Ball:
14lb 9oz
3" pin
3.9 oz top
Layout:
Pin above ring finger with cg stacked below, no weight hole.
Approximately a 4 X 3.5 layout
Surface:
Applied "The Khameleon Particle Sand High Tech Ball Restorer" to give a nice sheen/matte surface.
Lane Conditions / Oil Pattern:
Throwing on older wooden lanes that haven't been resurfaced in a couple yrs. The house shot is heavy oil with "hang" outside. Not enough to be considered out of bounds, but enough to miss the hole.
Review:
I picked up a couple new balls in preparation for this years Nationals tournament in Reno. The Khameleon was very attractive to me due to the easy with which you can change the ball surface. Doesn't even require a spinner, but rather some Neo-Tac polishes/cleaners. My experience is the surface adjusts extremely easily...a plus for any tournament bowler.
I punched this ball out, and without practice, headed directly to league. Normally the lanes play very well up the track area until they start to dry. At this time, you are forced to move inside to catch a little more oil. As you progressively move deeper inside, the carry percentage gets progressively worse. It truly plays as a track shot.
Started the first game playing the track area as normal. The ball cleared the heads easily and had a nice midlane arc. Very smooth and arcing backend. Initially the carry was only average. I think I was a little deep on the lane, as I was getting numerous wrapped 10's. Probably would have carried better if I had played closer to the ditch and pick up a little more angle to the pocket.
Towards the middle of the second game, this ball started too shine. I bumped in a couple boards deeper and swung the ball out to around the 5 board. The ball set up very nicely and made a pronounced hard arc to the pocket. This gave a little better angle and carry increased. Amazingly though, the ball still cleared the heads and I wasn't forced inside.
Overall a very nice, strong arcing ball. Matte finish gives a nice read/reaction on heavier oil conditions. The biggest thing I noticed about the ball was how insensitive it seems to be to minor release variations. The ball read the mids and got into a strong roll on every shot. In my opinion, this sets the ball apart from most others.
I'm excited to try the polished surface on medium to light oil conditions. I think this will provide super length and a strong arcing backend reaction as well. With the polished surface, I think this will be a valuable ball to have in Reno (or any other tournament/league for that matter) if you happen to get caught on late shift oil. This will allow you to swing the ball and have a consistent and predictable backend reaction. With the matte finish, I feel this ball plays better up the boards on medium to heavy conditions. It gives a good midlane read and strong arcing backend. This is perfect for most non-walled league conditions. I think it would also be very useful for other types of shots where predictability and control are needed.
Overall I rate this as a super ball and can tell you that it will be pack in my bag when I arrive in Reno!
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UPDATE!
I finally got around to putting some polish on the Khameleon. Cleaned the surface up with the "Khameleon Particle Sand High Tech Ball Restorer" first, then applied ebonite factory finish. The factory finish is known for leaving sanding lines(i.e. applying it to 600 grit usually leaves lines), but this ball polished up very easily. It was almost no effort to get a high gloss on the khameleon using a ball spinner. The ball looked super, and not a single sanding line remained.
I threw the polish Khameleon on the exact same house shot as described above. This time, the ball got a little bit more length and a TON more backend reaction. The balls seems to rev extremely easily towards the end of the mids and makes a pronounced flip to the pocket.
I have thrown it on a couple of other shots now, including our version of the Reno shot (same pattern, but adjusted for synthetic lanes). This ball is amazing! It seems to carry from everywhere..swinging the lane, playing down & in... doesn't care. Just get lined up where ever you are comfortable and shoot the lights out.
This is a SUPER all around ball. If I only had one ball to take with me, this would be it. Its easily the best ball I own right now and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone. I'm excited to see what will be next from Neo-tac. Keep up the good work guys!
