The 2018 Urethane Ball Thread

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Re: The 2018 Urethane Ball Thread

Post by mrbean »

here is the core that was in the pathogen and pathogen x. not sure if it will be the same
Image
seems like it would be like a slightly stronger pitch black, depending on the cover
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Re: The 2018 Urethane Ball Thread

Post by Nord »

mrbean wrote:here is the core that was in the pathogen and pathogen x. not sure if it will be the same
Image
seems like it would be like a slightly stronger pitch black, depending on the cover
Oh, oh...I am not gonna say what this core looks like! :shock:
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Re: The 2018 Urethane Ball Thread

Post by 56bird »

I have to admit, all the fascination with weight blocks in urethane parts is perplexing on the face of it. Any urethane piece is going to have a slow response to friction. That's what we buy it for! That said, a Hot Cell with that respectable mass bias should have a quicker response time vs say, a Pitch Black, if all other things were equal. For me it's a "in case of emergency, break glass" kind of option, I reckon for me it's like "do I have a urethane ball with a comfortable grip" and if I do, that's a check in the box. Not here to tell anyone else what they should do, hey I got beat by a BTU last week so what would I know?
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Re: The 2018 Urethane Ball Thread

Post by gunso »

If you know what you are looking for and can recognize front to back ball motion than you learn to see the varying ball motion that urethane offers today. It's a limited ball motion but there is a reason that Jesper Svenson carries 6-7 of the same ball for tournaments with different layouts but mostly different surfaces to vary where on the lane the ball hooks.

I carry a rotogrip grenade and a visionary crow these days and they are not even close to the same ball motion. I'm also redrilling an old Sumo of mine and I know it will fit right between them in terms of ball motion.

I could easily add a couple more to the mix and have varying ball motions and that is without getting into the asym urethanes or hybrids like the shadow ops
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Re: The 2018 Urethane Ball Thread

Post by Nord »

My three urethane ball arsenal is:

Real Strong: Visionary Midnight Scorcher at 1500 grit. High Flare drilling.
Strong: Hammer Black Widow Urethane at stock 500 grit. High Flare drilling.
Medium: Hammer Purple Pearl Urethane at stock 2000 grit. Low Flare Drilling.

On fresh house shots I try the Widow first, right up second arrow.
If it is laboring, then I pull out the Scorcher.
Once the Scorcher can't hold a line, I ball down to the Widow.
If the Widow if fine on the fresh, I can generally use it for the whole set, with only minor moves left.
If lots of resin cheater balls are going down the lane, jacking up the oil and sucking it off, then I ball down from the Widow to the Purple and move back right.

So that is my current urethane strategy.
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Re: The 2018 Urethane Ball Thread

Post by 56bird »

gunso wrote:If you know what you are looking for and can recognize front to back ball motion than you learn to see the varying ball motion that urethane offers today. It's a limited ball motion but there is a reason that Jesper Svenson carries 6-7...
I’m not saying I can’t see a difference between this ball and that. When I had a Natural and Super Natural both drilled with what was my current grip at the time, I had the Natural at 360/1000 and the SN at 1000/4000, they were both pretty good but I could certainly see the difference between them. I think I had them 2-1 different, when I got my grip adjusted I didn’t bother to do the SN which was already 2nd drill.

I wasn’t talking about surface, though, I was talking about cores. If you think about it, core design these days in urethane parts is all over the place. In 15#, Pitch Black is 2.57 RG, .022 diff. Natural was 2.55, .038. OG Tank 2.48, .034, Grenade 2.58, .040, Hot Cell 2.52, .056 with MB, Hammer Black/Purple 2.65 .015, Widow Urethane 2.50, .058 with MB.

