball and this was the quickest option. My initial analysis is that this is the most particle-like reactive ball I've ever thrown, in fact if I didn't know better I'd say it WAS particle. I bought this ball to replace my frustrating Scorchin' Inferno, and even early on I can tell that this was definitely the right choice. You can really see the Vanguard core at work here because the coverstock on this ball is at best equal to but more likely weaker than Activator Max, but yet this ball is hooking many feet earlier and still has a strong backend arc movement (for a heavy oil ball at 500 grit, mind you). You can see the ball churning through the oil the minute you set it down. Best method of attack is a fairly straight path to your breakpoint (i.e. little swing), but the great thing is that you can start from anywhere on the approach and have it recover if you don't swing it too far. My first heavy oil experiment, a Raging Inferno, was also great on the outside down and in line, but move left of the headpin and it was washout city. Scorchin' was better at this aspect but there was such a small range of effectiveness (between burn up and hockey puck) that it was even more limited in effectiveness than the Raging was.
House #2: Moderately tacky synthetics, medium oil with a medium to long buff, somewhat walled but still an OB if you get too greedy. 2nd shift league Friday night 9:30pm, lot of geriatric down the middle with a house ball bowlers in the first shift.
Because of the oil pattern and the way the previous bowlers throw, I'm usually blessed (or cursed) with some heavier-playing oil (fresh in the track, carrydown in the back), so I figured I'd give it a shot and would probably get one game out of the ball. I got two full games barely moving from the 2nd arrow before it started to go away, and instead of moving left with it I stayed in this area with my Vapor Zone. The ball never overreacted in the backend so I could be very aggressive with my line. The downside to this is that it FORCED me to be aggressive with my line...no half-pocket hits (subject to penalty by ringing 10), I needed to be flush to carry consistently. Not as finicky as urethane or plastic, but still a deeper contact point than with reactives. I shot 170-258 with it (strike, 8-miss, 8-bagger, 8-spare; spare shooting left something to be desired first game) and was just destroying the pocket. A 12-pound ball makes a different sound than a 15-pound ball when it hits the pins. Likewise, somebody who throws 20 mph with revs has a different sound than a 15 mph stroker. Well this ball has a different sound than other balls thrown by the same bowler (me), has a "ring" to it like if you were to hit some sort of hollow metal pole with a large wood stick. The only other ball I have that sounds differently from the rest and other people is my Smokin' Inferno, which simply makes a higher-pitched crack when shredding a rack (hey, that rhymes).
Summary: About 1 - 1 1/2 arrows stronger than a similarly drilled Vapor Zone! This ball will give you as much angle as you could want on true heavy oil, just don't try to throw 20-4 unless the oil is extremely long and the backends are stripped dry. Good carry, looks great, very readable reaction, I'm not sure what a heavy oil ball could do better for me. I'd love to see what this ball could do if I drilled it stronger and put rough buff on it, kind of a Red Vapor Zone on steroids. I could definitely see the speed difference between this ball and my polished reactives (switching to the Vapor Zone was like throwing the ball on ice), but it had no trouble getting to its breakpoint and making the turn.
I'm a big fan of this ball and I think you will be too, if you need this kind of strength in a ball, this one has plenty to spare!
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Need new stuff? Contact Mike Austin and/or go to
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http://hammeroftruth.com FS: Slate Blue Quantum 14.97#, 2.5oz Top Weight, Pin 2" to 3". Asking price is a NIB 15# BVP Mammoth with similar pin/top + $57 (covers drilling and shipping on the Mammoth for me), or $166, whichever is cheaper for you (both options include shipping the SBQ to you)
