After being invited to try some of the new Ebonite releases at the Demo Day, held at Moorabbin (many many thanks to Ian Maguire at Moonah for the invite), I thought I would share my comments of the 8 balls tested.
For the purpose of the testing, all balls were drilled with pin under ring finger, with CG or BOMB stacked underneath. Lane conditions were Moorabbin's normal house shot, about a 10-10 top hat (camels grazing outside), and the Australian Open Oil pattern (lots more oil, lot flatter)
APEX OBSESSION
Big Wheel medium load particle resin with PET sparkles sanded to 1000 grit. Super low RG, high Diff core.
Great ball on the AO pattern. Clean through the heads, and a strong, hard arc on the backend. Drives right through the pins with a continuous hooking motion. Bit too much ball for myself on the House shot, but after taking some hand out of it, rolled very consistantly. Hitting the dry outsides a little early caused the ball to check up, and lose some hitting power.
PREDATOR PURSUIT
Trimax ultra low load particle resin sanded to 1000 grit. Original strong mass bias Fusion core from the Apex.
Another great ball for the heavier pattern. Great midlane read, rolling up about 3 feet earlier than the Obession. For myself, it created a bit more area on the AO pattern. CRUSHES the pins. Way too much ball on the house pattern, with early roll and soft hit. Great ball for the lower to medium rev players.
V2 STRONG
Big Bang load particle resin sanded to 1000. Med RG, super high diff version of the V2 core (added large flip block on top)
Very strong ball. I have always been a fan of the V2's, even when they were the Nitro/R2's, and this ball just makes the line stronger. Very strong backend reaction which enabled us to open up the lane on the heavier oil, but due to the particle cover, was easy to read. Suprising clean through the heads on the top hat and delivering a strong, crisp hit. Seemed to keep the pins lower than any other ball tested. Would highly recommend this ball this ball to any league bowler for slightly heavier amounts of oil.
TPC PLAYER
Pealized Trimax reactive resin cover with PET sparkles sanded to 1000 grit. Asymmetric Propeller core.
Very strong midlane roll, with good backend movement. Found this ball to be a bit inconsistant, probably due to the drilling. If I missed my release just slightly, I got about 6 extra feet of skid. When I got it right, got a great, smooth midlane roll, with a strong flippy arc to the pocket. Proved to be too much ball of the league pattern, just rolled way too early, but could be adjusted with a different drilling and surface adjustments.
SAVAGE FLIP
Pearlised Big Bang coverstock, polished with Factory Finish Polish. Inverted lightbulb core with dual flip blocks. Medium RG with HIGH diff = LOTS OF FLARE!
This is one strong ball. Great ball for bowlers with little hand. As soon as the ball is through the oil, it flips, and it flips HARD! Very angular breakpoint. Proved to be a bit over-under on the heavier pattern, but I guess it's a ball not designed for huge amounts of oil. On the house shot, this thing is scary. Had half a lane to play with. 25 at the arrows out to 3, Solid. For someone looking to open up a lane, this is the ball, and at a great price. Only drawback was the amount of cold 8's and 9's, but I guess that's a good problem
Also on offer, were Hammer's newest balls.....
TURBO DIESEL
Power Whip Reactive Resin sanded to 1000. Medium RG, high Diff core
Big midlane roll with this ball, with a big hard arc on the backend. Great ball on the AO pattern: no over-under at all. Drives right through the pindeck. Pretty easy to get through the heads on the league pattern, but if gotten outside a little quick, hits soft and quits hooking. If kept in the oil, great smooth roll with pin dancing hit.
VICIOUS ATTACK
Power Whip Reactive coverstock sanded to 1000. Low mass bias asymmetric core.
This is one serious ball. Only ball I could get in deep with on the AO pattern and get a strong recovery, and yes it recovers strong... VERY strong. Seemed to be the biggest hooking ball tested on the day. On the league pattern, could get in deep and swing it, or firm up and play up in the desert (with speed!). With surface adjustments, this would be a ball to cover many different conditions.
SLING BLADE
Highly polished Pearl Power Trak reactive Coverstock. Classic Hammer core (dating back to urethanes).
My favourite ball of the day. Awesome ball on the top hat pattern. No over reation at all. This ball doesn't flip, and beleive me, I tried to make it. Just a big, smooth, very hard arc. Not a ball for low rev players, unless you're bowling on toast. For the crankers, you could fall in love with it. Reaction on the heavier oil was consistant, just had to get lined up and fire down the boards. Don't try to swing it on heavy oil, it just isn't designed for it. For a control ball at a great price, this leaves nothing in the bag.
Many thanks must go to Mike Quitter from Ebonite, Cara Honeychurch for her experiences with the balls and coaching, and to Kevin Clunies-Ross from AMF for helping put everything together. If you get the chance to go to an Ebonite Demo Day.... do it!!
