GRAVITY SHIFT and RAPID FIRE reviews
I just drilled these two new arrivals and have only had three opportunities to use them. The first was a league session on PBA Cheetah at a house that uses a very thin oil and hooks a ton despite being fairly new synthetics. The second was a scratch tournament on a PBA Viper-ish condition at a center with old wood. The third was a tournament at a synthetic center with a heavy oil modified house shot – a lot in the middle with hang on the outside.
Please keep in mind that these are very initial reviews and I don't have opinions that are set in stone on either ball. As I learn more I will add to these opinions.
GRAVITY SHIFT
I drilled my GRAVITY SHIFT with the pin above the bridge, 5 inches from my PAP, both the CG and Key ended up 3 1/2 from my PAP with my strong drilling angle, with a 5 inch pin buffer. (My coordinates are 5 1/8 over and 3/4 up.) I chose this drilling to follow the old saying: "Drill a strong ball strong and a weak ball weak." In addition, I have not had much luck with drilling SHIFT line balls with a pin lower than above the fingers, probably due to my moderate ball speed and 325 or so rev rate.
With its lower RG, the GRAVITY performed exactly as I expected to – getting into a roll easier and earlier than my SHIFT. I love the SHIFT and have had some great performances with it but it is one of those balls that is hit or miss – either it strikes like crazy or doesn't work very well at all. I have a feeling the GRAVITY will be more versatile, with its continuous, strong movement and also because it doesn't have the SHIFT's light particle load. There was no pronounced flip point with the GRAVITY – the move off the break point was more of a hard continuous move than a flip. The R2X cover on the GRAVITY seems as good as advertised. I was very surprised how well it gone down the lane and retained energy on the hooking Cheetah pattern, although it had no chance on the Viperish pattern on the very old wood – that was one of the most hooking lane conditions I've seen in a long time and the asymmetrical core was just too much. The GRAVITY performed very well early in the tournament on the modified house shot (helping my partner and I win) although once the heavy oil really carried down I put it away, which is not surprising with its pearl cover. An older PARADIGM rolled a little harder through the carrydown. I can't wait to see an R2X solid cover ball – I am sure that will totally ignore carrydown.
Have not yet had a chance to alter the cover from box finish – when I do I can add more information. But I think I will like it best in box finish as I don't have a strong shiny asymmetrical pearl reactive in my current arsenal. After this initial use, I would compare the GRAVITY most to the X-FACTOR or PARADIGM.
RAPID FIRE
I drilled my RAPID FIRE with the pin above the bridge, 5 inches from my PAP, with the CG 3 1/2 from my PAP with my strong drilling angle, with a 5 inch pin buffer. (My coordinates are 5 1/8 over and 3/4 up.) As with my GRAVITY SHIFT, I chose this drilling to follow the old saying: "Drill a strong ball strong and a weak ball weak." In addition, I have not had much luck with the FIRED UP or DIABLO (both have the same core as the RAPID) with a pin lower than above the fingers, again probably due to my moderate ball speed and 325 or so rev rate.
With the shiny box finish, my RAPID made a sharp move at the back end but was not as skid/flippy as the FIRED UP. This did not surprise me since RAPID has the stronger R2S cover. It did tend to burn up on the hooking Cheetah pattern I initially tried it on, with a few weak 10s or 2-pins. That did not surprise me with this core, as both my FIRED UP and DIABLO have been balls that will flip and stop at times on certain conditions due to their strong core. On the very hooking Viperish pattern on the old wood it got down the lane surprisingly easily (much easier than the GRAVITY) with a sharp move. It gave me a huge last game that allowed me to almost make the cut on a day I didn't bowl very well.
Scuffed with 2,000 Abralon, it handed the heavy modified house shot very well, getting to the pocket consistently. It actually rolled too strong for that condition, though, with a solid 7, solid 9 and a couple of ringing 10s that caused me to put it away even though it gave me the most area to hit of any ball I tried. The scuff tamed the sharpness of the breakpoint move some but it still made a strong move – just would not describe this ball as flippy either shiny or scuffed. The move is sharp but rolling is the best words I can think of. I have had a couple of SPECIAL AGENTS with pins above the fingers that were close to being great but just needed a little more flip, so I am thinking this RAPID with the Abralon scuff will be exactly what I am looking for to complement my SPECIAL that has a similar drilling angle but the pin under the ring finger.
I also am thinking that a better drilling angle for me for this ball might be the pin over the fingers with the CG in my grip center. I may end up plugging and redrilling my RAPID to try that because I love how much area it gives me but may need a slightly different pocket move to improve carry.
Edited on 2/7/2008 4:30 PM
Edited on 2/9/2008 8:52 AM
