Not much new to add to the sum of human knowledge here - this is a well-understood ball, a shame Storm is phasing it out in favor of the much stronger Hot Rod.
I have a terrible track record with Storm equipment. Of the 5 or 6 I've thrown, Thunder Flash has been the only Storm I've had real success with, when I took a lot of revs out of this cover-strong ball. I borrowed a Too Hot to try out 18 months ago. The only place I could use it was on a short, fast-transitioning shot on light oil. I had no other shot with it, and eventually settled on a mild urethane here.
In searching for leagues for next season, I learned that I'll be on a shot where I can't get my 1:30 ScreamR long enough. It's a nasty little short oil strip block without a lot of hold inside, a dry strip 8 - 10, 3 - 7 is heavier, and dust on 1-2. Tough carry once you get there too, which rules out a 3-piece. Recalling my experiences with it, and some of the recent release changes I've made, my shop had a price too good to pass up on a Too Hot with a decent pin (2 3/4"), so I thought I'd try it again.
It was a big advantage having thrown one of these before getting it drilled. Even though the core slightly overmatches the cover, Curleyon is mild enough to get long without drilling the ball to death. I wanted some length and roundness to the breakpoint while still leaving the ball reasonably strong. I put the pin beside the ring, CG out about an inch and on the centerline. No reason to risk cutting the statics close, so we put a modest weight hole on the PAP to bring it to 13/16ths side.
As long as I keep the pin away from the bridge, CG-out on a pearl seems to matchup well with the small swing I naturally play. Also, it behaves better in transition, allowing me to stay with the ball longer. Too Hot will never, ever be a carrydown ball, but this seems to get me an extra frame or two in transition, where I lose most of my sticks.
This drilling does fine, still plenty long ("effortless length" is what I wrote down at the time), moving about 12 boards round-trip from the outside. While several feet longer and slightly more angular, the overall move was not that much smaller than the Boost (which is billed as a big oil ball?), and it carries at least as well. It behaved as well as anything could on this shot, with a predictable skid/roll move.
Once you understand how to use them, these Thunder cores have nice roll characteristics. The biggest mistake I think you can make, and this is one of my many sins, is to force them into a roll too early. Too Hot definitely likes to be thrown its way. If you loft, lift and hit up on it, you'll hate it. I think this is where some of the reviews come from that characterize the hit as thin, brittle, prone to leave corners.
It seems best suited to the 'less is more' stroker/power stroker game. To my mind, Too Hot is really more an outside line kind of ball. It's not what I'd reach for if I needed to get inside 15.
Overall, I'd say the Too Hot is a nice little pearl that many people will be able to score well with on the lighter patterns. It's the mildest 2-piece resin I'm aware of, but I have not yet thrown a SonicX. It sits noticeably under my mildest release with Scream/R and has a different look, so it's worth having.
Ratings:
Giving it an overall 8, but not everything that counts can be counted.
Control: 8. Had a generally good look and handled well on some of the lighter sport patterns I've tried it on. No big overreaction on the backend like you get from some of the stronger pearls.
Versatility: 7.5. Best on the light to lighter-medium patterns; plenty of ball for the majority of league shots I see. Wish I'd had this guy on the codger block last winter - it could've meant another 5 sticks.
In my opinion, the best light oil resin option for the lower-rev styles. A much better choice than an n-piece for these conditions. Half a point off for being somewhat style-specific.
Hit and carry: 8. Very good, but only if you have a style that matches up. It needs to skid and roll on its own terms, not yours.
