I drilled two pearl Naturals. The first ball I drilled was out at the WSOB. I drilled this pearl the same as a solid Natural that I had with me, which used a pin under ring, 65 degree from PAP layout (5 x 4), which allowed me to use an extra hole on my VAL, 1.5” below PAP. I ended up using the ball on the Viper, with good success. The pearl Natural gave me more skid to the breakpoint, and thus creating a bit more angle into the pins. I was actually surprised at how well the ball rolled through the backend, as it did leave me a few 8 pins, as well as some 6 pins. Comparing the original solid to the pearl, the pearl was cleaner up front, with more angle down lane. With that said, keep in mind, these are urethane balls, so more angle doesn’t mean “reactive” reaction.  You still have to keep the pearl in front of you, to allow yourself the best chance of scoring with the ball.

The second Pearl I drilled put the pin above my ring, and the cg on my grip line (5 x 5.5), no extra hole. Again, this matches the first Natural I ever drilled, allowing me to compare the overall difference being in the cover change to a pearl from the solid found on the original. Both balls are at true 4000 abralon (hitting all steps of abralon on the spinner until reaching the final finish prep). I used this ball on a fairly fresh house condition. Bowling on pro-anvilane (third generation), using Kegel oil, I was able to play a board or so just inside the oil line. The pearl gave me about 3 feet more length than the solid, keeping me about two boards left of the lay down of the solid. I bowled quite a few games with the 2 balls, and after the midlanes showed signs of carrydown, the solid actually gave me a bit of over- under, as it would start up too quick when standing on top of the dry, but would not read the midlane and backend properly, when staying a few boards to the right. The Pearl allowed me to stand on top of the dry, and continue striking. It didn’t read the fronts the way the solid did, but still had enough on the backend to carry out the 7 pin.

The biggest thing to keep in mind about urethane bowling balls is that you want to keep the reaction in front of you. Therefore, since they don’t have the friction factor in the backend the way reactive does, the moves you make will be much fewer boards. Instead of jumping 4-10 boards, your moves will be much smaller, 1 -2 boards, and sometimes the occasionally ½ board, just enough to allow that pesky corner pin to fall. With that said, I think every tournament bowler, as well as people bowling on high friction surfaces, should have a urethane bowling ball in their arsenal. It allows you to stay out of trouble, when reactive balls are just forcing you too deep into the oil pattern, and your angles start to get away from you. With the addition of the Pearl Natural, you now have 2 great options to choose from with a urethane cover stock from Storm.