3..2..1..Go!
First Impressions
Is this a Storm Furious??? The Storm Rocket Ship has added a smooth, moderately strong option to the Rocket line. I like it.
Our Tester:
Rick Graham
RPM: 375 rpm
PAP: 4 3/4 & 1/ 2 up
Axis tilt: high
Axis rotation: high
Rocket Ship Layout: 40 x 3.75 x 40
Snap Lock Layout: 40 x 4 x 35
Rick is an accomplished bowler to be sure. He is on Storm’s Regional staff. Rick’s success goes back to 1987 as a Team USA member along with much more recent success including 3 PBA Regional titles and a member of the Lancaster Bowling Association Hall of Fame.
Thanks to Jeffrey Smith of Pure It Pro Shop, Lebanon, PA, our partner for ball reviews.
Thanks to 222 Dutch Lanes in Ephrata, PA.
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.
Test Pattern:
41ft THS, 22ml, 7:1 ratio
Value
8.5/10
Storm rounds out the Thunder line with the solid covered Rocket Ship. It’s another moderately priced ball with pretty good versatility. You could do a lot worse in terms of value.
Specs
The Storm Rocket Ship uses the well known R2S™ Solid Reactive coverstock along with the Booster™ Core. It has a 2.54 RG with a .046 differential.
Overall
8.5/10
OK, Storm finally releases the solid version of the Rocket with the new Rocket Ship. With the Rocket, we saw decent length with a strong flippy motion off the spot. That was with the Hybrid R2S coverstock. Then we saw the Pearl Sky Rocket with it’s increased length and less flippy motion off the spot. Now we get the solid version. As you would expect, adding the solid cover smooths out the overall ball reaction of this core. On a fresh house shot, you see decent length, a smooth read of the mids and then a strong role off the end of the pattern with strong pocket entry characteristics. Let me just tell you that Rick threw most of these shots back to back to back. Rick was just constantly striking with this ball. As you watch Rick throw, you see the ball just barrel through the pocket with little deflection. It just seemed to set up just right on this 41ft house shot. As a testament to it’s strength, Rick had a point where he left several 9 pins in a row as the ball went through the pocket too hard.
Again, it’s not like the hybrid Rocket which was more flippy. The Rocket Ship’s solid cover just rounds off the edges so to speak, making it smoother overall. I always say that Storm’s hybrid covers have a synergistic effect on the ball reaction, yielding a stronger reaction than either solid or pearl. However, I believe to smooth out the flippy nature of the Booster core, the R2S Solid is an excellent choice.
In the shots that didn’t make the cut, we give you an idea of what happens when you miss in and out. To the outside, the ball loses a bit of energy as you would expect with a solid ball. On the other hand, misses inside where safer and can yield 9 pins or 4 pins. However there is good forgiveness as neither side yielded major punishment.
Storm Snap Lock
We previously reviewed the Snap Lock but gave Rick an opportunity to test it as well so you can see it with a different style bowler. I can reiterate just how strong this ball is. Don’t be fooled by it being a pearl. Rick had to move his target at the arrows and breakpoint in so that he can keep this ball in the oil. Otherwise, there is no shot to keep this ball right of the head pin. No doubt this is a heavy rolling ball and you will want some volume or have less hand to get more use out of this one.