First Impressions
The new 900 Global Vengeance is a bit of a unique and fascinating piece.
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Tamer Elbaga (Lefty)
Style: Tweener
RPM: 365 rpm
PAP: 5 1/8 & 3/8 up
Average Speed: 18.5 mph (at release)
Axis tilt: low
Axis rotation: medium/high
Test Equipment: 14 Pounds
Layout: 50 x 4.5 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: low
Axis rotation: medium
Test Equipment: 14 Pounds
Layout: 50 x 5 x 50
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: 55 x 4.75 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: 44ft, 25.8ml, 12:1 ratio
Sport: TBD
Specs
The 900 Global Vengeance uses the new Blast AI symmetric core inside the new RB91 Solid Reactive coverstock.
15 pound = RG of 2.47, diff of .055
14 pound = RG of 2.58, diff of .056
Coverstock finish: 4000 abralon
Power Player’s Perspective
Let’s get into it. 900 Global says this is a new option for combating heavy oil. They say the RB91 is one of the strongest covers and is fast oil-absorbing and the ball should have strong mid lane read and still save energy for the back. Now what we have is a very rolly high diff core in a very strong cover and what we saw doesn’t exactly match the description but I’d say it’s much more nuanced. So without a doubt, the mid lane read is exceptional. You see it really churn up and telegraph or control the midlane. Typically what you get is less backend and that is true with the Vengeance. However, as we threw it and watched, while it didn’t seem to have lots of backend, the carry was simply excellent. So essentially what we saw was a ball that doesn’t store energy in the traditional sense but rather comes into the pocket on a much shallower entry angle. But it didn’t feel like it entered with low energy. So it was shallow and even looked to deflect through the pins but somehow carry was superb. So in some way, it’s confusing as I’d say it feels too strong and rolls out but the the carry, it was quite fascinating and fun to throw. It’s almost as if we have a urethane reaction out of a reactive ball. It’s like the strong cover and high diff fully overwhelms the motion but somehow it touches the headpin and things go down. The fascinating part is what I just described, you can stay more square and get that controlled backend motion of urethane. Now this was the higher rev look, what happens when Bryan throws it?
Stroker’s Stance
At first glance, the same behavior is present, early roll, shallow downlane angle. Hits the pocket, middling carry. Saw several 10 pins. However, we discussed squaring up more so he moved right, still got the pocket. We said, let’s move right enough to where it simple reads the friction early and goes left, then work back. As he worked right, he got to about 7 through the fronts and then, bam, amazing look. Where he would normally be too far into the friction at that point, the ball actually got down lane, very smoothly arcing all the way to the pins. Never did it have a large move, never did it go sideways. Just arced it’s way. So under normal circumstances, we might think this is a bit meh with the corner pins and limited drive. However, the fascinating thing was that Bryan was able to have pocket from all kinds of places with the Vengeance. He just had to move to find the best carry. Normally he’d feel trapped to get that on top of the friction, but the Vengeance was just something quite different. Again, it’s almost like that old school trap urethane shape. Get almost on top of the friction to where there’s nowhere else to go and the ball just uses the friction to walk slowly to the pocket. Very unique for a reactive ball that is also fast oil-absorbing.
Tweener’s Take
OK, this is the hip replacement vs Vengeance really quick look from my side of the lane. I’m obviously slow per my usual release given the one step but it’s still about 17mph off my hand and rev/speed matched. I’d say I also really liked what I saw. I love seeing the balance of mid lane read and actually a little more motion downlane than Tyler and Bryan. My layout is a touch stronger so that may account for the slight difference in roll but generally the take away here is that this theoretically can be a strong control ball but possibly mid control depending on the bowler. Somewhere in that zone kind of puts it in benchmark territory. I think this is a bit of a unique shape in the Storm family lineup not filled by anything else currently. Ion Pro Solid is weaker and very different type ball in the Mid control. Phaze II has a lot more backend in Strong Control part of the bag. Perhaps the Rock Star is in this zone actually but we had a more consistent look with the Vengeance.
The Vengeance is going to be a unique one for bowlers and if you understand it going in, you can pick the right layout for what you want and be quite happy with a ball that you can stay more in front of you while still managing to be versatile enough to manage heavy and medium oil.
Thanks for watching.