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Author Topic: Minotaur  (Read 13075 times)

admin

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Minotaur
« on: December 31, 1969, 06:00:00 PM »
Ball NPS Score: Not Available
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The Minotaur has a rounded, notched core which produces a later, sharper back-end reaction. Gripper EF coverstock increases the total overall hook.  So now you can attack the pins with a later and sharper break point. The Technical Specs are: Aver RG's: 5.520; Differential: .049; Flare Potential: Large Gripper EF; Coverstock" Motion Tuned Free Form; Core Type: Strongly Enhanced Mass; Core Dynamics: Bias; Ball Structure: Single Density Core, Dual Shell

 

BuddiesProShopcom - Bill

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Re: Minotaur
« Reply #1 on: April 06, 2001, 10:42:46 AM »
I originally posted my review in the forum on the other website, and now that the site is updated, I can post it here.

The great thing about this that the drilling sheet is accurate to what the ball will do.

Chris spoke with Mo Pinel about a layout and Mo suggested a layout. Chris follow the drilling sheet and the ball did exact what the sheet says it will.

I threw the ball, and it is just what I was looking for. The ball gets down the lane, goes into a heavy roll, and smooth, controlled backend. This is one of my favorite reaction.

On a scale of 1-10, I would give this ball a strong 9. You can change the surface to meet your needs and shine it up to get it long and strong. Great, versitile ball and will fit into a lot of bowlers hands.

If you have any questions, please email me at Bill@buddiesproshop.com.

Thanks
Bill
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Bill
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Tweener

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Re: Minotaur
« Reply #2 on: April 06, 2001, 02:22:32 PM »
I have this ball drilled in what they call "sharp break point". You can see the different drillings at morich.net . I throw 15 to 16 mph and with a med track. I like to throw this ball from center dot to 10 push it out to 5. This ball will go long and has a very smooth hook. I also find this ball very versatile. I like to have mine highly polished for the ball go longer and a sharp hook for light to med oil. Or for med heavy to heavy oil, I will sand it to factory finish (600 grit I believe). Two thumbs up this ball.
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ooutlaw99

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Re: Minotaur
« Reply #3 on: May 03, 2001, 10:18:47 PM »
About me: I am right handed. I have above average speed, with well above average revolutions.  

About the ball: I drilled my Minotaur with the contol lay-out.  The surface on the ball is 1200 grit wet sand on a Sphere machine.  It has around 3/8's of an ounce of positive side weight and 3/4's of an ounce of finger weight.

About the Lane Condition:  The lanes are Brunswick Pro-Anvile(SP), I am not sure on the exact specifics of the condition, however, it is the slickest house shot I have ever bowled on, and the backends are not real crisp.

Review: Next to Columbia's Blue Pearl Pulse, this is the greatest ball I have ever thrown.  It clears the heads with ease, even when the lanes break down, conserves energy and then makes the turn. It is incredible, it will hook on virtually any amount of oil, yet it gets down the lane when there is very little oil.  And if you want a ball that carries, this is the one. It hits like a truck, but what is so amazing is that it produces this power without being uncontrollable.  It is one of the most controllable balls that I have.  I have had this ball a while, but what it did today is why I am writing a review on this ball.  My Employer and I were bowling on a "Sport League" type shot.  It was a flat condition, which was oiled 2 to 2 for 30 feet and buffed to 31 feet.  In case you are wondering, it was tough, and I liked it.  But the amazing thing was, while almost every other ball that we were using would roll out, and produce an inconsistent reaction with a marshmellow type hit, hmm I wonder why =), the Minotaur gave us a controllable, consistent reaction, in which we only got one shot to roll out, with the same great hit.  It was amazing, I wouldn't have believed that the most hooking ball in my bag would have produced the best reaction on that condition.  In short, if you are looking for a ball that gets through the heads, makes a nice midlane move, with a controllable, yet big backend that hits like nothing else on the market, this is your ball.  Or you could throw another ball, and lose to the guy who is throwing the Minotaur. THIS BALL ROCKS!!!!!!!!

LuckyLefty

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Re: Minotaur
« Reply #4 on: June 02, 2001, 01:06:38 AM »
A slow throwing medium rev lefty friend of mine loved the labryinth but told me not to get this one.  I wondered why not.

Now I know!  This is the strongest ball I've ever seen.  This ball is nominated for ball least likely to stay on your side of the alley!

Here's the specifics.  My pro is one of the top regional bowlers in my state.
High speed medium revs up the back of the ball bowler.  His only occassional problem is attack angle in relationship to the pocket.  Not any more!

Ball specs pin out 3.5 inches, top weight a high 4.5 ounces.  Because we'd heard this ball was pretty strong we decided to use the medium track control drilling. Pin 5 inches from PAP, Mass Bias next to the thumb positive side.

