Desert Heat

Dry lanes bring even the greatest bowlers to their knees. Don't sweat it! Designed to retain axis rotation and down-lane continuation, the Desert Heat is the lowest flare two-piece in Track's storied history. The high-luster polished, pearlized Power Plus EX reactive coverstock enables the Desert Heat to get through the dry fronts and mid-lanes and still provide strong hitting power.

Drill Patterns
Magic 8  
 

Desert Heat Specs
Hook Rating 22-17  
Length 9.0  
Backend 4.0  
Core Technology Modified TRI-CORE Technology  
Core Power N/A  
RG 2.57  
Differential 0.020  
Determinator Spin Time N/A  
Flare Potential 3  
Coverstock Power Plus EX Reactive  
Friction Rating N/A  
Finish High Luster Polish  
Polish Magic Shine  
Reaction Shape Arc  
Lane Condition Light Oil  

Hi folks, from Down Under

I have a customer asking me about a Desert Heat and am looking for some expert opinions to pass on to him. Here is his question..........

""I understand the desert heat is for very dry lanes, i was just wondering how it would go on outside lines? does if have enough grunt to make it back to the pocket if ur playing outside 5?""

I would appreciate your collective help immensely.

Thanks & regards..........Max
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"Australia's Discount Bowling Store"

All dry lane balls involve tradeoffs, unless you are an extremely high rev player.  The desert heat is somewhat unique in featuring a much lower differential combined with a moderately high rg for a two piece ball.

On the plus side I found this ball to carry better than some of my recent dry lane experiments, such as the SlayR.  On the minus side the ball is not amenable to using a weaker release on really torched conditions from deep inside.  This probably shouldn't surprise anyone due to the core construction.  On the condition for which I purchased the ball, I was able to get a very good reaction at 4th arrow for one game, but by the middle of the second game I could get a better look from my Paradigm using a very weak release than I could from the Desert Heat using any kind of release.  

I think this ball would be well suited for playing farther outside on broken down, but not totally torched conditions.  I had very good luck playing up the dry outside the oil line on a fresh condition with it.

I like the entire Heat line of bowling balls and this is the tamest ball in Track's current line.

I have the Desert Heat drilled with the pin 5.5" from my PAP under the middle finger with the CG just right of the center of the grip and no weight hole.

The Desert Heat provides excellent length and has a smooth reaction off the breakpoint.  On a typical house shot I can still get the ball to hook if I move right far enough and play right on top of the wet/dry line.

The next closest ball to the Desert Heat for me would be my Solution Power Plus EX.  The Desert Heat has about the same length, but the Solution is much stronger off the breakpoint.

I typically use the Desert Heat more when I want to play an outside line on shorter oil patterns.  For playing an inside line as the lanes start to break down, I will usually choose my Solution EX because the Solution will turn the corner harder.

I gave this ball 9 out of 10 because I would have liked to see a little weaker coverstock so I could use it on very dry lanes, but most strokers or tweeners will like the reaction this ball gives on dry lanes.

Avg Speed(First Ball):15-17 mph
Avg Speed(Second Ball):19-22 mph
Type of Bowler: Tweener
Average: 180
Age: 23
Hand: Right

Ball: Track Desert Heat
Weight: 15LBS
Pin: 3"
Layout:

-----------
--O---O----
----P------
-----------
------CG---
----O------
-----------
-----------

Expectations of the ball: Ball for dry lanes


Expectations met: Yes

Lineup: Ball fits between my Freak A Zoid and my Blue Enforcer

Likes: 1) Color
              2) Goes long
              3) Crushes the pocket
              4) Core


Dislikes: 1) Ball likes to snap instead of arch
                 2) With 2 coats of polish on the ball still hooks too much for
                    when the lanes are toast
                 

Heavy oil: Forget it.  Ball skids and never grabs the lanes.  Excellent for picking ten pins
Rating: 3-10

Medium Heavy: Still skids too much to play on this type of condition
Rating: 4-10

Medium: This the ball will actually play quite well on medium lanes if you play straight up.  If you have enough hand you maybe able to play somewhat of a swing shot, however when attempting to do so for me balls dies out and does not crush the pocket
Rating: 6-10

Medium-Dry: In my opinion the best condition for the Desert Heat. Mine will go long and then explode on the backend.
Rating: 10-10

Dry Lanes: Still a great ball to play on dry conditions. Ball still hooks too much in the backend for me to consider it a true dry lane ball.  Usually have to play a swing shot on this condition
Rating: 8-10

Overall Overall I think that the Desert Heat is a great ball. I think that every bowler should have one in there bag.  

