RAPID FIRE updated review from Jeff Richgels, Storm regional staff
      
   I finally figured out how to strike - and a lot - with my RAPID FIRE. Because it has the FIRED UP core I was under the assumption that I had to go in and around it with the RAPID and all I've been getting with that is a lot of 9. Changed surfaces multiple times and changed weight hole and pretty much always got to the pocket but just a bunch of 9 - and mostly hard 9 like ring 10s and solid 9s and solid 7s.
   I averaged 263 for 5 games in leading this little scratch tournament with a SPECIAL. In the title match I hit a pair I hadn't bowled on and it was tighter in the middle than any I had bowled on all day - solid 9, strike, ring 10, double, greek church (bad shot) and guy has the front 8 and I am done by the 8th or so. So I grab my RAPID and just try rolling very straight up the oil line about 13-14 board – NOT IN AND GOING AROUND THE OIL! Wham, wham, wham, wham. Little wide - it rolls up high flush. Little in - it skates down and holds flush or blows the rack. Hmmm. But only 5 shots or so.
   Next day I am bowling a scratch tournament in another old wood house with a big middle puddle. 67 over after 2 games but under cut by 5 pins. In and hooking it with a PARADIGM. Gal on my pair is wrecking yanking up 12. So I grab my RAPID and roll it up 13-14 and ... front 8, ring 10, strike, 4 pin for 269. Wow. Same reaction as Saturday. (BTW it is back to polished.)
   Last weekend used it late in regional qualifying playing straight up between the gutter and 5 depending on the pair and had a decent look. Almost shot 300 one game and almost dug out a big hole to make the cut.
   RAPID clearly is a ball that works best (at least for me) playing a relatively straight trajectory and letting it roll to the pocket. Great ball for playing outside, rather than the in and go around it ball I assumed it would be. Am told that is just the way the R2S cover matches to the FIRED UP core for me.

Jeff,

Great write-up, as usual, on the Rapid Fire.  Would be curious to know how yours is layed out.

Probably ought to do a little write-up myself...

My first Rapid Fire is layed out with the pin under the bridge (right around 4 3/4" pin-to-pap for me) with the CG swung out at 45 degrees and a weight hole on midline around 5" from the pin.  I first tried this one at 2000 polished and had "this" (hold your arms up in the air and cross them and make a big letter "X", and that's what I had...) reaction, it was not pretty.  This reaction was on a lighter volume house shot, as well as a broken down house shot with a little higher volume.  
Since this obviously wasn't the reaction I was looking for, I tried a surface change down to 2000, no polish.  This is where the ball stands out for me, still gives it decent length due to the longish pin-to-pap, but the surface lets it stand up a bit and still hook in a decent volume of oil.  This Rapid still makes the corner and drives through the pins despite being at 2000 abralon...as long as there is some head oil, I can get as far left as I want, feed it to the breakpoint, and just watch it rip back and still drive through the deck.

I liked that reaction so much that I decided to drill a second one this week, pin over the middle finger (around 5 1/4" pin-to-pap) with the CG swung out at 45 degrees and a weighthole just below my midline, at 6 3/4" from the pin.  Since this was a 4.5-5" pin, I was able to get away with popping a weighthole that far away from the pin and still keeping it over the middle finger as I wanted.
So far i've only thrown this one for about 10 games, and i've kept it polished, but it definitely gives me a nice amount of separation from the first Rapid.  This one is much cleaner through the heads (due to the polished finish, the longer pin-to-pap, and the pin up vs. pin down), and still gives that very similar hard arc on the backend.  

I've found that I can circle the lane with both Rapids, as well as play a little straighter (only on heavier volumes with the pin-down sanded Rapid though) up the boards, fortunately for me the core/coverstock combo allows me to have two very versatile, yet strong balls that can read in the mids and not over-react on the backend.  
Also, this ball seems very responsive to hand position changes, if I change to a hand position to promote more side roll, the ball gets further downlane and conserves more energy for the backend.  If I go stronger with my hand position, the ball rolls up a little quicker but still makes it through the pins without quitting.
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Andrew Loose

"Technology is anything that's really cool that you don't know how it works, and if it breaks, you have to buy a new one!"

Nice report Andrew.

The RAPID I reported on in this post is drilled with the pin above the bridge, 5 inches from my PAP, with the CG 3 1/2 from my PAP, with a 5 inch pin buffer. (My coordinates are 5 1/8 over and 3/4 up.)

I just drilled a new RAPID today (haven't thrown it yet). Pin is above and left of my middle finger (weak drilling for control like a VERTIGO I still use a lot), 6 1/2 inches from PIN to PAP, 4 1/4 from PIN to "MB" (where mass bias would be if you go 6 3/4 from PIN through CG), and a 6 inch pin buffer.