First Impressions
The long and short of it is the Motiv Evoke Mayhem will not feel light years from the OK but will give you a bit more traction.
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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 5.25 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 Roto Grip Transformer uses the new Overload™ Asymmetrical core inside the Leverage™ MXC Solid Reactive coverstock.
15 pound = RG of 2.48, diff of .050, mb of .015
14 pound = RG of 2.51, diff of .045, mb of .015
Coverstock finish: 4000 abralon
Power Player’s Perspective
The first impression kind of gives away that I don’t believe a long and complicated review is necessary for the new Evoke Mayhem. The Evoke is now gone from the lineup and I personally really liked it and kept it in the bag longer than most balls. Now the Mayhem is clearly replacing it and think slightly amped, but how? Same rolly Overload core. OG Evoke had the Leverage MCX Solid. The Mayhem uses a new Propulsion MXV Solid. Motiv says the idea is to provide a shell that offers a bit more length and downlane motion than the Leverage family covers. Honestly though, we saw the opposite. The Mayhem had what seemed a bit earlier roll and a bit smoother rounder but extremely similar shape. Without having read their description, we saw a pretty versatile balanced strong control type ball that if we didn’t have the OG on hand would’ ve thought was the same thing. Basically not as diggy as the Subzero Forge so will clearly sit to the right of it. I assume it will be a step down from the Raptor Reign but pretty similar in strength. Don’t get what I’m saying wrong, as you can see Tyler had a great look. The ball was very predictable and controlled the pocket quite well with a very good midlane read and really wasn’t lazy downlane. It’s only when you put them old and new side by side that you notice the Mayhem controlled the pocket better for Tyler. For him, it felt like a nice improvement.
Stroker’s Stance
For Bryan, everything we talked about that made it so good for Tyler made the Mayhem OK for Bryan. This is typical strong ball on a house shot issue for him. We have a strong cover and a strong core essentially. So it’s more of a controlled motion. So when Bryan had a look it was a very good look. This is an arcing shape and Bryan also felt it was a bit smoother than the OG Evoke. For Bryan strong balls require a certain balance of core and cover strength to be versatile. The OG Forge was one of his favorite strong control balls. While the cover was strong, it had decent length which allowed the rolly core to just have a little more punch downlane. That opens up the lane a bit. The stronger the cover is, the earlier it reads leaving less energy downlane. That essentially makes the window of applicability narrower for him. That was a bit of the case with the Mayhem. Look, he can park where it works and strike a lot. But missing out a little and the ball bleeds energy. Moving in is also somewhat limited for the same reason that it’s a smoother ball overall and doesn’t have a big backend for Bryan. When comparing to the Evoke, you can see he can essentially park in the same zone but it had a touch more punch.
Final Thoughts
As you watch me throw a few shots 1 and 1/2 steps while I recover from my hip replacement, I found it a bit strong for my current speed but it’s overall a pretty smooth look and very similar to the Evoke for me as well. At the end of the day, it was probably smart for Motiv not to stray too far from the OG shape. It’s clearly in strong control. The challenge will be how many balls do you need in strong control? The Raptor Reign and Subzero Forge fit in that category broadly. Yes some slightly different shapes but you’ll have to decide how subtly differentiated shapes you want in your bag.
Thanks for watching.