Specs:
15 lbs,
2-3 inch pin, around 3 TW, drilled pin over ring, CG in palm, MB left of thumb.
This was the only ball I really threw for quite some time so I have quite an attachment to it. Regardless I'll try to be objective. I've played with this ball in three conditions, Box, Dull, Polished.
Positives:
This is an excellent ball for medium down to dry. I wish the guy who originally sold me the ball had told me that when I bought it, but I have no real complaints. In the box condition the ball is a bit jumpy, but then again Track marketed this as a skid/flip ball so that's the ball doing it's job.
I've found this ball to be very diverse. In it's NIB cover the ball was quite strong, making a strong turn at the dry even from a pretty deep line 25 out to 10 or 8 or so. I think this was definitely a temporary trait of the ball. As it got older and had more use, the recovery of the ball declined.
With a duller finish, it was a go shorter, hook harder version of the original.
With a highly polished finish (sorry, don't know the grit) the ball is a pleasure to play down and in. With the polish I get more length than before, so that when it makes a move it doesn't chop. Also, I think the shape of the movement the ball makes transitions from snap to arc as you polish it more. While this may be intuitive and obvious to some, I see it as being a very good characteristic, as it demonstrates the versatility of the ball.
The hit is nothing spectacular, no flying birdogs on every pocket shot. I would say it is just average, but not bad. I also think it is nothing special on carrydown as it is marketed. I've watched my ball lose a ton of reaction as the carrydown gets thick, so I'm not sure if I'm throwing it wrong, or of Track is full of it.
Overall, very versatile, good length, nice slow arcing ball when polished. Dulled and NIB it's a little jumpy for my liking.
Negatives:
This ball introduced me to ball death. Now I know this might sound awful, but it's not that bad. I enjoy throwing the ball more now that it is more than a little dead then I did when it was new. The surface got a little bit too tame around 300 games and I had it resurfaced. I got reaction back for a few games before the ball was just slow moving again. After making big adjustments in how I threw it, I began to like it even more. I like how the shape of the movement transitioned form skid/flip to a nice slow arc. I have to say that as the ball died, the control increased. So you take the good with the bad. As the ball lost reaction, it became more suited for drier conditions than medium or heavy. In heavy this ball is useless. It just doesn't have the muscle given MY abilities to make a big turn in oil, and when it does expect the bucket.
Finally, as the ball did die, I was less and less able to play an inside line. The ball just didn't have the steam to come back from anything deeper than the 4th arrow or so. Oh well, I have other stuff for that.
Overall negatives, ball death its oil-phobia.
I would highly recommend this ball to any who ask, but I would also like to try some more stuff from Track. This ball makes me worried that all particles will die young. But if they are still good in death as my FO was, I would be glad to keep buying. I still use it from time to time, and I still enjoy it.
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Buzzsaws are very, very dangerous.
