jason_doust
The Bowling Geek
Radical Slant Hybrid
OK, first things first. I am not a member of any company’s promo staff. As Australia’s distributor for Radical bowling, Ken McLachlan of KM Bowling Supplies in Orange kindly asked me to review this ball. He has been very forthright in stating that he wants my honest opinion. I have not received payment for this review beyond the ball itself. This review is written to help you better understand the characteristics of the ball and it’s reaction on a number of conditions.
The Radical Slant Hybrid is the third in the Slant series by Radical Bowling, a smaller company headed up by Phil Cardinale of Track and 900 Global fame. Phil has been designing winners for a long time now, so it’s no surprise that this ball is pretty damned good.
Cover
The Slant Hybrid is covered in a mix of black solid and purple pearl Soaker™ cover stock. This cover is super tacky to the touch, despite being a high gloss finish (1500 polished). The colour combination looks terrific. An interesting side note is that I get a lot of women coming up to me wanting to know, “What ball is that?” Take note young fellas out there – you should consider one of these, it’s a conversation starter! (Definitely the first time I’ve made that comment on a ball!)
Core
The Booster core is the same as from previous versions on the Slant. It provides a medium-high differential and flare, which is conducive to a clean look through the front of the lane and controlled, strong motion downlane. More on that under “Reaction.”
Layout
I gave this ball one of my favourite layouts, being 55° x 5¼ x 40°. This paces the pin above my bridge, with the mass bias about an inch right of my thumb. It’s my go to layout for asymmetric balls and therefore ideal for testing purposes.
Reaction
Hybrid covers do most of their hooking in the midlane and this ball is no exception. It is quite strong off the friction and surprisingly continuous in the backend. It doesn’t have the “big jump left” off the spot we see so much of and in my opinion, that’s a good thing. In the words of my friend and fellow bowling ball nerd Chris Bateup, it “revs and rolls”. It looks like a modern take on some of the all-time great balls, like the Cuda-C, Special Agent or Fire Storm. (Imagine a Critical Theory with a smoother motion.) It’s very adaptable, responding well to line, angle, hand position, loft and speed changes.
I have used this ball successfully on four different conditions in three centres now. First off, the Slant Hybrid just eats house shots for lunch. At my local house (Bathurst) on Anvilane with A-2 machines and kickbacks, this ball is magnificent. It is clean through the front, strong in the midlane and controls the backend beautifully. The sky is the limit on house bounce. Simply find the right angle and follow through. I was playing through 13 out to around 8-9 and the Slant Hybrid would just turn and set on the pocket. Moves were small and predictable all night. I missed plenty and the ball just followed the house groove.
My next outing with it was playing on Autobahn, a 43ft 2.3:1 sport pattern on Anvilane. At box finish, the Slant Hybrid was too long on the fresh. As I only had the ball for 3 days at this point, I wasn’t confident in changing the surface, so I put it away for the late blocks. I wish I had got this ball out sooner, because when I did, I shot 741 for the last three games inside 20 board, (including two 8 pins!) The Slant’s control of the midlane was key to giving me breakpoint area and it carried a lot of light hits, making pre-emptive moving a lot easier. It got me from the bottom of the cash to 3rd place, 9 pins off second. I had people coming over (not just the girls now!) asking “What was that purple ball..?” It looked that good.
I took it out for a roll on a 3:1 on HPL and it acquitted itself nicely. The ball is prone to skate too far when the fronts are really wet. A surface adjustment would fix this, but I have other balls when this happens. This was the worst reaction I’ve seen so far with it and it was still usable.
I’ve just come back from a session in Orange on their 39ft, 4.5:1 house shot on Anvilane and the Slant Hybrid was again, the ball to beat in my kit. I played on a couple of pairs. The first pair (5&6) are notoriously difficult to carry on and it looked about as good as some other stellar pieces in my kit (VG Nano, Roto Grip Super Cell, 900G Bank, etc…) The difference was that the Slant Hybrid was straighter though the front than most of these balls, making holding the pocket easier and it carried as well, if not better. I moved to a pretty fresh pair (7&8), used another ball for two frames, changed to the Slant Hybrid and shot 29 strikes in the next 28 frames. (815 series.)
Carry
Well, I just threw 815/3 with it. It did rap two 10 pins along the way which were fixed with small moves inward. The smaller entry angle really carries a lot of light hits as more of the ball’s rotational energy is conserved for impact. The Slant Hybrid even tripped a couple of 4 pins, which is pretty unusual for a reactive ball in a high rev player’s hand.
Summary
I’m going to make a very big call here. I drill quite a few balls and this ball is certainly among the best reactive balls I have drilled. I mean – ever. I have great control of the lane with the Slant Hybrid. It clears the front easily, has a strong midlane motion, rolls smooth with a “strong enough” arc on the backend and out-carries a lot of very fine bowling balls. The moves are easy and predictable and the hitting power is excellent. As much control, consistency and predictability as any reactive ball I’ve ever used while still being strong in the pocket. It’s the modern day Cuda-C, the purple Fire Storm. What more could I ask for? 5 stars.
Cheers,
Jason
p.s. Check out my review of the Radical Times Up Solid while you're at it.