This weak drilling resulted in the strongest rolling ball I've ever seen.
Condition was heavy oil just applied before league play.  This ball like most out of the box particle balls started early, but unlike other particle balls it didn't roll out. it starte turning strong at 35 feet and kept increasing the angle all the way to the pocket.  I thought it was going to turn around and come back at us.

The hook shape reminded me of the EMB but it covered more boards.  It also reminded me of the very strong hooking Rock On but with more hockey stick on the backend.

Cosman reviewed this ball and said he could produce back end on a sloppy condition where no other balls could produce any.  I believe it!

I went back to slower speed friend and said why don't you like the Minotaur
and he said, "It hooks too much!"

This may be too much ball for the slower speed bowler unless polished but it is the biggest hook in the box ball ever.  Whether one can get pocket percentage with it will depend on ball speed, polish, and lane conditions.

Expect to move your feet strongly to the inside!

Where they can go with techology after this I can't perceive.

Regards,

Luckylefty

It takes Courage to have Faith, and Faith to have Courage.

James M. McCurley, New Orleans, Louisiana

trackmanz

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Re: Minotaur
« Reply #5 on: June 11, 2001, 03:15:03 AM »
I purchased this ball while in Reno bowling in the ABC.  Brought it back home to drill.  Love this ball.  Drilled this ball (as with all of my balls to maximum potential) and wow.  Amazing.  Being a dull ball, you would think that the minute it hit the dry, it would turn. no way.  this ball is control.  Bowled in a nasty condition, no oil on second shift.  my emb would turn immediately as soon has i hit the lane.  but not my minotaur.  Fun ball to have and the price, cant be beat!

Sniper206

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Re: Minotaur
« Reply #6 on: August 29, 2001, 09:11:58 PM »
i am a boomer with 16-17 mph and 17-20 revs. my minotaur is drilled with the pin 1 in. right of my ring finger, the cg is in the middle of my hand and the mass bias is 2 in. left of my thumb hole.

this is one of the most versatile balls on the market. it has all the power needed to strike with oil, and enough energy to push in the dry. it revs up very quickly but doesn't make it's move until about 47 feet. when it was polished it wasn't enough ball for a fresh shot but i took a scotch brite to it and now it is enough ball for any shot.... a definite keeper. solid 9

SrX

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Re: Minotaur
« Reply #7 on: September 16, 2001, 10:34:28 AM »
Drilling is with pin in a weak position and the mass bias in a strong position, no extra hole, it just crush the pins in light hits and I don't have much of a hand, but this ball really hits, I play it in medium conditions, use the same ball for all 6 games it hooks and when the lanes began to dry it holds INCREDIBLE, best ball ever.
Now I want to try the new Colossus.

Brian Green

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Re: Minotaur
« Reply #8 on: February 09, 2002, 11:02:36 PM »
I got this ball before this season started and drilled it up 3 3/8 by 4 with a extra hole on my pap.  Left it on the out of the box finish and on the house shot this ball was the strongest ball i have ever thrown.  I then move to my leage where we had a modified house shot with longer oil but no out of bounds and this ball was the answer to my problem of not getting a ball to finish.  This ball was so strong that i have sent 3 messengers at the 7 pin.

      3 weeks later the shot was changed to oil 35 feet buffed to 42 with an out of bounds outside of 5.  I had a problem of catching the out of bounds and this ball was not making the turn.  I took it down to 320 grit and my god this ball rips the pins apart.  I cant evne pull it out on the house shot now because this is just a monsterand it needs some oil to even think about stayin on the left side.
  All in all this ball is a really good ball.  I'd give it a 9 out of 10 because i truely believe that no matter how good a bowling ball is, it isnt perfect.  
                     





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Huddersfieldybc

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Re: Minotaur
« Reply #9 on: February 17, 2002, 02:29:56 PM »
Did someone say hook?
This ball is a hooking machine. so much so that i simply can't use it at my centre, it hooks too much and i am at brook all the time. If you want a ball which hooks more than any other ball out get this although if you get this ball it might just be too much.
Overall rating: 6/10 (it hooks a stupid amount!)

rtype

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Re: Minotaur
« Reply #10 on: May 05, 2002, 10:44:35 AM »

Go longer?  Not for me.  This ball will grab earlier than anything else I have.  I generally like milder balls because they're easier to control but I wanted to try another asym and I got this one at a good deal.  I'm a right handed low tracker with medium revs and speed is 13 - 17 mph depending on situation.  This is my oil ball because it is so aggresive.  I keep it in the box condition and if I use it on mediums it burns up too early.  I drilled it for the "control" reaction and I don't really get all that much flare.  I was surprised because I expected it to flare around 4-5" but I only get 2 maybe 3".  Overall, I can't provide a decent review yet because I haven't really found the condition this ball should work well in.  I got the mediums and medium/dry covered with my other stuff so the Minotaur saw very little lane time but from what I can see so far it's definetely a ball that wants to hook.

