Riggs
07-14-2011, 05:41 PM
The MARVEL has been one of my favorites since it came out – if you read my 11th Frame blogs you know how much success I had with a MARVEL with a control drilling (pin in my ring finger and "mass bias" kicked a touch left near my thumb) given to me by Storm Tour rep Chris Schlemer.
A low-pin MARVEL was a little too much for my combination of moderate speed and middling revs, but a plug and re-drill to a high-pin 90 degree drilling gave me excellent motion, especially on house shots.
So you can believe I was excited when I heard that Storm would be coming out with a MARVEL PEARL featuring the same Centripetal core that provides such strong midlane roll paired with the R2X Pearl coverstock at 1,500 grit polish.
One of my favorite drillings for patterns that have transitioned quite a bit is that high-pin (over bridge usually) stacked (90-degree drilling) so the CG ends up in or around my grip center.
I've had many balls with that drilling through the years, including two favorites I still have in my arsenal: a T-ROAD PEARL and an original TROPICAL.
I figured the MARVEL PEARL might be a nice stronger compliment to those two, so I went with that drilling: a pin to PAP (my coordinates are 5 1/8 over and 3/4 up) distance of 5 1/8 inches, a "mass bias" (it's a symmetrical) to PAP distance of 6 1/4 inches, and a pin buffer is 3 3/8 inches. The pin is above my bridge and the CG is in my grip center. The ball has no weight hole.
I've used the MARVEL PEARL on both a fresh PBA Chameleon pattern at a PBA Regional on nearly new Brunswick synthetics, and a fresh house shot on Brunswick synthetics that are about 8 years old.
At the Regional, the MARVEL PEARL ended up carrying me to the cash and a near-miss of match play – this after throwing a total of eight shots in the prior five weeks.
On the Chameleon, I went from a defensive ball (bad) for a few frames to a new VICTORY ROAD SOLID to a NANO to be about 30 shy of the cut after three games. I then switched to the MARVEL PEARL and rolled four straight solid games to get above the cut number before a tough last pair and 190 game left me 2 spots shy of match play.
The MARVEL PEARL essentially let me get my feet as deep as necessary and still get it to move strong at the breakpoint. The motion picked up strong in the midlane and never quit – my taps were mostly solid 8s and 9s and ringing 10s. When I switched from the NANO (1,000 Abralon lane shined with a strong drilling) I actually only moved my feet a board back to the right, which astonished me. (Obviously if there wasn't a dry spot opened up on the lanes, this would not have been possible, but what was great is that the MARVEL PEARL was not squirting in the oil.)
I saw this reaction again when I used it on the house shot – I could get about as far left as I wanted, send it right and it would recover but without squirting in the oil.
In contrast, two of my favorite strong shiny nuggets – a VICTORY ROAD PEARL and a REIGN SUPREME, both with pin-above-bridge drillings and stronger 60-degree drilling angles – would produce 2-pin combos when I moved as deep into the oil as I was with the MARVEL PEARL.
All I can say is: WOW.
I have a feeling the MARVEL PEARL is going to turn out to be one of my all-time favorites – and might retire some of my other pearls.
I can't think of any style that couldn't use a MARVEL PEARL – speed dominant players will like the strong midlane from the core and how it does not squirt, and rev dominant players will like that it's shiny and still gets down the lane better than a rougher surface ball.
A low-pin MARVEL was a little too much for my combination of moderate speed and middling revs, but a plug and re-drill to a high-pin 90 degree drilling gave me excellent motion, especially on house shots.
So you can believe I was excited when I heard that Storm would be coming out with a MARVEL PEARL featuring the same Centripetal core that provides such strong midlane roll paired with the R2X Pearl coverstock at 1,500 grit polish.
One of my favorite drillings for patterns that have transitioned quite a bit is that high-pin (over bridge usually) stacked (90-degree drilling) so the CG ends up in or around my grip center.
I've had many balls with that drilling through the years, including two favorites I still have in my arsenal: a T-ROAD PEARL and an original TROPICAL.
I figured the MARVEL PEARL might be a nice stronger compliment to those two, so I went with that drilling: a pin to PAP (my coordinates are 5 1/8 over and 3/4 up) distance of 5 1/8 inches, a "mass bias" (it's a symmetrical) to PAP distance of 6 1/4 inches, and a pin buffer is 3 3/8 inches. The pin is above my bridge and the CG is in my grip center. The ball has no weight hole.
I've used the MARVEL PEARL on both a fresh PBA Chameleon pattern at a PBA Regional on nearly new Brunswick synthetics, and a fresh house shot on Brunswick synthetics that are about 8 years old.
At the Regional, the MARVEL PEARL ended up carrying me to the cash and a near-miss of match play – this after throwing a total of eight shots in the prior five weeks.
On the Chameleon, I went from a defensive ball (bad) for a few frames to a new VICTORY ROAD SOLID to a NANO to be about 30 shy of the cut after three games. I then switched to the MARVEL PEARL and rolled four straight solid games to get above the cut number before a tough last pair and 190 game left me 2 spots shy of match play.
The MARVEL PEARL essentially let me get my feet as deep as necessary and still get it to move strong at the breakpoint. The motion picked up strong in the midlane and never quit – my taps were mostly solid 8s and 9s and ringing 10s. When I switched from the NANO (1,000 Abralon lane shined with a strong drilling) I actually only moved my feet a board back to the right, which astonished me. (Obviously if there wasn't a dry spot opened up on the lanes, this would not have been possible, but what was great is that the MARVEL PEARL was not squirting in the oil.)
I saw this reaction again when I used it on the house shot – I could get about as far left as I wanted, send it right and it would recover but without squirting in the oil.
In contrast, two of my favorite strong shiny nuggets – a VICTORY ROAD PEARL and a REIGN SUPREME, both with pin-above-bridge drillings and stronger 60-degree drilling angles – would produce 2-pin combos when I moved as deep into the oil as I was with the MARVEL PEARL.
All I can say is: WOW.
I have a feeling the MARVEL PEARL is going to turn out to be one of my all-time favorites – and might retire some of my other pearls.
I can't think of any style that couldn't use a MARVEL PEARL – speed dominant players will like the strong midlane from the core and how it does not squirt, and rev dominant players will like that it's shiny and still gets down the lane better than a rougher surface ball.