All over the place but they all act like urethane to my eyes (that’s not weird, they ARE urethane). Performance characteristics dominated by cover stock more than weight block is what I am saying.
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Re: The 2018 Urethane Ball Thread

Post by Nord »

56bird wrote:
I’m not saying I can’t see a difference between this ball and that. When I had a Natural and Super Natural both drilled with what was my current grip at the time, I had the Natural at 360/1000 and the SN at 1000/4000, they were both pretty good but I could certainly see the difference between them. I think I had them 2-1 different, when I got my grip adjusted I didn’t bother to do the SN which was already 2nd drill.

I wasn’t talking about surface, though, I was talking about cores. If you think about it, core design these days in urethane parts is all over the place. In 15#, Pitch Black is 2.57 RG, .022 diff. Natural was 2.55, .038. OG Tank 2.48, .034, Grenade 2.58, .040, Hot Cell 2.52, .056 with MB, Hammer Black/Purple 2.65 .015, Widow Urethane 2.50, .058 with MB.


All over the place but they all act like urethane to my eyes (that’s not weird, they ARE urethane). Performance characteristics dominated by cover stock more than weight block is what I am saying.
I see a big difference between my urethane balls.
The Widow is early and arcs with a very subtle backend.
The Purple is long with a more snappy move in the back.
The Crow is medium long in length, with a very heavy, hard continuous move left once it gets going.
The Scorcher is longer than the Widow and has a much stronger backend move, but still very smooth.
The Grizz is pure smoothness. It rolls early and is super subtle. Aim and fire.

But you are correct, each of these has a urethane movement, but the cores, or lack thereof, definitely make a big difference in the motion shape.
At least for me.

You can see all these urethane shape differences on my youtube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/nordattack ... subscriber" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Last edited by Nord on March 5th, 2018, 7:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The 2018 Urethane Ball Thread

Post by bowl1820 »

Nord wrote: Ok, well let us know when you have more details please.
Okay company sent me some info.

Pathogen Plague Info:

Color: Black Urethane
Breakpoint Shape: Controllable Arc
Core Name: New Era 139 (as found in previous Pathogen releases)
Core Type: Symmetric
Coverstock Name: GPS Navigational Urethane
Diff: 0.032
Finish: Matte
Flare Potential: 3-4" (Medium)
Lane Condition: Dry
Perfect Scale: 142.2
RG: 2.54

Okay, the same core as the other Pathogens like we thought. I'll assume it has filler and not a two piece.

The Bowlingball.com Perfect Scale of 142.2, put's it between the Pitch Black 138.8 and a Tank Rampage 165.4
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Re: The 2018 Urethane Ball Thread

Post by Nord »

bowl1820 wrote:
Okay company sent me some info.

Pathogen Plague Info:

Color: Black Urethane
Breakpoint Shape: Controllable Arc
Core Name: New Era 139 (as found in previous Pathogen releases)
Core Type: Symmetric
Coverstock Name: GPS Navigational Urethane
Diff: 0.032
Finish: Matte
Flare Potential: 3-4" (Medium)
Lane Condition: Dry
Perfect Scale: 142.2
RG: 2.54

Okay, the same core as the other Pathogens like we thought. I'll assume it has filler and not a two piece.

The Bowlingball.com Perfect Scale of 142.2, put's it between the Pitch Black 138.8 and a Tank Rampage 165.4
Well, the coverstock will dominate the reaction generally.
Let's see what they came up with with this coverstock.
Let us know how it works.
Early, medium or long?
Oil handling ability, how wet can it get and still work?
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Re: The 2018 Urethane Ball Thread

Post by TheJesus »

Hi, i just quickly went through the 2017 thread, and then this one. Nice stuff, thank you all for the info.

A question first : is there any info on what exactly is the Reacta-Thane coverstock? I don't trust names (marketing), and the ball to me on the lane looks pretty much like a resin ball that is dull. It never looks like a urethane ball.

And for y contribution to the topic: I just drilled a 900Global Shadow Ops. As you may know it is a hybrid asymmetric 80% urethane 20% resin strong core ball. (0.017 int.diff)

I only had time to throw 5-6 shots that day, but it looked really nice. The lane was freshly oiled and i had a good look on 1st , 2nd and 3rd arrow (by changing the release a bit though). If you are interested i can post videos of it next time. Also if you have any video request for this ball that i can execute, just ask :) This is my first urethane ball by the way. I don't own any really weak resin balls, so this new ball combo looked interesting.

