Bring Out the Wrecking Ball…

First Impressions
Whoa…the Roto Grip Wreck-Em makes a huge move down lane. It’s clean and snappy. The ball is versatile and each bowler saw something a bit different than the other.

Our Testers:
Tamer Elbaga (Lefty)
Style: Slightly Rev Dominant Tweener
RPM: 390 rpm
PAP: 5 & 3/8 up
Average Speed: 18.0 mph (at release)
Axis tilt: low
Axis rotation: medium
Test Equipment: 14 Pounds

Josh Sattazahn (Righty)
Style: Speed Dominant Tweener
RPM: 390 rpm
PAP 5 & 1/4 up
Average Speed: 20 mph (at release)
Axis tilt: low
Axis rotation: low
Test Equipment: 15 Pounds

Greg Bickta (Righty)
Style: Cranker
RPM: 450 rpm
PAP: 5 & 1 up
Average Speed: 20 mph (at release)
Axis tilt: medium
Axis rotation: medium
Test Equipment: 15 Pounds

Thanks to Greg Bickta and Perfect Aim Pro Shop for drilling our equipment.
Thanks to Hiester Lanes in Reading, PA for providing the test lanes.

“Keep in mind that coverstock accounts for 70% of ball reaction, but the core creates the dynamic shape of the reaction. Your driller will alter the shape to suit your game.”

Test Pattern:
42ft THS, 24ml
Synthetic Heads, Wood backends

Value
9/10
The Roto Grip Wreck-Em has no problem making a strong value case. It fits many people’s game and is almost entry level in terms of cost. This is a lot of ball for the money.

Specs
The Wreck-Em uses the well known Neutron™ Core weight block along with the Pumped™ pearl coverstock. Cover is finished with a 1500-grit polish. For a 15lb ball, it has an RG of 2.55, diff of .042. For 14lb, RG = 2.59 and diff = .044.

Overall
8.5/10
The Roto Grip Wreck-Em has a lot of motion on offer for the HP2 line but probably no surprise to Roto Grip fans. Roto Grip has created a nice differentiation in their lineup which allows bowlers to have something for every condition. This is a simple “lightbulb”-like core design which is consistent and predictable. The cover continues the tradition of strength downlane for the Storm/Roto family. Let’s look at each bowlers experience.

We had an opportunity to test with 3 testers to give you different looks and help match up your game.

Tester #1 is the lefty and I’m throwing 14 pounds. Being a slightly rev dominant tweener with a good amount of side rotation, I have no shortage of side to side board coverage. I started out too direct with it thinking as a lower end ball, I should be able to throw it “straight”…boy was I wrong. When I finally moved right enough, I saw the balls potential. It again is clean like you would expect but when it sees friction, it really makes a strong move towards the pins. Personally, I keep hoping for lower end balls that actually hook less than higher end pieces. But what I keep seeing, as was the case with the Wreck-Em, is that these balls simply store much more energy, making them extra potent down lane. This is definitely a ball I could do 2 things with. One, first out of the bag with the amount of friction we are seeing. Two, later in a set when your benchmark starts leaving flat corners. I didn’t see any under ball reaction really. If anything, I saw “over” which meant it was safer to miss outside than in. I may experiment with surface to see if I want to calm it down or leave it as is.

Tester #2 is Josh who is a speed dominant tweener who is up the back of the ball. His bread and butter shot is up the boards. This ball looked magical for Josh. He didn’t seem like he could miss. The Wreck-Em worked very well with his pretty direct roll. Misses inside were just the “high hard one” that absolutely crushed the pocket. Misses outside gave him the scatter strikes. The ball just seemed to offer the right balance for Josh’s speed dominant game. I didn’t initially envision this type of forgiveness for him but it makes sense when you think about it critically. The weaker core allowed the ball to sit when he missed in. The strong flippy reaction off the dry allowed the ball to still make enough of a move to carry on outside misses.

Tester #3 is Greg Bickta, owner of Perfect Aim Pro Shop, who drills all of our test equipment. Greg saw something in between the two of us. The Wreck-Em really played like a step-down ball to something like the No Rules Pearl. He moved in about 7 boards right from the No Rules Pearl and got good length with a punchy driving move through the pins. The Wreck-Em also gave Greg a fair amount of miss room in both directions. Because he was more direct, with the balls strength downlane, he didn’t blow through the breakpoint. Misses in were just tighter to the pocket with a 4 pin or the like.

Final Thoughts
The Roto Grip Wreck-Em offers major bang for the buck. While the 3 testers saw something different, we all can find a place in the bag for such a ball. If you face the lighter house conditions we see on the east coast where you don’t really need anything stronger, this type of ball could be a go first out of the bag. We all saw strong motion downlane which was consistent on this medium condition THS. At the same time, this ball could be the bail out ball later in blocks or when you need to get in to get around dry boards as your THS breaks down. I don’t think you can really go wrong with the Wreck-Em in your bag.