I recently went to a ball demo for Storm to test out the latest and greatest stuff. We were able to try the following balls, Crux, Sinister, Optimus Pearl, Hysteria, Hy-Road Solid, and Pitch Black.

The Crux is no joke! By far one of the stronger balls that would be in my bag. I had the Crux about 2-3 boards stronger that the Sinister. The Crux also got a bit more length and overall hook compared to the Sinister. Both had the same drilling, Pin up above the Bridge, CG slightly to the right and MB slightly right of the thumb.

The Optimus Pearl would be a great benchmark ball to start off with on any pattern. Very Clean through the fronts and provided that skid/flip motion with more of a heavy roll rather than flip. Very easy to read and if I needed something stronger, going to a Crux would be the right step or if I needed something less, heading to the Hy-Road line would work. Same thing if you needed the ball to roll sooner, go to a solid to get you that motion, IQ Tour Solid would be something along that line.

The Hysteria and Hy-Road Solid were very similar for me. Obviously Hy-Road Solid will read sooner than the Hysteria just based off of the out of box finish. I believe that if you would to put the same finish on both, they would react the same.

The Pitch Black would be a great ball for high rev players to play outside on the house shot or any pattern that is very Wet/Dry. Even after 15 games were bowl, I was still able to play a 12 to 5 on the house pattern. Holds very well in oil and recovers off the dry. Might be my next purchase for my house pattern!

Make sure your arsenal is ready to go for the bowling season. Make sure you have your middle of the road benchmark ball. By having that, it will provide you a better look and options if you needed to change to something else. The nice thing about Storm/Roto Grip is there is a ball for everyone out there. Wide range of selections up and down the chart.

Steve Lemke Bowling.com SFA NCAA Coach