First Impressions
Great ball reaction out of the gate from the Axiom Pearl. There are some interesting nuances to discuss.
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Tamer Elbaga (Lefty)
Style: Tweener
RPM: 375 rpm
PAP: 5 & 3/8 up
Average Speed: 18.5 mph (at release)
Axis tilt: low
Axis rotation: medium/high
Test Equipment: 15 Pounds
Layout: 4.5 x 40
Sean Jensen (Righty)
Style: Power player
RPM: 475 rpm
PAP: 5 1/2 & 1/4 up
Average Speed: 18.5 mph (at release)
Axis tilt: low
Axis rotation: medium
Test Equipment: 15 Pounds
Layout: 5.5 x 45
Bryan Hoffman (Righty)
Style: Higher Tilt Stroker
RPM: 280 rpm
PAP: 4 1/4 & 1/8 down
Average Speed: 17.5 mph (at release)
Axis tilt: high
Axis rotation: medium
Test Equipment: 15 Pounds
Layout: 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: 40ft, 23ml
Specs
The Storm Axiom Pearl uses the Orbital Core (symmetric) inside the NeX (Nano Extreme) Pearl coverstock.
15 pound = RG of 2.499, diff of .051, .020 mb
14 pound = RG of 2.512, diff of .051, .020 mb
Coverstock finish: 500, 1000 Siaair / Crown Factory Compound
Overall
Straight away I had a smile on my face with the Axiom Pearl ball reaction but that’s not very objective so let’s get into why and then some of the nuances you need to be aware of if you plan on picking this up. It’s obviously a pearl version of the Axiom but very similar to the way we recently discussed the Track Proof vs Proof Pearl, this is clearly a relative of the Axiom, not some sort of weird concoction. Meaning it’s simple relationship where if you just need a bit cleaner reaction, you move from Axiom to Axiom Pearl and you’ll get that slightly later reaction with just a bit quicker response to dry. We talked about how the Axiom could replace the Phaze II but the Axiom Pearl seems pretty different from the very quick responding more angular Phaze III. This one could almost be mistaken for an asym pearl due to its heavier roll with a bit of hook set motion downlane. My eyes lit up initially because it matched what I saw as the almost ideal transition of skid to hook to roll. The core transition is balanced perfectly to the cover responsiveness. That balance means the core transition smooths out the cover’s responsiveness to dry. Core is transitioning ahead of the end of the pattern so it’s not this just explosive end of pattern sideways motion. Reminds me a lot of the Roto Grip HyWire except it’s stronger overall. So it’s not that it’s slow to respond and it’s certainly quicker than the Parallax but it does have a certain almost roll out shape, especially if you have lower tilt. Even where I am at 13 degrees, the ball seemed to hit a wall around 15 through the fronts before carry gets tricky. I think that this ball will not like the most direct lines nor will it like huge angles, particularly from the left side. But in between, it looks fantastic.
Sean was next and immediately you can see the hook set motion is more prevalent. He uses less tilt so when it stands up, it’s very clear. It was still effective and a nice shape. So it seems like it will be release sensitive a bit. Meaning if you are very end over end, you will see the roll out characteristic a bit more whereas if you have more tilt, you are likely to get a smoother more boomy reaction. It’s relatively strong but essentially what Sean saw was he needed to watch the amount of rotation because it can still be quick/early to respond. But he also wanted to get a little more tilt to get a more consistently effective ball reaction.
Bryan is back as well and the Storm Axiom Pearl looked quite good for him. We aren’t always certain with pearls, especially pearl asyms where they are a little too strong to play direct but lose axis too hard when moving in for Bryan. Bryan still saw that rounded heavy forward motion, but the length and transition made it a very good match up. He felt it gave him a strong move and heavy drive through the pins. It was fun to see those packed strikes. He felt like he had a decent amount of area and some hold inside whereas misses outside were less likely to recover, due to the stand up nature of the core. For me, I had more room out than in.
Sport Shot
TBD
Final Thoughts
The Axiom Pearl has very nice shelf appeal. It has a pretty versatile roll and looks like it can match up to many styles. The thing that wasn’t wavering is the more stand up hard stop of this ball. This gives it a good window of operation but one that seemed to be pretty obviously defined. I actually think that’s a good thing. You can probably play around with layouts to tweak this a bit to match your game but if you have an Axiom and have those times where you wish you just had a slightly cleaner look, look no further than the Axiom Pearl.