I pre-ordered a Slant from Tekneek after reading a little about Radical bowling. I had great success in the past with other Phil offerings (Track, Dynothane, 900) and saw no reason why this should be different. Plus, this ball was quite attractive to me as it was advertised medium and not "hook in a box". I had Mike Austin drill this one up (fit absolutely perfectly) with a 5"pin above the fingers and the MB on my VAL. I was looking for some length and a smooth transition down the lane.
LANE CONDITION
Volume: medium to low
Type (THS, Sport Pattern etc): THS, broken down tournament conditions
I picked the ball up right after work one evening and headed directly to the lanes for league. The house puts down a very dry house shot that typically transitions to "toast" by the end of warm up. With the box finish, I actually found the ball to be somewhat over/under on this condition. Either it wanted to take off early or if I bumped deeper, it skated somewhat. I stayed with the ball for the night, just to get a few games with it (and see how it handled the typical 15+ board adjustment over 3 games). It wasn't a perfect match up, but managed to shoot a 590 set.
I went home that evening and spent a little time on my ball spinner. I hit the surface with a 1k abralon, followed by a light polish. The idea was to put a little more surface underneath the polish to help smooth out the over/under on the backend.
The following weekend I bowled in the Houston city tournament. This was held at a house with wood lanes (not many of those left) that put out a fair amount of oil. I started with a little stronger equipment, but in the middle for the second game I pulled out the slant. I had a great look, playing a tighter inside line, 18 at the arrows out to around 12-13 at the breakpoint. As the set finished, I had only moved a few boards deeper and through the entire next set never made it deeper than 22-23 at the arrows. The ball got easy length and would make a smooth change of direction down the lane. It seemed to be quite forgiving and I had shot pretty decent numbers.
The following week in league, I threw the ball again and it was like a different piece. Again, was able to get inside and play a tighter line with great carry. I shot my high set in league that night. I'm very happy with the ball and think this will be a great fit for nationals once the lanes start to transition a bit.
I needed to make a small surface change from the box condition, afterward I've had nothing but success. It isn't the biggest hooking ball on the market, but many of us don't want (or maybe more accurately don't need) that. A great smooth reacting medium conditions ball.
S^2
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