One of my good friends is a pro shop operator and former senior PBA player. For years he use to drill out a new ball and tell me, "this is the hardest hitting ball I have ever had". He meant it, but it applied to hook monsters that invariably tamed down substantially after 20-30 games.
I dont review balls very often on here, but here are a couple of examples of what I am talking about. Three strong solid ball I have had going back 10-12 years come to mind. Ebonite Infinite One was a monster for me out of the box. I shot a couple of 800's in the first month I had it. After it tamed down, it was just another okay ball. Roto Grip Cell was incredible, for about 30 games. Not so much after that. Roto Grip Theory was aother one. I won a major local tournament with it the first month I had it. After about 3 more tournaments I realized that my carry was terrible. On the other end of the scale, the Phase ll was great out of the box, but seemed to have a different roll than my other hook monsters. It tamed down too, but it still matched up a lot, and remained a very good ball for me. Then there were the balls that were great for me like the Virtual Gravity and Lucid. I didnt like either one out of the box, but when they lane polished, they became go to balls that I won tournaments with. Some pearls even tame down, although Marvel Pearl was great for me out of the box, and stayed that way. The thing is I understood what I was buying, and it matched my expectations.
Not one ball i mentioned above would I call a must have ball, although several were for me. I read reviews, but only after looking at the ball specs, and what the manufacturer says about it to see if it is something I might need. Then I look for a review that talks about the shape and characteristics. I usually stop reading when someone talks about the scores they shot with the ball.
