BALL SPECSPin Length: 3"
Starting Top Weight: 3.0
Ball Weight: 15.3
DRILL PATTERNPin to PAP: 4.75"
CG Location: On grip line
X Hole (if there is one): MOtion Hole 31/32" diameter, 4" deep
BOWLER STYLERev Rate: 325
Ball Speed: 17
PAP/Track: 5 3/8" over 3/8" up
SURFACE PREPGrit: box - 1500 polished
Type: (Matte, Polish, Sanded): polished
LANE CONDITIONLength: 39'
Volume: medium heavy
Type (THS, Sport Pattern etc): house
COMMENTSI was excited about this ball, because I had good success in the past with the neutron core and lately have really liked hybrid covers. It seemed like a no-brainer for me to combine the two. Plus, the color scheme on the website (and some of the early reaction videos) is really sharp. Something about a dark color and a bright pearl white stands out to me.
Was really excited to see my color scheme when the UPS man showed up. And I have to say, I was quite disappointed. Mine wasn't really white at all... rather a dirty off-white; sort of reminded me of the drop down ceiling tiles in bowling centers pre smoking ban. That sort of dirty brownish tan color.
Well, its still the neutron core and hybrid cover... not all was lost!
I drilled the ball with pin in ring finger and cg on the grip line, no weight hole. This roughly a 4.75" pin for me. I decided to throw the ball a bit before deciding on a surface change and/or weight hole to alter reaction.
League night, I found the ball to be somewhat over/under. Play up the lanes (8 at the arrows, out to 5 at breakpoint), the ball wanted to hook early and over react. If I moved further inside, and kept my target the same (13 at the arrows and 5 at the breakpoint), the ball labored to finish and didn't have much pop on the backend. When I moved the breakpoint area in to 8, 9, 10 area, the ball really wouldn't make the turn. I fished around with the ball for a couple weeks in league and shot a couple less than stellar sets (550 and 560).
At this point, I had a couple options... change surface, add a weight hole to alter reaction, both, or sell the ball. Although I was tempted just to sell, I had kept in my mind that at some point in time I wanted to give the MOtion hole a try. I figured this was as good a time as any to experiment.
I pulled the grip and extended the finger hole down to 4" deep each. I marked a spot 10" past the pin on a line from the center of the thumb hole through the pin and went out to the lanes to throw a few shots. I quickly saw that my release with this ball rolled directly over the marked tape! After throwing a few more shots, I found that moving the tape left laterally approximately 1" avoided the wet flares. I took the ball back home a put a 31/32" hole 4" deep on the marked spot (this was the largest bit I had at the house, outside of the 1 1/4"). I decided to keep the surface as-is for my initial evaluation.
The following week I went back to league with the ball. After a couple sub-par weeks, I was ready for a good night. During warm ups, I noticed the ball was visibly stronger down the lane. Throwing the same line as previous weeks (13 at the arrows and 5 at the breakpoint), the ball had no problem getting back to the pocket and finished dead flush. the pin action was noticeably better as well. More messengers, rather than rolling across the deck, pins were flying. As the night went on, I actually moved in a few more boards, playing 15-16 at the arrows, out to the same break point area. The ball showed no signs of quitting on the backend. Left only 1 10-pin over the course of the night (that's a highly unusual) and shot 680. Over the next four weeks with the ball, I shot 715, 680, 660, and another 660.. averaging around 225.
I have changed my most common leave from the 10 pin to the stoned 9. Shot a 279 a few weeks back with front 7, stone 9, and sheet. The ball is just unreal for me. Is it all due to the MOtion Hole? Probably not, but I think it changed the reaction enough to create a better match up.