For the purpose of the testing, all balls were drilled with pin under ring finger, with CG or BOMB stacked underneath. Lane conditions were Moorabbin's normal house shot, about a 10-10 top hat (camels grazing outside), and the Australian Open Oil pattern (lots more oil, lot flatter)
APEX OBSESSION
Big Wheel medium load particle resin with PET sparkles sanded to 1000 grit. Super low RG, high Diff core.
Great ball on the AO pattern. Clean through the heads, and a strong, hard arc on the backend. Drives right through the pins with a continuous hooking motion. Bit too much ball for myself on the House shot, but after taking some hand out of it, rolled very consistantly. Hitting the dry outsides a little early caused the ball to check up, and lose some hitting power.
PREDATOR PURSUIT
Trimax ultra low load particle resin sanded to 1000 grit. Original strong mass bias Fusion core from the Apex.
Another great ball for the heavier pattern. Great midlane read, rolling up about 3 feet earlier than the Obession. For myself, it created a bit more area on the AO pattern. CRUSHES the pins. Way too much ball on the house pattern, with early roll and soft hit. Great ball for the lower to medium rev players.
V2 STRONG
Big Bang load particle resin sanded to 1000. Med RG, super high diff version of the V2 core (added large flip block on top)
Very strong ball. I have always been a fan of the V2's, even when they were the Nitro/R2's, and this ball just makes the line stronger. Very strong backend reaction which enabled us to open up the lane on the heavier oil, but due to the particle cover, was easy to read. Suprising clean through the heads on the top hat and delivering a strong, crisp hit. Seemed to keep the pins lower than any other ball tested. Would highly recommend this ball this ball to any league bowler for slightly heavier amounts of oil.
TPC PLAYER
Pealized Trimax reactive resin cover with PET sparkles sanded to 1000 grit. Asymmetric Propeller core.
Very strong midlane roll, with good backend movement. Found this ball to be a bit inconsistant, probably due to the drilling. If I missed my release just slightly, I got about 6 extra feet of skid. When I got it right, got a great, smooth midlane roll, with a strong flippy arc to the pocket. Proved to be too much ball of the league pattern, just rolled way too early, but could be adjusted with a different drilling and surface adjustments.
SAVAGE FLIP
Pearlised Big Bang coverstock, polished with Factory Finish Polish. Inverted lightbulb core with dual flip blocks. Medium RG with HIGH diff = LOTS OF FLARE!
This is one strong ball. Great ball for bowlers with little hand. As soon as the ball is through the oil, it flips, and it flips HARD! Very angular breakpoint. Proved to be a bit over-under on the heavier pattern, but I guess it's a ball not designed for huge amounts of oil. On the house shot, this thing is scary. Had half a lane to play with. 25 at the arrows out to 3, Solid. For someone looking to open up a lane, this is the ball, and at a great price. Only drawback was the amount of cold 8's and 9's, but I guess that's a good problem
Also on offer, were Hammer's newest balls.....
TURBO DIESEL
Power Whip Reactive Resin sanded to 1000. Medium RG, high Diff core
Big midlane roll with this ball, with a big hard arc on the backend. Great ball on the AO pattern: no over-under at all. Drives right through the pindeck. Pretty easy to get through the heads on the league pattern, but if gotten outside a little quick, hits soft and quits hooking. If kept in the oil, great smooth roll with pin dancing hit.
VICIOUS ATTACK
Power Whip Reactive coverstock sanded to 1000. Low mass bias asymmetric core.
This is one serious ball. Only ball I could get in deep with on the AO pattern and get a strong recovery, and yes it recovers strong... VERY strong. Seemed to be the biggest hooking ball tested on the day. On the league pattern, could get in deep and swing it, or firm up and play up in the desert (with speed!). With surface adjustments, this would be a ball to cover many different conditions.
SLING BLADE
Highly polished Pearl Power Trak reactive Coverstock. Classic Hammer core (dating back to urethanes).
My favourite ball of the day. Awesome ball on the top hat pattern. No over reation at all. This ball doesn't flip, and beleive me, I tried to make it. Just a big, smooth, very hard arc. Not a ball for low rev players, unless you're bowling on toast. For the crankers, you could fall in love with it. Reaction on the heavier oil was consistant, just had to get lined up and fire down the boards. Don't try to swing it on heavy oil, it just isn't designed for it. For a control ball at a great price, this leaves nothing in the bag.
Many thanks must go to Mike Quitter from Ebonite, Cara Honeychurch for her experiences with the balls and coaching, and to Kevin Clunies-Ross from AMF for helping put everything together. If you get the chance to go to an Ebonite Demo Day.... do it!!
