First Impressions
The Sublime Focus is a very bright but very strong ball, both in terms of oil handling and backend.

Tamer Elbaga (Lefty)
Style: Tweener
RPM: 330 rpm
PAP: 5 & 3/8 up
Average Speed: 18.5 mph (at release)
Axis tilt: low
Axis rotation: medium/high
Test Equipment: 14 Pounds
Layout: 50 x 5 x 45

Bryan Hoffman (Righty)
Style: Stroker
RPM: 280 rpm
PAP: 4 1/2 & 1 1/2 up
Average Speed: 18.5 mph (at release)
Axis tilt: high
Axis rotation: medium
Test Equipment: 14 Pounds
Layout: 50 x 5 x 45

Tyler Church (Righty)
Style: Power Player
RPM: 425 rpm
PAP: 5 1/2 & 1/2 up
Average Speed: 19 mph (at release)
Axis tilt: med
Axis rotation: medium
Test Equipment: 14 Pounds
Layout: 50 x 5 x 45

“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.”

Pattern
THS: 42ft, 23ml
Sport: TBD

Specs
The 900 Global Sublime Focus uses the Immersed AI symmetric core inside the Reserve Blend 804™ Solid Reactive coverstock.

15 pound = RG of 2.47 diff of .056
14 pound = RG of 2.49, diff of .050
Coverstock finish: 2000 grit LSS

Tweener’s Take
Straight out of the gate, you can see how strong the 900 Global Sublime Focus is. The interesting thing is we had 3 balls with strong covers being tested in the session so the comparison was actually quite telling. First thing is it’s the kind of “big ball” that you can trust to get going downlane. There’s usually 2 types of strong cover balls. Those that are so strong that they sometimes bleed to much energy and don’t do anything in certain conditions. Then there are those that just look too big by overhooking. The latter in my mind gives a bit more comfort and reliability for a bowler because you can make a more standard or obvious adjustment to the reaction. Whereas the former, you may have to square up more to get them to look like they’re doing something. Now the Sublime Focus is a bit too strong for this pattern and so you see different back row pin leaves. And you see other than 7 pin leaves because it can generate some decent angle and therefore a bit of over/under on this while I experiment on the lane. The backend is strong enough that I would consider slotting this ball in the Strong Defined slot on the bag but the truth is this is mostly still a Strong Control ball. It gets more interesting when you see it next to the Motiv Subzero Forge. The Subzero is way earlier and rollier. It likes angle less than the Sublime Focus but conversely provides a bit more control. All while filling the same slot in the bag.

Power Player’s Persective
For Tyler, the overall story is not really different to what I saw in the sense that’s it’s a pretty strong ball with good midlane read and decent pop for a heavy rolling ball. It’s for sure too strong for this house pattern now that it has been shortened a bit from previous. We still have that dead outside characteristic of this pattern and the HPL lanes and that doesn’t matter which ball you throw. Because of the built in lane friction, balls just die from the outside downlane. Anyway, it’s a decent ball reaction for Tyler. The best look is near the 4th arrow and keeping the breakpoint just off the heavy outside friction. This allows the Sublime Focus to store the appropriate amount of energy to hit well.

Stroker’s Stance
For Bryan, the strength plus that backend was a very obvious characteristic. The Focus definitely had more punch downlane than most balls we’ve tested for Bryan, especially those with strong covers. You’ll notice he starts out in his normal track near the second arrow but he has to get a little deeper to account for the strong backend. From 13 and beyond to the 3rd arrow, the ball has excellent mid lane control as well as strong movement downlane which yielded a very nice ball reaction overall. It was quite impressive for Bryan. It also shows that the match up of ball to volume depends on the bowler. The ball felt pretty good for this medium volume for Bryan but looks like it would run out of steam as the oil depletes.

Bottom Line
In the end, the Sublime Focus seems like a strong option from 900 Global. A strong ball that still creates reliable downlane motion is usually a very good option for the Strong side of the bag.

Thanks for watching.