M y totally defiant was absolutely fantastic out of the box but after about 40, it mellowed to a condition specific ball. I can see where people that totally to buy in leave early in its life them saying that it is ball of the year but anybody with some traffic on it will probably say otherwise
This seems to be typical of the Rotogrip products the last few years.
As for "Ball of the Year", in my area, it's obviously the IQ Tour Pearl. I see them everywhere. And no, I don't own one.
I haven't seen this at all, I do find the Storm cover stocks in general a bit more labor intensive compared to others, but if maintained correctly they last forever. I have a Nomad with over 500 games on it that reacts like it did brand new, thats why I still havent drilled the NIB Nomad Ive had for over a year. The only ball from either compmany I had "die" was the Mutant Cell, but all other with proper cleaning and resurface are keep going...
I soak mine with hot water and soap frequently, surface is sitting at 1000 abralon right now. I've found when there is any carry down, it can't recover properly and i'm 2's, 2-8's, buckets, anything similar. And those leaves come at no warning. i'll be flush/high flush strike after strike, then bam, 2 pin (maybe it's neighbors), and I chase the pocket right all night, never knowing which direction the next adjustment needs to be til it's too late.
I'll probably run my TD up to a 4000 grit surface and keep it for a late set go-to, and throw the ball with very little swing, so all it has to do is walk to the pocket. Still a decent ball with great hitting power, if you can get it back to the hole.
