Polishing your Battle would make it more angular (than OOB) on the THS, but would obviously diminish the total hook on the tournament pattern. I polished a couple of my Battles at one point, but preferred them at their OOB surface. When I had them polished and tried to use them on THS or shorter tournament patterns, it always seemed like there was something else in my bag that would match up to that pattern better (Horizon, SSSE, or RS-1).
If I had to compare an Epic to an Epic Battle on a THS with similar layouts, I would say that the Original Epic would be approximately 4-6' longer and 4-6 boards weaker than the Battle.
On a 1:1 45' pattern, I would guess that you wouldn't see that much of a difference in overall hook potential (since nothing would be hooking a whole lot to begin with), but would see a tremendous difference on when each ball would pick up its roll. Again, the Battle would be about 4-6' earlier in the midlane. Ball choice would rely on who (and what balls they are using) is on your pair, who you are following (and again, what balls they are using), all of those peoples lane play, and what lane surface you are bowling on. Sometimes more/earlier hook is not necessarily better.
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Mat Henning
Roto-Grip Staffer
Owner/Operator of
Champions Bowling Services
