Alright, I get to see a ton of bowling balls and there’s a lot to like, dislike, and everything in between. This is a little different take but similar to my favorites. It’s a bit more specific to what’s in my bag. In some cases it’s newer balls and some, discontinued pieces I simply still prefer for a slot. I’ll take you through the slots per my arsenal building and you can see how you feel about it.
If you haven’t watched lately, please go back to my arsenal building to understand the basics of my 6 ball bag setup.
Starting with Strong defined, the biggest piece in my bag. Highest volume management and a core defined motion. Right now, this is filled with the Motiv Jackal Onyx or the Roto Grip X-Cell. The Jackal Onyx is a bit stronger so further up the chain for volume management and also has a earlier start up so is a fairly different shape from the X-Cell. The X-Cell would make the bag on a night where the pattern is middle of the road 39-43 ft where it being a bit rounder and a bit less makes it versatile. But honestly, the more I use the Onyx, the more likely it stays regardless of pattern. It just has such as a nice balance early roll that seems to always want to get going but does that while still having nice punch down lane. Believe it or not, for house shots, I still really like the Ebonite Choice for this slot. I only bowl house shots in the occasional UBA weekend but the ball even while being a hybrid is plenty strong for any house pattern we see around our area.
Next I’ll move on to the Strong Control shape. The Motiv Evoke makes quite a regular appearance there as does the Roto Grip Optimum Idol. Between those 2, they’ve made about 90% of recent appearances in my bag. The Motiv Evoke offers excellent control while not being too early or lazy. Seems very versatile and can be used on many different patterns. It is willing to go a little longer and make the corner while also slowing down enough but balancing the backend motion to compensate. A good chameleon, maybe the mixed colors make perfect sense. The Optimum Idol is a bit more firm what it is. It’s a strong cover with a pretty strong backend and a smooth transition between the two. It’s a bit more firm with what it is. What I mean is, it isn’t a chameleon like the Evoke. It requires oil to work or it will simply be too much ball. It will overhook. Sometimes I want that firmness, sometimes I want the versatility. The other part of the time, I bust out the Phaze II. Not much to say on that but the newer balls are dominating the appearances now.
Moving on to Mid Defined. This is the good old shiny asym, typically anyway. It’s a slot that doesn’t get as much use for me since I mostly bowl on sport shots and 3 games on the left side by myself means I rarely use anything shiny. I don’t agonize too much about this slot. There are a lot of pretty good options. I originally wrote the script prior to the Evoke Hysteria but that thing definitely has to get a look for this spot. It’s a really stand out piece. Prior to the Hysteria from Motiv, the Crimson Jackal is definitely my favorite. Does what I expect of this slot very nicely, regardless of the condition. It’s a bit of a toss up for me between the Hysteria and Crimson. The 900 Global Zen 25 is feeling a touch preferred for the slot these days as well. It’s newer and maybe a touch firmer than the Crimson Jackal. But it also has the continuous look of a symmetric which is sometimes too much. The Equinox is another that may get the nod for a house shot tournament. It’s a pretty traditional shiny asym look from Storm and that’s always been a nice spot for me on house shots. Allows me to use a bigger core on a medium house shot. I have used these balls with surface as step downs on sport shots like nationals.
Next is Mid Control. This I typically look at as a step down to the Strong Control and a benchmark type slot for house shots. I like it to have a relatable shape so it sometimes depends on what I have with me in Strong control. One of my current favorites is the Storm Ascent. This is a very underrated ball in my opinion. I used to use the Storm Furious as my house shot benchmark ball. That was an R2S solid cover with a light bulb type Turbine ball which had a 2.55 RG and .038 diff. Very stable but strong and angular enough to carry well on house shots. These days, the Summit Ascent offers the same coverstock with a similarly shaped but stronger Centripetal AI core with a lower RG and .056 diff. That makes it a bit more benchmark for my current age…er game and conditions. All that said, I have to give air time to 2 other balls I still bring out a fair amount, the Motiv Primal Shock and Venom Shock. In all 3 cases, the covers are somewhere in the 3000-4000 abralon finish for me typically. The Primal gives me a good step down on sport shots when Motiv is the shape in the bag. The Venom Shock is very similar but a little less for me so when we have medium or lighter patterns, I might bring the Venom Shock instead of the Primal.
Moving on to the Mid Late shape. Originally when I wrote this, I was pretty stuck on the Road Warrior. And while these balls don’t come into play often for me, the Storm Road Warrior was my favorite. Ever since I switched to 14, the HyRoad series hasn’t quite hit the mark with it’s 2 piece design. The Road Warrior changed that. For House shots, it’s a great partner to the Summit Ascent. With that said, sometimes you need a lesser ball where you can stay in front of yourself on tough patterns. And while I thought the Storm IQ Tour AI was fairly clinical in our house shot review, it has made it’s way fairly consistently in the bag on the sport shot patterns I bowl on almost exclusively. I have really been able to experience the length but smoothness but yet consistent motion off the end of the pattern which surprisingly gives more front to back control than the Road Warrior. It kind of makes it pretty special. The IQ Tour Ruby is also a good one but with the AI being the latest one and being a hybrid allowing it to be a little smoother off the end of the pattern, it’s becoming the go to.
Lastly are the Specialty balls. I never leave home without a Storm IQ Tour 78U mostly because it’s my spare ball but also gives me a possible urethane shape when needed. It’s quite weak for me so it has to be a really good match up to make sense as a strike ball. That’s where the Storm Level comes in. This ball is beastly for me in the usability factor. It’s kind of shocking how useful and usable a Specialty ball can be which makes it a bit of an oxymoron. The Level comes into play on any shorter pattern. It can come into play on medium patterns where the outside is on the drier side. It comes into play on house shots, both fresh and messy house shots. Like say after lots of open play, the Level is oddly magical. The Level is quickly becoming a benchmark ball for me. I’m also considering it as my spare ball on higher volume patterns to avoid having 2 specialty balls in the bag.
Well that’s it. What are your favorites? Do you agree with any of these? Anything surprise you? Write me in the comments. Thanks for watching and catch you in the next video.