Brunswick C-System Alpha Max
Bowler Stats:
Speed: 18.5 mph
Rev Rate: 425 rpm
Tilt: 12 degrees
Rotation: 40 degrees
Layout:
50* by 4.5” by 50*
(Semi-small P1 hole to make it legal)
Conditions bowled on:
39’ THS, USBC White #2, 2007 Shark
Purpose:
I drilled my first one a little tame because I was actually afraid of this ball being “too strong” for me. I was really happy with the midlane read I got from a tame drilling so naturally my curiosity took over and I thought “How much could I really make this ball hook”. I knew I kinda needed a new ball to sit at the top of the arsenal in hook potential so I thought I’d try it. I took my favorite layout and reduced the pin distance to 4.5” (the closest pin distance to leverage that I’m comfortable with)
On the lanes:
DISCLAIMER: THIS BALL FREAKIN’ HOOKS!!!
As soon as I first threw the ball, I began questioning why I have so much hand in the first place. Starting out on my 39’ THS, I had to play 5th arrow on the fresh to even keep this ball on the right side of the head pin. It didn’t take long for me to seek out a more voluminous pattern to throw this beast on.
The USBC White #2 at 50uL per board felt like a flood in comparison (41’, 27-ish mL of oil overall). I was surprised at how tight this pattern played on the fresh. I was able to throw the Alpha Max and normal speed and a normal release starting at a laydown of 19 out to 7 at the breakpoint. This may not seem like that much area covered on the lane, but it’s huge when you compare it to the 8 boards it outhooked the Loaded Revolver and the 9 boards overall it outhooked the Wicked Siege. Compared to both the Wicked and the Loaded Revolver, the Alpha Max more than held its own in both the midlane and the backend. I have to say that I absolutely loved the pin action this ball produces. This ball really keeps the pins low, an attribute that all of the C-System balls have had for me. As most of you know, keeping pins low = better carry. As I kept moving in, the Alpha Max kept cornering and kept carrying, regardless of the huge puddle of oil in the middle part of the lane. Needless to say, I was able to play deeper on this pattern than anyone else. I finally got to throw it on a more voluminous pattern, but now I wanted to throw it on a longer one.
Moving to the 2007 Shark, I knew this ball wouldn’t hook the whole lane, but I still knew it would outhook anything I have ever thrown on Shark variations. Remember that this pattern is before they decided to completely flood out the lane from 8 to the gutter. With regular speed, I had a great look playing a tight line of laying the ball down on 20 out to 12 at the breakpoint. The ball still hit hard and kept the pins low despite having only a little bit of lane to make its move. After a little experimenting, I also found good lines to the pocket by slow hooking 5th arrow out to about 12 at the break point as well as playing up the 3 board. With the line around 5th arrow, the ball was able to push downlane and still have a strong recovery to get back to the pocket to trip out some 10 pins. When playing up the gutter, the strong cover was able to pick up slightly earlier with the less volume on that part of the lane. The Alpha Max provided a great, continuous roll throughout the entire lane with this line and hit with some serious authority.
Conclusions:
In case you haven’t noticed yet, THIS BALL HOOKS!!! If you need a ball to handle heavy patterns, a ball to handle long patterns, a ball to just flat out hook back from practically anywhere, then look no further than the C-System Alpha Max. If I had to venture I guess, it hooks about 5 boards more on average than the C-System 3.5, the most aggressive ball I’ve thrown until now. This is the ball for you if you are looking for something that will outhook everything else in your bag but still have an unparalleled ball reaction with tremendous carry.
The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer and not of Brunswick Corporation.
