BALL SPECS
Pin Length - 1.5"
Starting Top Weight - 3 oz
Ball Weight - 15 lb
DRILL PATTERN
Pin to PAP - 4"
CG to PAP -
X Hole (if needed) - None
MB Location - Below Thumb
Drill Angle - 75
VAL Angle - 75
BOWLER STYLE
Rev Rate - Low
Ball Speed - 14.5-15.5 mph
PAP/Track - High 5 over 1 up
Video
SURFACE PREPARATION
Grit - OOB (500,1500 SIAAIR), 1000 Abralon
Type (Matte, Polish, Sanded) - OOB (Sanded), 1000 (Polished)
LANE CONDITION - Various
Length - Various
Volume - Various
Type (Wall, Xmas Tree, Sport) - 3 X THS, Route 66, Scorpion
BALL REACTION
Length - 9/10
Back End - 6/10 (This was a result of the drill layout and style not a function of ball potential)
Overall Hook - 6/10 (same applies a longer pin with CG kicked would have yielded a monster hook)
Midlane Read - 9/10 (the drill was for control on conditions I regularly face.....mission accomplished)
Breakpoint Shape - Smooth arc for me, has potential to be extremely angular
COMMENTS: I took this ball in to my proshop with the intention of seeing how strong we could make it (I really wanted to see how strong it was and figured that was what the ball was made for), but after talking it over at length we decided to try to make it fit not only my style but the lane conditions I face in the area. After drilling it up I took it out to the first set of lanes I intended to try it on. It was in OOB surface prep of 500,1500 SIAAIR, I got a lane and through it up the 15 to get an idea of how much it was going to hook and that I would need to adjust. First ball ended up being a strike and it is truly the first strike in the video, also I was a bit off balance and my foot slipped out from under me as you might have noticed, later shots are better, but I wanted to include that shot. Also I included the MASSIVE amount of oil that was on the ball. I thought this to be odd as it was around 2 pm on a Saturday and I figured to be playing on a sort of broken down house shot.
I was not getting the reaction I expected and after about 4 games, I decided to call it a day....I only found out after that those 4 games I had bowled on a FRESH ROUTE 66 that they had put out for people practicing for the MASTERS and QUEENS.....(that made me not feel so bad about the spares that I kept missing....even that wasn't what I was there for.
Next day I bowled another 6 games this time on a FRESH and HEAVY THS, still some decent reaction, and despite getting a decent amount of strikes I felt like the ball was not sending the pins flying as much as I would like and several hits just sounded wrong or left some weird leaves......I decided for me the ball was not storing enough energy so I adjusted the surface to 1000 abralon with polish....
Holy cow what a difference I bowled on a medium THS that evening and LOVED the reactions and messengers flying around....I got a smooth pop to the pocket and great carry through.....I actually had people oohing and ahhing next to me (felt pretty good....)
The next night I had 2 leagues first was a sport league with Scorpion, I was nervous with the polish that I would not be able to use the ball.....wrong again, I went front 8 before making a bonehead move and opening the last 2 frames (another story and definitely NOT the balls fault), I ended up over the 4 games slightly above my average but limited filming opportunities as I did not want to disrupt the league. I did have some line up problems when we switched lanes and got a spell of vertigo.....considering that I felt pretty good with the results.
Last league was a THS that had been bowled on by a league and open bowlers so it was pretty burnt.....I sometimes have trouble using even balls meant for light oil. I ended up swinging the ball out a little bit and still got great reaction....I bowled 2 more games with it before I finally got tired of trying to add some extra speed.
Carry - In OOB you need a ton of oil to store that energy (I would say those with higher revs would find this condition EXTREMELY good) for me....great on the heavier stuff but as it broke down the ball burned out......The ball always seemed to carry through the rack pretty decent. When I took it to 1000 + polish....the carry was amazing for me....that front 8 on scorpion seemed so easy (I didn't even feel nervous....my teammate thought I was about to have my first 300 - I sure showed him!!!!)
Hook: This ball has the potential of being a really strong piece.....I know some feel I complained despite having the chance to test a ball for free (I truly appreciate and was grateful for the opportunity and honestly would have never tried Radical if not for this program....I can honestly say I would not hesitate to buy a ball from them in the future)....The simple fact in this case is that I wanted to see what the ball could do for me, instead I had to see what I could do to make it a usable piece....so for me in a tamed down drilling condition, I would call the hook about a 6....with a different drill in OOB I could easily see this thing being a solid 10.....
Likes - The ball is a very versatile piece depending on the layout and surface prep, i think a longer pin and CG kicked layout in an OOB surfacing would be an absolute beast in the heavier conditions, higher rev players could probably use it longer than guys like me who are slower and have less revs....but still this would likely be the balls strength. That said this piece can also be used as a very versatile piece, with a label or negative drill and some surface prep and adding polish, I turned a piece that I would not get to use very often into a piece that I could use on sport conditions or even fresh THS or broken down conditions later.
One thing to note in my video I DIDN'T MOVE the whole time I was bowling and the LINES I were throwing were only adjusted slightly....TO ME THAT IS AMAZING! I did throw other lines, but they didn't reinforce my statement above so I cut them out.
Dislikes - For me OOB was not preferred, I quickly noticed the burn out of the ball and I would be worried that the average bowler who buys this ball as a hooking monster but that may have limited speed or revs is going to hit the pocket and not get what they expect. If this happens they will likely give up on the ball and call it a dud without ever seeing it's true potential.
Other - I continue to carry the REAX with me when I practice.....My teammate and I often do crazy challenges like one ball for a set (including shooting spares) This baby got me a 220 and 190 which is impressive seeing that we were on burnt lanes and I had to throw it as a spare ball......my teammate is still trying to figure out how I can do this with that ball....LOL
I can say honestly that this is a seriously fun ball to have in your bag. I would also let people know if you don't seem to be getting what you want, play with that surface.....a few small adjustments and I went from thinking I would sell the ball, to now really enjoying having it as a versatile piece to my arsenal.
