This Strategy is a Winner…

First Impressions
The Brunswick Mastermind Strategy… I have to say I totally did not expect this ball to be as clean up front and as potent down lane as it was and as usable on the house shot. Holy Moly! The thing is just so continuous through the pins. This ball was very impressive…

Our Tester:
Brandon Hinderer is a PBA Member as well as Brunswick and Vise Staffer.
Power Player: 425 rpm
PAP: 5 3/8 & 7/8 up
Axis tilt: 10-15 degrees
Axis rotation: >45 degrees

Thanks to Limerick Bowl in Limerick, PA.

“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:
40ft THS, 22ml, 12:1 ratio

Value
8.5/10
Another high end ball. The fact that this is a strong ball that was still usable on the medium house pattern earned it pretty high value marks.

Specs
The Brunswick Mastermind uses the Relativity Solid Coverstock along with the Modified Mastermind Asymmetric core. 15 pound ball has an RG of 2.504, diff of .048 and mass bias of .013.

Overall
9/10
So Brunswick appears to want to replace the original Mastermind. I can say that the original Mastermind was a masterpiece. Sometimes certain match ups of core and cover just work magically. That ball did that. Here comes the Mastermind Strategy. It looks the part. In terms of playing the part, it gets interesting. If the part it’s supposed to play is another top end ball where the cover and core match up perfectly, than Brunswick hit the nail on the head. Is it the original Mastermind? Close. Why not? It’s amped up. The RG is higher. The ball clears a little longer. The Strategy creates a little more angle down lane because of that. However, it is still a massive sweet spot and Brunswick found what I believe is that piece to put in that sweet spot.
OK, let’s talk about the ball reaction. Just looking at the ball, it didn’t make sense that a Mastermind replacement would be categorized under “Flip” on their website. Seeing the ball reaction changed that. And it’s not the kind of skid/flip you see from a very shiny ball. It’s a strong boomy move downlane with really remarkable continuation. The continuation is what stood out, you can see it in the video…and this isn’t the usual manufacturer hype. Brandon threw this ball right out of the gate and it just barrels through the pocket shot after shot. He progressively moved in and it kept barreling throughout to about the 5th arrow.
On to the shots that didn’t make the cut, it gives you an idea of what happens when it’s not striking. This is a strong ball so if you have this kind of hand or if you’re playing for the high flush shot and you pull up on it or yank it slightly, it’s going through the face. Getting it too far outside and it will bleed a lot of energy. We had one 2-8-10 in the session but for the most part, it struck or left a single pin so there was better forgiveness outside. Playing it deep, Brandon didn’t lose hit until he went 5th arrow out to about 5 where it just gets drained of its energy in that much friction outside.

The Digitrax analysis confirms both the overall strength and downlane strength of the Mastermind Strategy. The average entry angle was over 7.5 degrees and from as deep as the 4th arrow.

All in all, I think this is a fantastic replacement for the original Mastermind that just wouldn’t go away. The Mastermind Strategy is worthy. For a high end ball capable of handling some good volume, it was still playable on a house shot and I believe tweeners and more so strokers will find great use for this ball. It will allow those with more speed or less hand to still use a “big” ball that continues through the pins better than shelling and coring down to find angle through the pocket.