Well, we are five tournaments deep in our first season on Storm contract, and I thought I would post my thoughts on what we've drilled so far. Since I drill all the team's equipment, I have a bit different opinion on some of them than my players do, so bear with me. All the guys will be posting their own reviews of this stuff in the coming weeks, so you can read their thoughts as well. These are just my thoughts as an overseer.
We have drilled at least one of nearly every ball in the lineup at this point (and some that aren't), so I will list them in order of our receipt of the products. We've had more time with some of them than others, and I've seen them on all sorts of different surfaces and patterns. Here goes.
Dimension - this is as good a heavy-rolling solid sanded reactive ball as I've seen in a while. It reminds me alot of an Ultimate Inferno, a ball that I was in love with when I bowled in college. I find it to be versatile as well, I've seen the guys use it from all sorts of angles and it has plenty of power at the pins, especially for a sanded ball. We haven't experimented with polishing them yet, but we may do that now that the Virutals have started showing up.
Gravity Shift - A favorite among the guys that are a bit softer with their ballspeed. It reads in the midlane very well and recovers from almost anywhere. We had (and continue to have) great success with these at a hand-applied 2000 grit surface when the lane opens up.
T-Road Solid - One of the most versatile balls in the lineup. This core controls the midlane better than any other, and surface tweaks make it such that you can make the ball your most aggressive or make it almost skid-flip. In the box finish it is an excellent heavy roll that makes a strong enough move on the backend to keep pins flying. Its a great benchmark ball.
T-Road Pearl - I think we will drill more of these before the year is over, because you get all the midlane control of the solid with easy length and tons of recovery downlane. If it weren't for the Gravity Shift, everyone would have one of these, but I feel they overlap a bit. For the price though, hard to ignore this kind of performance.
Rapid Fire - The most under-rated ball in the line. I don't feel the Rapid gets enough credit, and I was so impressed by this one that I personally drilled two of them. Easily tunable cover and a smooth overall reaction. It is a great alternative for a T-Road solid for guys with less ballspeed. Very easy through the fronts and a smooth read downlane.
Rapid Fire Pearl - I almost feel this ball is more aggressive than the solid version. It reads the midlane very strong for a pearl and just keeps coming on the backend, and does it all without even touching the lane in the heads. Great from inside angles due to the recovery and ease through the fronts.
Street Rod - Another underrated ball. The Reactor cover is still great. Wrapped around a simple lightbulb you wouldn't expect a whole lot, but this thing is really a sleeper. Really smooth off the spot and controls the midlane very well for a medium/lower flare ball. Guys with hand love it, and it gets through the pins very well.
Street Rod Pearl - Keep it shined and it will get you to the pocket on even the toastiest of lane conditions. Not as flippy as alot of pearls, due to the lightbulb core. The guys with hand love it, just like the solid. They make an excellent 1-2 combo that alot of people would overlook.
Spit Fire - This is a ball we would have missed out on but I managed to snatch up a few here and there. It doesn't get much better than this ball when the track opens up. It doesn't jump off the dry and is a great choice in anyone's hand when the lanes get dry. If you need a bit more pop than a pearl street rod, this is the way to go. I had to grab a few to keep around, because these are the real deal.
Hy-Road - The response to this ball has been huge. Drilled one up, and instantly everyone wanted one. It has the nice heavy roll of the solid T-Road with the ease through the fronts of the pearl. This will be in everyone's bag before long. I can see it getting alot of playing time in the middle of blocks, it responds to friction the way you like to see it. Strong, but not flippy. The guys create a lot of room with it.
Virtual Gravity - This ball is unreal. With all the midlane roll you get you don't expect backend reaction like this, but its there. The guys that don't have as much hand are loving it because it opens up the hook spot on the fresh. I was using pin-up layous on theirs, and it comes off the spot very strong and carry is phenominal. I am interested to see what it would do with some shine. When we drill them for the guys with more hand, I'll try some pin-down layouts to smooth it out some. The Dimension is great, but this ball is a whole new animal.
Top to bottom, the line is very versatile and I feel we can cover most anything. I've had very few problems matching my players with good core/cover combos, and the performance we get out of everything is very good. I couldn't be happier with it so far.
Thanks to Kevin Ellis at Storm, and his buddy Roger Noodhoek at RotoGrip. Kevin has shown great support for our team, as has Roger for our ladies team. It has been a great season so far, and we hope to build on the success we've had to this point, with the help of our friends at Storm!
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J. J. Mastny
Mens Head Coach
University of Nebraska Omaha Bowling
STORM/ROTOGRIP COLLEGIATE PROGRAM 2008-2009
