oldschoollefty
02-13-2011, 03:04 PM
Storm Marvel review, TOC Edition:
This was my first Marvel, drilled off the truck in Las Vegas. I was also looking at a control drilling, something good on the fresh, so I decided on a dual angle layout, 55X45 with a 5 inch pin. This layout put the pin just above the ring finger, CG a half inch left of grip center and no weight hole. Box finish was unchanged.
In the practice session, I was able to pipe the ball up the 3/4 board with a very smooth midlane move and a heavy roll on the backend. Despite the relatively steep entry angle, this ball did a great job of taking out the corner pins, probably due to the fact the ball had transitioned so completely and was rolling so strongly at the pocket. Of course, being the flat pattern this was, there was little if any hold so grabbing the ball even a board or two meant going through the face and a good chance of leaving something with a 4-6 in it.:( Obviously, with a ball this strong, staying firm with every shot was a must.
Once the tournament began, I was surprised at how long I was able to stay with this ball. There were relatively few left handers in the Champions Round which probably had something to do with that. A slow migration to the right was sufficient until I got into the right handers laydown area and then a weaker ball was needed (2 Furious, Reign Supreme, Hy-Road). Surprisingly, when I got to the one game rolloff, that pair was tighter and I was able to go back to what has turned into my new benchmark ball, the Marvel. Corey Husted was pretty much unstoppable but I threw a respectable 215 with the Marvel and had a good look the whole game.
Bottom line, the Marvel is going to be a terrific heavy/long oil ball for league and tournament bowlers alike. The low RG core makes for a smooth early midlane transition and the R2X solid cover will help keep some speed dominant players from throwing the ball through the breakpoint. I haven't tinkered with the box finish yet (haven't needed to), but it looks to be easily tuneable for different surfaces and patterns. This ball would partner well with the Prodigy with the same weight block and pearl cover which helps get more push down the lane with a similar hook shape. By the way, I've had a chance to use this on a couple of house conditions with strong results too. Thank you again Storm!!
This was my first Marvel, drilled off the truck in Las Vegas. I was also looking at a control drilling, something good on the fresh, so I decided on a dual angle layout, 55X45 with a 5 inch pin. This layout put the pin just above the ring finger, CG a half inch left of grip center and no weight hole. Box finish was unchanged.
In the practice session, I was able to pipe the ball up the 3/4 board with a very smooth midlane move and a heavy roll on the backend. Despite the relatively steep entry angle, this ball did a great job of taking out the corner pins, probably due to the fact the ball had transitioned so completely and was rolling so strongly at the pocket. Of course, being the flat pattern this was, there was little if any hold so grabbing the ball even a board or two meant going through the face and a good chance of leaving something with a 4-6 in it.:( Obviously, with a ball this strong, staying firm with every shot was a must.
Once the tournament began, I was surprised at how long I was able to stay with this ball. There were relatively few left handers in the Champions Round which probably had something to do with that. A slow migration to the right was sufficient until I got into the right handers laydown area and then a weaker ball was needed (2 Furious, Reign Supreme, Hy-Road). Surprisingly, when I got to the one game rolloff, that pair was tighter and I was able to go back to what has turned into my new benchmark ball, the Marvel. Corey Husted was pretty much unstoppable but I threw a respectable 215 with the Marvel and had a good look the whole game.
Bottom line, the Marvel is going to be a terrific heavy/long oil ball for league and tournament bowlers alike. The low RG core makes for a smooth early midlane transition and the R2X solid cover will help keep some speed dominant players from throwing the ball through the breakpoint. I haven't tinkered with the box finish yet (haven't needed to), but it looks to be easily tuneable for different surfaces and patterns. This ball would partner well with the Prodigy with the same weight block and pearl cover which helps get more push down the lane with a similar hook shape. By the way, I've had a chance to use this on a couple of house conditions with strong results too. Thank you again Storm!!