CPA

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Re: Minotaur
« Reply #11 on: December 31, 2002, 04:21:33 PM »
I drilled a Minotaur yesterday for my heavy oil ball.  The layout is the sharp breakpoint layout.  I am between a medium and a high tracker, average revs and average speed.

I used it for the first time last night in our sport league.  The league changes the oil pattern routinely and we are now using a 45' pattern.  This ball was unbelievable.  I ended up with a 761 (257-253-251).  It carried the light shots and kept the pins low to the deck.  The flush shots were ten in the pit.  I highly recommend this ball if you are struggling with heavy oil.  But if you don't have a lot of oil, don't try to use this ball.  


Waialae_House_Bowler

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Re: Minotaur
« Reply #12 on: January 01, 2003, 10:52:29 AM »
Got this ball second-hand from a friend who didn't care for it much and after throwing it I now know why.  This is beyond a shadow of a doubt the hardest rolling ball I have ever seen or thrown! EVER!

I tested that theory by having 2 of my friends throw the ball.  One was a tweener with slower speed than me and the other throws thumbless and hard and likes to hook the whole lane when possible.  The verdict was unanimous... this ball *DOES NOT ROLL OUT*! Once it turns over it just keeps finishing hard toward the pocket.

The other thing about this ball is that it loves oil. You'll need a fair amount of head oil to get this one down the lane. I also noticed that this ball also reacts way better when you stay up the back as much as possible.  For me, it doesn't react very well when I put more side rotation on it. The person I got the ball from agreed with me on that point.

The bottom line, if there's a good amount of oil then this ball is an easy 9.5/10.  If the lane is even remotely dry then put this beast back in its cage.

Waialae_House_Bowler

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Re: Minotaur
« Reply #13 on: January 10, 2003, 05:28:10 PM »
I have to post a followup review to do this beast proper justice.....

I decided to shine the holy hell out of it to see if maybe it could play dry lanes better but it still checked up kinda early on my house shot so I thought "Oh well" and put it away only for those flooded conditions.

But I bowled last weekend in a tournament where the track was FRIED between the 7 and the 15 but inside the 20 had really good oil and only the "crankers" seemed to be able to make the ball finish from inside. **ALL** my Columbia balls (read my other reviews) were giving me massive over-under and I badly limped into the 2nd round (3 games qualifying, qualified last at 622) so I decided to try the Minotaur just to see if it would work and boy did it!

I was crossing the arrows around 21/22 (laydown point around 27/28)and getting it as far out as the 6 board and the ball was absolutely shredding racks!!! I thought "rolling" balls weren't supposed to be able to cover many boards?! Boy was I wrong! That 1st game of round 2, I went [double, solid 9, 5 bagger, 4 pin, strike/spare in the 10th] for 248 after not bowling a game above 216 in qualifying and not having a clue where the pocket was all day!

The ball still needs a good amount of head oil to use, as I was crossing the faster part of the lane at the heads, but this ball does **NOT** limit the angles to the pocket you can play and is a far cry from all the "condition-specific" Columbia balls I've thrown.  This baby will work regardless of whether you're swinging 22 to the 6 or if you're playing straight up the 3! As long as there's good heads, you're fine.

This does it! I am hooked on MoRich now and am actively seeking something from the Colossus line to compliment my Minotaur.  

Scolai

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Re: Minotaur
« Reply #14 on: January 14, 2003, 08:52:44 AM »
I picked up this ball from Luckylefty (see earlier review) a couple of weeks ago and I threw it for the first time last night.

Can you say, "Hook in a box?"  This monster is it.

The drilling is basically the same as Luckylefty described in his earlier review - all I had to do was lengthen the span a bit to make it fit.  Conditions were typical league/tournament shot (Christmas tree pattern 40' buffed to 43')  My profile has my stats, but for simplicity, I am a lefty, tweener, 16-18 mph, medium revs.  Last night I set up on 26, targeted at 17 to 8 and watched the fun.

One thing about this ball - you have to stay ahead of it and the changing lane conditions.  Once your track dries up a little, this ball will be a little more aggressive than expected.  It's not exactly a good ball to pull a board or three either as it will react equally in the back end and go beak on you.

Conversely, if you give this ball room, it will get back to the hole.  It hits like a friggin' tank and carry was NOT an issue (I think I left 2 7-pins all night).  On flush hits, the pins stay low and disappear into the pit; the lighter hits got great action and generally created chaos which no pins could survive.

Despite leaving a variety of high-nose spare attempts, including a few splits, I posted 217, 192, 225 = 634 for my first 3 games with this ball.

Thanks Luckylefty!
Scolai

I will never become another piece inside the paralytic construct I hate.