RobbieB
Rodentus scientificus
Since Nationals showed up some somewhat ordinary relaease consistency, I have been practicing and bowling one league a week with a slate U-dot. In doing so, I have rediscovered the joy of standing right of the big dot 
. So, I treated myself to a Natural Pearl for Chrissy, expecting a ball I can still bowl down and in with a bit more hook and pop than the Slatey. Punched it fairly tame, pin in middle finger and cg in the grip, about 5 3/4 x 5 1/2 for my track.
House pattern is 39', 22 ml or so and about 7:1. First block in league on a fresh shot had a clean set for 732, shooting straight down the edge of the wall. Very easy length, carried great as long as the execution was there, and had 3-4 boards to hit. The only change I had to make was about halfway though game 2, when Otty and Tubby pushed a little oil into my line, couple boards move and a little earlier rolling release did the trick. Used it again the next night for 704 without moving at all.
I love this ball already. It is super clean through the heads, and has enough back end pop to get the job done without wanting to jump through the beak every time it hits the dry. It has less recovery from wide shots on our pattern than resin, and from that point of view needs a little more accuracy, but I think on a top hat it would happily come back from anywhere without overreacting. Haven't tried it on dry patterns yet - I intend to lay the youth short pattern and see if it still gets the length and holds its energy as well.
This is not a ball for everyone - rev dominant players will love it, speed dominant will hate it, except on bone dry lanes. It is a ball that should find a place in many arsenals though, as it is a totally different look than resin without sacrificing much if anything in hitting power, and will allow a lot of stronger release or low speed players to go down the boards again. The most noticible diference is the amount of oil it holds on the surface - you really _need_ to use a towel with urethane gear - and the fact that you actually do have to execute well to carry.
Looking forward to seeing what it can do on the dry now.
. So, I treated myself to a Natural Pearl for Chrissy, expecting a ball I can still bowl down and in with a bit more hook and pop than the Slatey. Punched it fairly tame, pin in middle finger and cg in the grip, about 5 3/4 x 5 1/2 for my track.House pattern is 39', 22 ml or so and about 7:1. First block in league on a fresh shot had a clean set for 732, shooting straight down the edge of the wall. Very easy length, carried great as long as the execution was there, and had 3-4 boards to hit. The only change I had to make was about halfway though game 2, when Otty and Tubby pushed a little oil into my line, couple boards move and a little earlier rolling release did the trick. Used it again the next night for 704 without moving at all.
I love this ball already. It is super clean through the heads, and has enough back end pop to get the job done without wanting to jump through the beak every time it hits the dry. It has less recovery from wide shots on our pattern than resin, and from that point of view needs a little more accuracy, but I think on a top hat it would happily come back from anywhere without overreacting. Haven't tried it on dry patterns yet - I intend to lay the youth short pattern and see if it still gets the length and holds its energy as well.
This is not a ball for everyone - rev dominant players will love it, speed dominant will hate it, except on bone dry lanes. It is a ball that should find a place in many arsenals though, as it is a totally different look than resin without sacrificing much if anything in hitting power, and will allow a lot of stronger release or low speed players to go down the boards again. The most noticible diference is the amount of oil it holds on the surface - you really _need_ to use a towel with urethane gear - and the fact that you actually do have to execute well to carry.
Looking forward to seeing what it can do on the dry now.
