I am thinking about getting a 14 lb. Hammer Widow Spare ball for short pattern, 39" and less. I have a Rhino bowling ball, but it is way too aggressive when the ball surface makes contact on the dry portion of the lane. I was thinking about getting a urethane ball for short pattern but I think it may be a little aggressive since I have a low speed and low rev; therefore, the Hammer Widow Spare ball might be a good choice for me. Because the 14 lb. Hammer Widow Spare ball has a gas mask core, the ball should do a good job of knocking down the pins. Has anyone use the Hammer Widow Spare ball with the gas mask core for short pattern?

I have. I think it's very underrated. Urethane will  hook early, not necessarily good for short oil.

I switched from thumb to no thumb last year and track spare plus helped me a lot in that transition when I had little control. Liked it so much I also got a widow spare.

I think for what many people use urethane for, the widow spare or track spare plus works better. I have both and have found it great for short oil. It will not hook much more than plastic, but gives some better shape and for high rev players, plenty of power.

I have found it responds very well to surface change. If you find it hook too little, just dull it down.

Do not worry too much about layout. It's plastic, a stronger layout isn't going to change much.

I've tried using my widow spare on Viper and it never really got into a good roll with any kind of forgiveness. If you can point it at the pocket, then maybe, but it just struggles on fresh.

I had better luck with it on Brunswick's Phase One 36' oil pattern (in a triple burn squad). Shot two 195's with it and it offered me a little room with misses left and right. On fresh though I was using a Black hammer up first arrow.

The only time I've ever used the Widow Spare on fresh successfully was on very light oil house shots (our center was having trouble with their oiling machine). Shot just under 700 with it that night.

It does work wonders with a lot of hand on broken down house shots though. My highest series this year was done exclusively with the Widow Spare on such conditions during open play a few months ago (732). Was playing a line from 14 at the arrows to about 9 at the breakpoint. Basically everything got to the pocket, but shots inside of that couldn't carry a 10 pin.

I own 2 Widow Spares. One I haven't changed the surface since getting it. The other is sanded at 500 grit. The latter acts like urethane, but a little weaker. The Widow core definitely helps in these balls. I've had some big games and series with both balls.

The Widow Spare can definitely be used on shorter patterns, especially if you put a rougher finish on it.

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