Is this the ball that will set your game on fire?
It’s strong enough to start, at the risk of fizzling out.

Remember that coverstock accounts for 70% of ball reaction, but the core will create the dynamic shape. Your drilling will alter the shape to suit your game and conditions you bowl on. Kyle Hartzell of BowlerX is our tester. Let me briefly describe the layout and what it’s intention is. Kyle’s layout is 45 x 4 1/2 x 45. This ball is drilled to go medium length and medium transition at the breakpoint.
Please work with your local pro shop operator to find what best works for you.

First Impressions
This ball is pretty dull out of box so immediately, I was expecting lots of early and midlane read with a smoother backend. As soon as Kyle began throwing it, it was obvious it was exactly that. Kyle doesn’t usually use lots of surface so he had to get lined up differently. The ball does rev up nicely in the midlane and has a pretty smooth transition. Reminded me a lot of the Raw Profit. If you’ve got a lot of hand, this ball will create lots of friction in the midlane creating a relatively controllable reaction.

Value 8/10
It’s a medium priced ball which puts it up against a lot of other good balls in this price range.

Core
Hammer is reusing the Sauce core with an RG of 2.50 and differential of .045. These numbers are conducive to a more control-like reaction, particularly when used with a core with lots of surface.

Cover 8.5/10
The Max-Hook Hybrid is the only hybrid coverstock in Hammer’s lineup. Storm has had a very good run of fantastic hybrids and everyone seems to be jumping on the bandwagon. I won’t claim to know who started this and it doesn’t really matter. Hybrid covers are here to stay.
The out of box surface of 2000 is quite dull and gives away it’s intentions. Of course altering the cover is the first thing recommended to tweak the overall ball reaction to your liking and conditions. In out of box, it will have limited use on medium or medium-light conditions for anyone with decent hand. You will need more volume to allow it to store some energy for the backends.

Reaction 8.0/10
If I could split the lane in half as far as ball reaction, this ball still makes most of its move in the second half of the lane. However, within the second half, it uses more energy in the mids making for a smoother breakpoint and transition. That essentially meant that you wouldn’t want to send this ball out to no-man’s land as it will simply have burned off too much energy to recover. If you went a little too direct, you might find the overall ball reaction too much and going through the face. You can get deeper with your target, but you will need to move your breakpoint in as well for this ball to track strongly to the pocket.
Those that have strong hand will want to tweak this cover and you will likely see a much more agreeable shot on medium conditions. If you have less hand, you might find this ball just right.

Overall 8/10
The Hammer Arson is really intended for slightly heavier medium conditions. I don’t see it being able to cope with the heaviest conditions. However, in the intended range, it will generate friction in the right portions of the lane to provide a consistent move and look at the pocket. If you want to use it in medium or lighter conditions, take the surface to 4000 or add some polish and that should be sufficient to shift just enough energy from the midlane to the breakpoint, giving a slightly stronger look on the backends. This overall type of ball reaction could also be used on flatter patterns with some success.

Have some fun with this new Hammer offering.