This is from Bowling This Month:
If you know anything at all about bowling these days, you know that there is never a shortage of new bowling balls being released to the market. In any given month, we test and review anywhere from eight to 16 new bowling ball releases, all targeted at a wide range of bowler styles and lane conditions.
In recent months, we’ve seen quite a few new high performance releases that are best suited for heavy oil lane conditions. Since there are so many great new options out there right now, we thought we'd give a quick summary of the latest heavy oil balls that we’ve recently reviewed.
We’ll start with Roto Grip, which recently released the Roto Grip Sinister. Our testers really liked this ball on our oily pattern. In its out of box condition, it didn’t hook quite as much as Roto Grip’s previous heavy oil ball, the Hyper Cell, but it definitely had no problems handling our oily pattern for any of our testers. The difference in reaction between the Sinister and Hyper Cell is mainly due to changes in coverstock and factory surface prep: the Sinister has a reactive hybrid cover finished at 4000 grit and the Hyper Cell has a reactive solid cover finished at 2000 grit. Not surprisingly, these changes made our Sinisters slightly longer and slightly stronger on the back end than our Hyper Cells were. Either of these two releases, however, would be great choices for bowlers who need a new heavy oil ball.
Motiv’s newest big-hooking release is the Motiv Jackal. The Jackal combines an aggressive sanded pearlized coverstock with Motiv’s strong asymmetrical Predator core. For us, the Jackal didn’t hook quite as much as the Raptor Talon from a couple years back, but it was pretty close. The strength of the Jackal that bowlers will appreciate is that it manages to save a lot of hook for the back end. In a lot of ways, the Jackal is like a heavy oil compliment to Motiv’s recent Octane release. Where the Octane was great on medium patterns and provided bowlers with a big, angular back end motion, the Jackal provides a similar look on much heavier oil patterns.
Brunswick's newest heavy oil release is the Mastermind Intellect. Our testers thought that the Intellect fell right between the two previous releases in this series: it provided us with a little bit more motion than the Mastermind Genius and a little bit less motion than the original Mastermind. The Intellect should provide a nice option for Brunswick fans looking for a versatile option on heavy and medium-heavy lane conditions.
Storm’s latest high performance release targeted at heavy oil is the Crux. The Crux features a hybrid version of Storm’s ERG coverstock and a new asymmetrical core design. While our testers didn’t find the Crux to be the biggest hooking Storm ball ever made, it can definitely handle quite a bit of oil. Where some of the previous big-hooking Storm releases (such as the Virtual Gravity Nano) could only be used by some styles on the absolute wettest of conditions, we expect that this high performance release will be a bit more versatile and useable across a wider range of heavy and medium-heavy conditions. Storm fans that are in need of a new high performance asymmetrical should definitely consider taking a look at the Crux.
Radical’s newest heavy oil ball is the Radical Guru. The Guru features a new solid coverstock and a new asymmetrical core shape. Our testers really liked the Guru on our heavy test pattern, especially our Stroker and Tweener testers. The Guru is definitely the biggest hooking ball we’ve seen from Radical. Radical fans who liked the Yeti Unleashed will certainly enjoy the Guru, as it offers even more hook and more back end motion.
Track’s latest heavy oil release is the Mx16. This ball combines a strong reactive hybrid coverstock with Track’s two-piece I-Core asymmetrical weight block. We found the Mx16 to be Track’s biggest hooking ball yet. The thing our testers really liked about this ball was that it didn’t start hooking extremely early and then fizzle on the back end like some heavy oil balls tend to do. Instead, it created just the right amount of length through the heads and midlane and saved a lot of its motion for the back end. Bowlers looking for a heavy oil ball that is a bit more on the angular end of the ball reaction spectrum should definitely consider the Mx16.
900 Global’s latest high performance release is the Moxie. This ball adds a great new reaction to the 900 Global line that bowlers will really appreciate on heavier patterns. Our test results showed the Moxie as 900 Global’s biggest hooking ball ever. 900 Global fans and bowlers who are eager to try 900 Global for the first time will certainly want to consider the Moxie, as it gives bowlers a great new option for oily lane conditions.
