The ball: 16 pounds, 2.5-inch pin
The drill: Pin right of ring, CG in palm area under ring, works out to a 3.5 x 3.5 drill for me. No weight hole. Finish is box.
Me: PAP 4 over 3/8 up, tweener revs, good speed, good circumference coverage
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Got this ball from a member here on BallReviews (thanks, Frank!). The ball had very little game traffic on it and was practically new.
It sat in my bag for a couple of nights of league before I could find a use for it, but when I arrived for league this past week and the lanes were already hooking more in practice than they were at the end of a block the week before, I figured it might come down to the Sorcerer before the night was over.
I was correct. By the middle of the third game, every other ball in the bag was hooking out of my hand -- solid, pearl, it didn't matter. The Sorcerer was my last chance to play in my preferred part of the lane before I would have to make a drastic move and play a part of the lane I'm not comfortable with.
The Sorcerer proved to be a great weapon for broken-down, dry-as-a-bone lanes. I have both this ball and Visionary's Slate Blue Gargoyle, a urethane pearl. The Sorcerer feels like it's been polished, although it's a urethane solid underneath.
The Slate Blue, even though it's a pearl, hooks more than this ball. It gives roughly the same length, but when the Slate Blue starts its move, the move is stronger. Continuity on the backend also favors the Slate Blue.
The Sorcerer's characteristics are more of an arc than the Slate Blue -- which is plenty arcy in its own right but does tend to be a little angular on lanes with very dry backends. The Sorcerer is never angular.
The Sorcerer will also move earlier if it sees dry up front. After not being able to get it to finish playing up 10, I tried moving out to 5 but the heads were so dry at 5 that I couldn't get the ball to clear them.
Carry is very good on good hits and even on light hits, which surprises me a little for a urethane. Carry on heavy hits, however, tended to leave split combinations involving the 4-pin. This ball doesn't get robbed on many good hits but it does demand a greater degree of accuracy, which one would expect given its construction, in order to keep pace with newer reactive equipment.
It did allow me, however, to play a part of the lane no one else could at that time. Others on my pair were either dealing with burn-up or were chasing the oil and having a problem with the ball finishing. I did not have that problem. The summary:
Positives: Continuous move, good hit and carry for urethane, great for drys and dry-mediums, no surprises downlane.
Negatives: High hits tend to leave pins, can't push through bone-dry heads, "no surprises downlane" also means no free recovery.
Overall: Classic urethane performance from a company that knows how to build quality, durable bowling balls.
Jess