Overall Rating: 9-10

I finally got my hands on this gem just recently, and I wanted to review this great piece from Track.

Track Desert Heat
Weight: 15 lbs. 3 oz.
Pin: 2.5"
Top Weight: 2.75 oz
Layout: 5 1/2" pin under middle finger, no hole
Surface: OOB
Lane Conditions tested: Various

I expected to get a ball could handle the drier lanes I see out there in league nights, and I got what I was looking for. I guess the name Desert Heat really hits the spot with its performance for me.

Reaction shape: Smooth arc......very smooth arc, with a knack for coming back strong on drier lanes out there. The layout and surface on my Desert Heat gives me a nice, even, consistent reaction each time I throw it. I don't have to worry about skid/flippy or any unpredictability with this ball.

Likes: Any condition that has a good bit of dry boards to it. I have noticed that when conditions really dry out, I can play my A game from 25-12 and have very good success with it. I usually notice the outside angle to the pocket(up the first arrow or around 8 or so) is where it shines on most league shots I see.

Dislikes: The Desert Heat hates carrydown, and lots of oil. I know Track made this ball specifically for drier conditions and sport shots of short length, and this ball will skate if it sniffs too much conditioner. At times, I have seen this ball skid 45 ft. downlane and make its turn too late and flat out flag the headpin b/c I played where there was not enough dry to help it recover.

Hit: Like all Track balls, the hit with this ball is flat out amazing. The unique thing is, most dry lane balls have much weaker cores than this one. When I play the extreme outside angles, the sound is one of a kind. It flat out turns the pins to shrapnel and that is saying something for a dry lane ball. Grade: A+

Versitality: The Desert Heat is not very versital at all for me and I have to delegate it to late game duty. This ball is really not meant to be a 3 game league ball unless the lanes have light volumes of oil or have a short length of oil. Higher rev players might find more versitiality out of it than strokers like me. Grade: D

Overall Grade: A+ (The color of the Desert Heat adds bonus points b/c it is really sweet looking..... )

This ball fits a niche in my bag that really needed to be filled. Track really went all out to make a ball that can be used when conditions dry out, and they suceeded with the Desert Heat. It's simply too bad that they discontinued it. If you can find one, get one, b/c gems like this are rare. Great work from Del Warren and the boys at Track once again!

God Bless You All and Thanks for reading this review......
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Name: Michael Bradford
Nickname: "The Rookie"
Evolution Tag Team Member #2 since 1/06

I have had a chance to bowl more games with this ball and one thing i have to say is i love this ball, it lets me play st8 when i want to.  i just used this ball last night after 2 leagues got done and i shot 246, 249, 190, 214 i was tryin to get done fast cuz i just got off of work and wanted to get home. this ball is not a violent reaction and its a nice arc that hits the pins hard, i've had more messengers with this ball than any of my others.  True this ball is for light oil because of the low flare but if you can get enough revs on the ball u can play str8 and still get good scores. i had a 644 on saturday with this ball during league fresh oil and a 658 later that day on another league on wood lanes.  i'm very happy i got this ball and i hope it'll last a while. you can't use it on heavy oil lanes though which i'm sure you can figure out. i have used it on a 40 foot pattern where i work and still gotten a good reaction with it. 10 out of 10 for me
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Age: 17
Average: 198
High Score: 299 ringing 10
High Series: 723 (223, 299, 201<-shaking to death)
Current arsenal:
The One: heavy oil
Animal Untamed: medium-heavy oil
Equation: medium oil
Intense Inferno(polished): dry lanes