Just read the new BTM issue and saw something Ive never seen before. A 10 rating on  medium conditions for tweeners... Is this ball that good? Or is somebody at Columbia doing some "FAVORS" for someone at BTM?

From what I have seen so far in BTM, almost all balls that get a 10 or 9.5 from the Stroker, the Tweener or the Cranker are those that have incredibly large backends. These testers are, after all, semi-professionals, with an extreme ability to repeat shots with a lot of control. That, by no means, implies that everyone else will also like them as much. Those ratings are, after all, just how much they like the ball on any one of the explicit patterns: Dry, Medium, or Oil.

This is one of the best balls ive thrown. It got great reviews in Bowling This Month and i totally agree with them. It's 5 boards stronger on the back part of the lane that the original Euruption(which is my favorite ball). It is very clean thru the fronts with a very "violent" backend reaction. I actually had to add some surface to slow the backend down because it was too strong. I think it will be the ball of the year.

Brian Gunn
Columbia 300 Ambassador

The Violent Eruption is the latest ball from Columbia 300 to use the Resurgence low RG symmetric core. for those of you that saw the original Eruption, that ball was clean through the front, and had a strong, but smooth controllable arc backend motion. The new Violent Eruption will give you the same length in the front portion of the lanes, with a lot harder movement when it encounters friction. Basically, it's a low priced ball that looks good going down the lane, and will let a lot of bowlers stand left, throw right, and be able to get the ten pin out. This normally isn't typical of lower RG pearl balls, but the new more aggressive coverstock on this ball gives it enough bite downlane to make the turn and keep going.

I received one about three weeks ago and chose to go with a pin-down drilling on mine, while swinging the CG a fair amount to the right. This layout allows me to play a little closer to the friction on a THS or on some dryer sport patterns and not worry about the ball over reacting and leaving me nasty splits all day. The ball is still quite long down lane with a nice, continuous strong arcing motion towards the pins. On your THS I don't think this will be a good drilling for all three games, but it definitely lets me start to open the lanes up a bit, until I need to start moving left of fifth arrow with my feet. I haven't played much with the surface yet, and I'm positive, had this ball been drilled pin up, carry wouldn't be an issue from deep inside. This drilling just fits a gap in my arsenal so that is why I chose this drilling.

A few people in my area have already drilled a couple pin up and this ball looks absolutely beautiful when they have to cover boards. The core is very driller friendly, and the new coverstock allows even more freedom to go with more aggressive drill patterns and not need to worry about the ball rolling out or overhooking in the front portions of the lane. Another great product from the people at Columbia 300!

Jimmy Ogden
Cliff Barnes Pro Shop Lafayette, IN
Columbia 300 Ambassador