Ball Review
Lord Field: Off The Chain Hook 48 • Length 15.5 • Breakpoint Shape 15
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Manufacturer’s Intent: “The combination of the Guillotine-X HD symmetric core and the Proton particle pearl coverstock helps produce a ball which clears the fronts with ease and ‘busts-a-move’ at the end of the pattern,” says Lord Field Vice President of International Sales Tony Martin.
Core Design: The RG is 2.49 and the differential .048. We noticed nearly 5 inches of track flare from this smooth-rolling design. The core shape is similar to that used in the Jacked (May 2012), but with more density. Coverstock: The light particle load Proton pearl coverstock is sanded with 1000 grit and polished. Colors are a blending of red, orange and purple. Response time off dry is moderately quick and oil traction is limited with box finish. The Ra is low at 1.5, and the effective surface grit reading is 5450. Test Results: The Off the Chain was an interesting test piece in that it rolled late, came off the pattern smoothly and
hit surprisingly hard. The ball never showed signs of over-reacting off dry, even on the driest of lanes. We also did not see too much angularity, but that didn’t seem to lessen the pin carry, either. The roll was easy to read, with good pin carry through early and later lane transition phases. On the flip side, too much oil either in the midlane or at the end of the pattern did not play well with the length and smooth roll of the OTC. On these oilier patterns, we scuffed the surface with 1500 to 2000 grit and saw a much improved mid-lane motion, as well as about three to four boards more total hook.
When to Use: We had favorable matchups on light-medium to medium oil volumes with clean backends or slight oil carrydown. The strong cover formula, albeit highly polished, gave us adequate traction downlane, lessening any oil wiggle near the pins. Hitting and carry power were vintage Lord Field, as should be the ball’s longevity. Ball by ball, Lord Field is increasing the motion potential within its line. The OTC further expands this range.
TIPS AND TRICKS TO MAKE YOU A BETTER BOWLER
Seismic: Venator Hook 53 • Length 15.5 • Breakpoint Shape 16
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Manufacturer’s Intent: “The theme of using medium strength covers with very strong cores, which we have used on recent high-performance releases, has proven very successful for us,” says Seismic Bowling Managing Director Ryan Press. “This continues with the Venator, which introduces our newest asymmetric core, and again gives you aggression and control in the parts of the lane where they are needed. This provides great carry to improve scoring capability.” Core Design: A newly designed asymmetric core called Tenaci powers the Venator. The RG is low at 2.49, the differential strong at .054 and the PSA unusually potent at .027. Testing showed nearly 6.5 inches of track flare from our 3.5- and 4.5-inch pin distance layouts. Coverstock: The S.F-7/9 solid reactive cover is factory finished with a 4000 polished surface. Colors are a mix of lime green and deep blues. This color scheme blends quite quickly as the ball rolls down the lane, due to the strong core dynamics. Response time off dry is quick and strong, while oil traction is
average, despite the highly polished surface. The Ra is low at 1.3, and the effective surface grit measures 5500. Test Results: The Venator was one of the favorite balls tested this month due to its usability range, hitting and carry power, and the visual effect it created. The ball excelled on medium oil volumes, as was intended, yet gave us above- average carry on heavier and even lighter oil concentrations. It’s rare to experience above-average pin carry throughout a usability range as wide
as the Venator’s. Seismic has something special with the Tenaci core, and we’re anxious to test this core with both weaker and stronger cover formulas. When to Use: The Venator has an extremely wide usability range, and can work with box polish and many duller surfaces, too. We hated to scuff the Venator, but we had to see if reactions improved with more grit. Well, we weren’t disappointed, as we still had great matchups with surfaces as dull as 1000 and up to 4000. These grits created an earlier, more subdued back-end motion shape, and will likely favor those with higher speed-to-rev rate ratios. The rest of us will probably leave the surface as it comes from Seismic.
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