OK, first things first. I am not a member of any company’s promo staff. As Australia’s distributor for Radical bowling, Ken McLachlan of KM Bowling Supplies in Orange kindly asked me to review this ball. He has been very forthright in stating that he wants my honest opinion. I have not received payment for this review beyond the ball itself. This review is written to help you better understand the characteristics of the ball and it’s reaction on a number of conditions.
The Radical Slant Hybrid is the third in the Slant series by Radical Bowling, a smaller company headed up by Phil Cardinale of Track and 900 Global fame. Phil has been designing winners for a long time now, so it’s no surprise that this ball is pretty damned good.
Cover
The Slant Hybrid is covered in a mix of black solid and purple pearl Soaker™ cover stock. This cover is super tacky to the touch, despite being a high gloss finish (1500 polished). The colour combination looks terrific. An interesting side note is that I get a lot of women coming up to me wanting to know, “What ball is that?” Take note young fellas out there – you should consider one of these, it’s a conversation starter! (Definitely the first time I’ve made that comment on a ball!)
Core
The Booster core is the same as from previous versions on the Slant. It provides a medium-high differential and flare, which is conducive to a clean look through the front of the lane and controlled, strong motion downlane. More on that under “Reaction.”
Layout
I gave this ball one of my favourite layouts, being 55° x 5¼ x 40°. This paces the pin above my bridge, with the mass bias about an inch right of my thumb. It’s my go to layout for asymmetric balls and therefore ideal for testing purposes.
Reaction
Hybrid covers do most of their hooking in the midlane and this ball is no exception. It is quite strong off the friction and surprisingly continuous in the backend. It doesn’t have the “big jump left” off the spot we see so much of and in my opinion, that’s a good thing. In the words of my friend and fellow bowling ball nerd Chris Bateup, it “revs and rolls”. It looks like a modern take on some of the all-time great balls, like the Cuda-C, Special Agent or Fire Storm. (Imagine a Critical Theory with a smoother motion.) It’s very adaptable, responding well to line, angle, hand position, loft and speed changes.
I have used this ball successfully on four different conditions in three centres now. First off, the Slant Hybrid just eats house shots for lunch. At my local house (Bathurst) on Anvilane with A-2 machines and kickbacks, this ball is magnificent. It is clean through the front, strong in the midlane and controls the backend beautifully. The sky is the limit on house bounce. Simply find the right angle and follow through. I was playing through 13 out to around 8-9 and the Slant Hybrid would just turn and set on the pocket. Moves were small and predictable all night. I missed plenty and the ball just followed the house groove.
My next outing with it was playing on Autobahn, a 43ft 2.3:1 sport pattern on Anvilane. At box finish, the Slant Hybrid was too long on the fresh. As I only had the ball for 3 days at this point, I wasn’t confident in changing the surface, so I put it away for the late blocks. I wish I had got this ball out sooner, because when I did, I shot 741 for the last three games inside 20 board, (including two 8 pins!) The Slant’s control of the midlane was key to giving me breakpoint area and it carried a lot of light hits, making pre-emptive moving a lot easier. It got me from the bottom of the cash to 3rd place, 9 pins off second. I had people coming over (not just the girls now!) asking “What was that purple ball..?” It looked that good.
I took it out for a roll on a 3:1 on HPL and it acquitted itself nicely. The ball is prone to skate too far when the fronts are really wet. A surface adjustment would fix this, but I have other balls when this happens. This was the worst reaction I’ve seen so far with it and it was still usable.
I’ve just come back from a session in Orange on their 39ft, 4.5:1 house shot on Anvilane and the Slant Hybrid was again, the ball to beat in my kit. I played on a couple of pairs. The first pair (5&6) are notoriously difficult to carry on and it looked about as good as some other stellar pieces in my kit (VG Nano, Roto Grip Super Cell, 900G Bank, etc…) The difference was that the Slant Hybrid was straighter though the front than most of these balls, making holding the pocket easier and it carried as well, if not better. I moved to a pretty fresh pair (7&8), used another ball for two frames, changed to the Slant Hybrid and shot 29 strikes in the next 28 frames. (815 series.)
Carry
Well, I just threw 815/3 with it. It did rap two 10 pins along the way which were fixed with small moves inward. The smaller entry angle really carries a lot of light hits as more of the ball’s rotational energy is conserved for impact. The Slant Hybrid even tripped a couple of 4 pins, which is pretty unusual for a reactive ball in a high rev player’s hand.
Summary
I’m going to make a very big call here. I drill quite a few balls and this ball is certainly among the best reactive balls I have drilled. I mean – ever. I have great control of the lane with the Slant Hybrid. It clears the front easily, has a strong midlane motion, rolls smooth with a “strong enough” arc on the backend and out-carries a lot of very fine bowling balls. The moves are easy and predictable and the hitting power is excellent. As much control, consistency and predictability as any reactive ball I’ve ever used while still being strong in the pocket. It’s the modern day Cuda-C, the purple Fire Storm. What more could I ask for? 5 stars.
Cheers,
Jason
p.s. Check out my review of the Radical Times Up Solid while you're at it.
