First Impressions
I thought the Pride Dynasty was my favorite in the lineup but I think the Liberty may prove to be the goldilocks.

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 Motiv Pride Dynasty uses the Dominion™ Asymmetric core inside the Dynamic Propulsion™ Hybrid Reactive coverstock.

15 pound = RG of 2.50 diff of .042, mb of .010
14 pound = RG of 2.52, diff of .043, mb of .011
Coverstock finish: 2000 grit LSS

Tweener’s Take
Motiv has a lot of balls in the lineup currently. 21 balls to choose from in fact, probably the most they’ve had in production at once. I have to assume something will go soon but regardless, I actually feel like the Pride Liberty is a useful addition. You’ll have to figure out where you want to fit it so let’s get into what it is. They say benchmark and long story short, it does appear that way. It’s got a rolly, controllable, but shapely core. In the Dynasty, the cover was a strong earlier cover but still allowed for good motion. This one clearly gets downlane a bit more. Even though it clears easily, it doesn’t feel long or like it can blow through the spot. It’s got a very nice climbing motion downlane. It doesn’t feel super sharp off the pattern but you are confident it will make the move. This happened to be a much more hooking house pattern than we’ve been seeing and while the Liberty felt strong, it didn’t feel too strong. All that being said, it basically describes a Mid Control ball in my book. The interesting thing is, it theoretically has a similar formula to the recently released Storm Ion Pro but they are not really alike, even though they probably fit in the same category. Shows that building an arsenal relies on the relationship of balls, rather than a singular piece. Ion Pro has less traction overall so a bit of a stepdown. I see the Liberty as being a good stepdown from the Evoke which handles a bit more volume and more control. I also seeing it fit between the Evoke and Primal Shock which shines up and has more length. There could be a bit of overlap with the Liberty and Primal but for my game, I am thinking they may separate enough, especially for sport shots.

Power Player’s Persective
As was the case with the Dynasty, Tyler’s view on the Liberty is pretty similar to mine, just scaled up for a higher rev bowler. For him, it maybe a touch stronger than a benchmark but really only a smidge. While the pattern was again drier and appeared shorter than the last house shot that was put out, he didn’t have to fight the ball to work. The Liberty just seemed to have a sweet round but booming roll through the pins. Only all the way to the limits to you feel a bit of forwardness where the ball loses some steam. As you can see Tyler can throw it from the 4th arrow and has excellent drive and carry. Overall Tyler really liked the shape of the Liberty and it has a nice opportunity to fit in the middle of the bag.

Stroker’s Stance
Bryan also tested the Liberty and this gives us a chance to see it for another style bowler. Again, the pattern is a bit shorter/lighter than previous house pattern test. In some ways, we wish we had a higher volume to see some of the balls in this test but again, we still get to see how the balls behave and interpret. Bryan felt the shape was a hard arc which usually bodes well. It gets reasonable length but provides a good punch which typically helps with carry. The challenge here is that Bryan did have to be a little more left to give the ball room but at the same time, we still have that characteristic where early right is too much friction and late right is out of bounds. Either way, with the Pride Liberty, small misses out led to a rollout with weak hits. So the pattern created a small window for the ball to operate it. Nevertheless, Bryan felt this was the most impressive Pride ball to date for his style.

Bottom Line
While there maybe lots of balls in the Motiv lineup, the Pride Liberty is a really nice Mid Control option. It’s on the heavier rolling side which will make it a benchmark especially for medium and lower rev rev/speed matched bowlers. It may step on other balls toes but I guess that’s up to you to decide.

Thanks for watching.