UPDATE
O.K., so I got the ThunderFlash drilled tonight and used it for three games, but the shop guy didn't have sandpaper, so we just put 1000 abralon on it. Not the same as a dull sandpaper finish, but somewhere to start.
First game with fresh backends, the ball was MONEY. Played a small belly out to the dry area, transition was smooth, and backends hard enough to carry really well for a 253 game
Second game was not so good. Ball was still early enough to want a bit of swing, but the backends would not allow it to carry like that, so it was tenpin city. Missed a couple of them and ended up with a lousy 158 game.
Third game the lanes had carried down enough to allow me to move totally out into the dry and play down&in. Carry was better again, but not like on the fresh. Still managed to shoot a 223.
If I had been sharper on my adjustments, I could have shot much better the second game, just wasn't familiar enough with the ball to know where to go when things began to change.
Going to play with the surface, both duller and polished, and see what happens with it.
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"The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits."
Albert Einstein