Ok.. I finally got some time on the lanes with these two monsters (rof/invasion. Tell me this.. what does an invasion and a rof in a trunk equal? It had to be the fruitiest smell ever.. haha. The minute I opened my trunk, it smelled like I had a trunk full of fruity air freshners. My Wednesday night league consists of old wood lanes that generally have high friction.. tonight on my pair there was a ton of oil.. perfect for my test. I decided to put both to the test immediately in practice. The first couple shots I did not even pay attention to as I was just getting warmed up from the cold. After feeling loose and relaxed, I decided to to stand where I usually stand with my jigsaw corner.. The invasion crushed the pocket, but it did it in a different manner. I picked up an invasion drilled up with the double thumb drilling.. designed for length and extreme backend. I got exactly that! The difference between the Invasion and the Jigsaw Corner is very simple.. The jigsaw corner was much more sensitive to your release and the lane transition. Meaning if you missed hitting it at the bottom or it reads friction too soon, you have an erratic motion (either jumps brooklyn or goes straight). The invasion with this layout blended the pattern very well. More on that later.. I then played the same line with the ROF, drilled with the basic, pin over bridge layout. The ROF washed out and never really turned the corner from that line. I had seen all I needed to see right then, dead is the rumor that the ROF is stronger then the invasion.. not even close. I bet if I took the invasion down to 1000 it would be an even bigger difference. ROF back in the bag for now. Started out the first game leaving 3 10 pins in a row.. missed the second one. Next 6 strikes in a row.. pocket 7-10. There was 3 of them on my pair tonight, and about 12-15 ten pin leaves. Game two I started with the invasion.. first 3 in a row, all flush. The next ball jumped out of the house.. botched spare. Compensated 2 and 1.. through the nose. Picked the spare. Moved 5 and 2 with my feet, in the hole baby. Ran off to the 10th frame.. buried the shot.. left a stone ten pin.. we were getting murdered this game by the other team.. so out of frustration missed the ten pin. Decided its time to settle down and go to something that I could decrease the angle a bit and firm up my ball speed. Moved 4 boards outside and kept the same breakpoint. The ROF just killed the pocket. The motion with this drilling was far from a hockey stick, just a nice early yet continuous roll into the pocket. Stayed on the same line the entire game.. all but two shots in the pocket.. left 1 ten pin. I can honestly say that I am very happy with this 1-2 combo. They compliment each other very well. The ROF loves to be thrown up the boards rather then playing deep inside lines (at least with this drilling on this surface). The invasion was just incredible! I could count on this thing coming back no matter how bad I missed right.. I couldn''t believe all the slack this ball gets. I can honestly say you have to drill this thing pin up, I can see a 4x4 drilling burning up at the arrows as the cover is just so strong. The ball looks like its actually digging a hole in the lane before it sprints the pocket. I am finally happy with my line up. The only thing I worry about is if this will be another high maintenance piece (oil sponge)! If you are wondering which ball is stronger.. its not even close. The invasion will definately cover more ground then the ROF, it just depends on where you want it at. If you want that dimension type look, go with the ROF with a stronger pin layout then mine. If you want a VG on steroids.. there is nothing out there like the Invasion. I can honestly say I have seen nothing like it before. My polished pin down stacked magic action was close, but was nearly uncontrollable due to the type of layout. I''m done ball trading for a while! Sorry for the book.. just wanted to let you guys know my findings, you can see pics of the layouts with the link in the post above me! Thanks Britton.. you were right on the ROF/Invasion debate as well!
--------------------
Hmm..Lets see what I have in this bag..A Reign of Fire, an Invasion, a Nasty Spider, and a green Avalanche.. how can I lose....
....HG-300(2006 w/Desert Heat)...299 (03/15/09 w/Agent Orange)...HS-776 (Hot Sauce Pearl & Ebonite Magic)
Edited on 2/10/2010 10:56 PM
