*UPDATE*
I finally got the chance to test this ball on my house's league shot, even though I wasn't planning on it. I was planning on using my new Storm Dark Thunder for all three games, as our house shot has been getting wetter, longer and heavier for some time.
The opinion of my team and those around us, though, was that the shot was drier tonight than in recent weeks. By the time I got to the third game, I had to put the Dark Thunder up. It's in ~1000 matte finish; my Silver Streak SE is, of course, a pearl.
My experience tonight backed up what I saw on drilling day: This is a smooth, powerful ball with an impressive backend reaction and carry. My usual shot is to put the ball down around 14-17, swing to 5-8, with about 16-16.5 mph and play a power arc. By the time I got to the third game tonight, though, I had opened up a much different line with the Dark Thunder; I was putting the ball down between 17 and 20, swinging it to about 5-6 far down the lane, and getting it to come back.
However, towards the end of the second game, I stopped being able to get the Dark Thunder all the way out to 5, and left a couple of 3-6-10 spares when the ball checked up. I could move deeper in and tighten up the line, but we had a mess in the middle of the lane (bowling on the same pair with four straight-ballers who were using plastic equipment) and I couldn't get the most consistent finish. Plus, I wanted to give the Silver Streak SE a try.
So I basically swapped balls and went back to my original line. The Silver Streak SE was a willing partner. The ball is so smooth through the front and helped me clear the heads. I was really impressed with this ball in the midlane, probably moreso even than the Dark Thunder. It seemed to be more forgiving. It did such a good job of clearing the heads that I feared I wouldn't see much backend, but I was wrong. It had a lot of oomph at the back and it really did a good job carrying. This ball hits like a Freightliner VLD truck.
I'm a little technically-challenged to describe my layout; the pin is above and almost directly between the fingers (leans a bit to the ring finger side), while the "star" logo is under and a bit to the right of the ring finger. I want to thank Chris at Bowlers Advantage in Smyrna, Tenn., for knowing exactly what to do with both this drill and my Dark Thunder drill.
I also need to mention the amount of flare I'm getting with this ball. It's flaring more than my Dark Thunder, and even more than my X-Factor. It's quite impressive. Probably about 6" of flare overall.
This is the first Roto I've owned since the old Roto Star X-3 urethane ball. It won't be the last Roto that I buy, I can assure you.
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ORIGINAL CONTENT:
Just had one drilled up today. I'm moving down from 16lb to 14lb equipment for wrist health reasons (as well as to hopefully pick up a few more revs). I bought this ball at the same time as a Storm Dark Thunder, and I'll have a Roto Grip Winning Streak (Euro release of the Silver Streak Pearl) drilled in about a week.
We laid this ball out to fit in between the Dark Thunder and the Winning Streak. The ball didn't have much of a pin, which made it a chore to get the ball drilled to fit my game and remain weight-legal at the same time.
I play mostly on the right half of the lane; a sort of modified down-and-in roll. I prefer equipment that arcs to equipment that skids/snaps.
My initial impression of this ball is very favorable. The biggest positive surprise was that the ball did not suffer from deflection as much as I feared it might due to its weight. It carried very well.
Also, I was able to play inside without the ball pushing out too far and I was able to play an extreme down-and-in line without the ball flipping over.
The backend reaction of this ball is very promising. It makes a turn, keeps turning and keeps driving. I'll be using this ball as my benchmark ball over the next few weeks and I'm optimistic it's going to work out.
Jess
