My specs:
Left handed, ball speed around 16 MPH, rev rate around 300 RPM, axis rotation of around 60 degrees, and axis tilt around 30 degrees.
Since I’ve enjoyed my other Visionary balls so much, I decided to try the Ogre Pearl. I have the solid (see review) and wanted the same kind of control and smooth “roll up†finish that it provides, but in a ball that would let me use it on the drier mediums and maybe even some dry conditions. I drilled it up similar to the solid, with the pin 4.5†from the axis and about 1.5†off the vertical axis line and the CG stacked. To make a long story short, it does just about exactly what I wanted. On the heavier medium lane conditions, it is a bit “flippier†than the solid, but that is to be expected from a polished pearl. On the drier mediums, it reacts exactly the same as the solid does on the heavier mediums and oily conditions. It’s very smooth and predictable, with no “jump†off the break point. Adjustments as the night goes on are minimal and simple, consisting mainly of “2 and 1†type moves. None of this moving an arrow at a time stuff. The Ogre line is a “down and in†player’s dream. It also works fantastic on a “dry track†or “tube†lane condition. You don’t see too many places that set out this kind of shot any more, but you get the same effect when you have a fairly solid coverage of oil to start, then play “blows a hole†through the pattern. You get oil to the inside and oil to the outside, sandwiching a drier area. This ball lets you play more down the boards, stay in the track area, and not have the “skid, hook, skid some more and try to recover†reaction you get when you cross boards on this type of shot. I don’t have enough hand to give much of the pocket away with this ball given the lower differential numbers, but this could be just what the heavy handed player needs when everything else is too uncontrollable at the break point. As I said with the solid, this ball just lets you live in the pocket shot after shot. No tricks, no eye-popping break point, no “ooohs and aaahs†from the crowd, just lots and lots of dead flush with minimal adjustments as the night goes on.
