In the times of everything being longer and stronger, the Black Venom slots in as earlier and more forward. When compared to the Venom Shock, the Black starts up sooner, is smoother at the breakpoint and shapes a bit more forward, it makes the Venom Shock look angular.
Use cases: The smoother and softer shape down lane makes the Black Venom well suited on Medium to Shorter Sport Patterns where you are looking for control off the spot and not covering the whole lane. On house patterns it's less sensitive to the wet dry than the faster balls in the Motiv line up, and therefore matches up really well on Medium to Drier house patterns.
Compliments: For me the Black Venom is a great starting piece on medium to dryer patterns, when you find a longer pattern, and/or more volume, you'll find balls like the Forge Ember and the Jackal line more in play on the fresh. When the Black Venom isn't generating enough entry angle but seems to be hooking an appropriate amount, i've found the Venom Shock to be the ball to slot in, it's a little longer and much sharper at the breakpoint. The Blue Coral is longer, and a little faster off the spot than the Black, but still a bit forward downlane, if you like the shape of the Blue and want something a little stronger, the Black is the ball. Balling down opens the door for the Ripcord Launch to shine, and it'll be obvious as the Black Venom is a little slow down lane for really opening up angles, so clean, angular pieces become better options at that point.
Additional Thoughts: In a time where many of the new balls are cleaner, and more angular, the Black Venom goes in the opposite direction. This ball is early, it's smooth, and it's more predictable. It isn't going to be the flashy shape, but it offers out of trouble motion, and on shorter patterns is really the type of ball you'll want to start with. I bowled the Open Championships this year, and despite some operator error struggles, the Black Venom was my most used, and the best scoring ball I used out there because I was able to know it was going to slow down, and off hits were more often a flat ten instead of a 2-8-10, and in the doubles set, the ball gave me a look no one else on my pair had and I was high in that set with it.
Black Venom is available today, check out your local pro shop to pick one up, and if you have any questions on the Black Venom, or anything Motiv please let me know.
Cheers and Get Motivated.
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