LANE CONDITIONLength: 41'
Volume: Medium
Type (THS, Sport Pattern etc): THS
COMMENTSI had the chance to try the new Motiv Combat Tank and it is exactly what Motiv describes. On our fresh house shot pattern, I started playing between first and second arrow and the Combat Tank is very clean through the front part of the lane and when it sees some friction, it has a smooth motion down the lane.
As you can see on the video review, the Combat Tank is very forgiving, when I missed outside my target, the ball had enough recovery to hit the pocket with great carry, while when I missed inside the Combat Tank offered enough hold to not go sideways.
I was skeptical when I first heard about the Combat Tank and how different it would be compared to the Tank Rampage.
I compared the Combat Tank to the Tank Rampage. Overall, the Tank Rampage is stronger and smoother than the Combat Tank. The Combat Tank has more length and it has more pop down the lane. I feel that people who use urethane a lot will find the Combat Tank to be a great ball to have in the bag. The Combat Tank makes a great complement to the Tank Rampage.
Being a low rev bowler, I was not a big fan of urethane balls since I have to be really accurate to hit the pocket consistently and these balls are more condition specific to me. Since I tried the Tank Rampage when it was released and now with the Combat Tank, I have been pleasantly surprised on how useful urethane balls can be on different conditions.
While the Combat Tank is cleaner and has more motion down the lane than the Tank Rampage, the Combat Tank is definitely not the ball to use when you want to open up your angles, especially if you are a low rev or a speed dominant bowler. Motiv offers plenty of options like the Tag Cannon, Octane Carbon or Lethal Paranoia to move in and open up the lane.
On a fresh house shot pattern, The Combat Tank will be a great option if you want to play up the boards or straighter angles. I also see this ball in play when there is too much over/under and when you need to control the backend and everything else in the bag hooks too early or too much.
On a sport shot, the Combat Tank will be a useful weapon on short oil patterns. Since you have a lot of friction, you need to control the backend and have a smoother reaction, and this ball definitely fits the bill.
Overall, the Combat Tank is a nice addition . It will be a great option to use on house patterns with lower volumes of oil and short oil patterns. The Combat Tank offers more length and more motion down the lane than the Tank Rampage, making it a great complement and a great addition to the Motiv lineup.
Thank you for watching!