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Re: The 2018 Urethane Ball Thread

Post by bowl1820 »

TheJesus wrote: A question first : is there any info on what exactly is the Reacta-Thane coverstock? I don't trust names (marketing), and the ball to me on the lane looks pretty much like a resin ball that is dull. It never looks like a urethane ball.
The re-released Burgundy Hammer that uses Reacta-Thane is a resin ball, They tell you that in the ball info "This is not a urethane ball, but a reactive cover we’re calling Reacta-Thane."

Which the term "Reacta-thane" isn't really new, When the first resin balls came out they were called Reactive Urethane. Because they are made with a urethane base and then have various chemicals added to make them "reactive". The term just changed over time to Reactive Resin.
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Re: The 2018 Urethane Ball Thread

Post by TheJesus »

Thanks for the confirmation ! I know urethane is in all balls as a base, but i heard some people say the Burgundy was urethane and i had a hard time believing it. Also for some reason i thought the Hammer description didn't clarify it.
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Re: The 2018 Urethane Ball Thread

Post by bowl1820 »

TheJesus wrote:Thanks for the confirmation ! I know urethane is in all balls as a base, but i heard some people say the Burgundy was urethane and i had a hard time believing it. Also for some reason i thought the Hammer description didn't clarify it.
Well the Original Faball Burgundy Hammer (I have one) is a urethane ball.
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Re: The 2018 Urethane Ball Thread

Post by TheJesus »

Sorry i meant they claimed the current Burgundy is urethane.
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Re: The 2018 Urethane Ball Thread

Post by Nord »

TheJesus wrote: If you are interested i can post videos of it next time. Also if you have any video request for this ball that i can execute, just ask :) This is my first urethane ball by the way. I don't own any really weak resin balls, so this new ball combo looked interesting.
I would like to see the ball on four different lines to watch how it handles them.
1. Straight up 7.
2. Straight up 10.
3. Straight up 11.
4. 15 to 10.
These are my typical urethane shots.
And when I say "straight up" I mean straight up, no left to right belly, a total up the track shot.
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Re: The 2018 Urethane Ball Thread

Post by bowl1820 »

Okay the Plague has arrived.

The "Matte" O.O.B. is 1000 Abralon, ball is #15 has a 3.25" pin and 3oz. Top weight
pathogen plague.jpg
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Re: The 2018 Urethane Ball Thread

Post by Nord »

bowl1820 wrote:Okay the Plague has arrived.
The "Matte" O.O.B. is 1000 Abralon, ball is #15 has a 3.25" pin and 3oz. Top weight
pathogen plague.jpg
Looks great!
Will you drill it to be strong and early?
Double Thumb?
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Re: The 2018 Urethane Ball Thread

Post by TheJesus »

Nord wrote: I would like to see the ball on four different lines to watch how it handles them.
1. Straight up 7.
2. Straight up 10.
3. Straight up 11.
4. 15 to 10.
These are my typical urethane shots.
And when I say "straight up" I mean straight up, no left to right belly, a total up the track shot.
Ok Nord, i will try. I am not that accurate of a player yet, but i will try to record all the shots and i guess i will nail a few of them :)
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Re: The 2018 Urethane Ball Thread

Post by Nord »

TheJesus wrote: Ok Nord, i will try. I am not that accurate of a player yet, but i will try to record all the shots and i guess i will nail a few of them :)
Cool, look forward to them.
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Re: The 2018 Urethane Ball Thread

Post by mrbean »

here are a two urethane balls on ebay that look interesting.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Wilson-Pro-NIB ... SwdnZaGZwy
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Brunswick-Twis ... SwjVVViCBi
didn't know wilson made bowling balls, and the twister seems kind of like the grizz cause it has this core
Image
wilson has this core
Image
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