Hammer Taboo

[littlelegs]

I purchased this to own something a little less aggressive than the Morich Mania I'd been using. Something to turn to when I just can't seem to get that 10 pin down.

To be honest I didn't expect to get quite the hook it gives. It breaks much later than the Morich but strongly enough almost hit the same spot. It's now become the ball I start with, replacing the Mania in that respect.

There is a however and quite a big one. I mentioned it's the ball I now start with and that's because on heavy oil it seems to lose reaction pretty quickly. After a good clean at home it's fine again but one game on the heavy oil we experience on our current league lanes kills a lot of the reaction for me. I've tried the various in game cleaners etc etc with little difference.

Maybe my slightly rev challenged style (combined with a little too much speed - something I'm working on fixing) is the root cause but then with the Mania I can manage 3 games without having to switch. Not so with the Taboo.

Overall I still love the ball. For very heavy oil though that one game and it's finished for the night for me.

** A quick edit to say this is the original Taboo and not the new one so it's seen quite a few games now :)

[HunterRunsIt]

Im working on getting the taboo atm, Iv'e heard its quite agressive actually if your still looking for a less agressive ball I would try the Ebonite Vital Sign.

[The Mayor]

I would make sure you're wiping your ball off after each frame with a microfiber towel. This should help. Also, you could even clean the ball with an approved cleaner every half game or so if that's what it takes.

[HunterRunsIt]

I would make sure you're wiping your ball off after each frame with a microfiber towel. This should help. Also, you could even clean the ball with an approved cleaner every half game or so if that's what it takes. I forgot about that! But yeah be sure not to accidently alter the surface of your ball besides the cleaning. Some leagues don't allow it.

[littlelegs]

I wipe every frame and as I say have tried the approved cleaners too. It could be the ball simply needs either a spell in the revivor oven or is even past its prime as I used it heavily for a while. And as I say it's only the really heavy oil I get the issue.

I should also stress I'm talking about the original taboo here and not the new perl. I'd like to get my hands on the new one to see. In the past I've often found that perl balls will soak up less oil and thus clean better during league play (for fairly obvious reasons I presume).

[JerseyJim]

Another thing that may be happening is that you're not adjusting your line as the lanes transition from oily to dry. The Taboo requires a bit of oil to prevent the ball from losing energy before hitting the dry boards. If your ball is hitting the pocket like a marshmallow, then it's time to move in a bit to find more oil.

[littlelegs]

That may be it in part but then again there's little changed since I started out as far as preferred line goes, but the reaction dropped for me. However, I'm going to get it revivored and we'll see how it does after that. I've a feeling it simply soaked up just a little too much oil during the heat in the summer. Let's see if getting most of that out helps.

[JerseyJim]

That may be it in part but then again there's little changed since I started out as far as preferred line goes, but the reaction dropped for me. However, I'm going to get it revivored and we'll see how it does after that. I've a feeling it simply soaked up just a little too much oil during the heat in the summer. Let's see if getting most of that out helps.

Are you bowling on wood or synthetics?

[tumblebug1949]

I have some additional questions from the group pertaining to your original concern.

1. Is the microfiber towel better that just a regular towel. Is it better at removing the oil from the surface of the ball?

2. As a lane is bowled on, does the oil dry quickly or does the ball remove the oil it slides over. If it is loosing the reaction, I would think it is sliding farther and not grabbing the lane surface because of the oil on the ball. If the lane was drying it would start hooking early.

Are my thought correct?

[JerseyJim]

I have some additional questions from the group pertaining to your original concern.

1. Is the microfiber towel better that just a regular towel. Is it better at removing the oil from the surface of the ball?

2. As a lane is bowled on, does the oil dry quickly or does the ball remove the oil it slides over. If it is loosing the reaction, I would think it is sliding farther and not grabbing the lane surface because of the oil on the ball. If the lane was drying it would start hooking early.

Are my thought correct?

1) I find that microfiber works well for removing oil from a ball. I also like it for applying ball cleaners. Get them from an auto parts store, it's a lot cheaper than a pro shop.

2) If a ball loses reaction in the course of a game, my first guess would be that the oil has been removed from that area of the lane. The initial skid of the ball is much shorter, and it starts rolling too soon. The ball loses energy. It will not hit the pins with any authority. You could switch to a weaker ball, or a pearl to get the ball to skid further if you stay in that area. If you adjusted for this on wooden lanes, you would be making moves inside to find some oil. On synthetics, the loss of ball reaction could also be carry-down. In my brief experience on synthetics, the adjustment for this would be to switch to a stronger ball or moving slightly to the outside.

Too much oil causes the ball to skid much further, it will start hooking further down the lane.


Other folks on this site could probably explain this a bit better than me.

[littlelegs]

I'll make an addition to this post not least because people do not seem to believe I actually clean my balls very thoroughly both during play and after. I genuinely thank you for the replies and advice but I also did try to stress that I really do take very good care of my bowling balls.

The Taboo did start to die very quickly on me. It's not my lack of cleaning with a cloth between shots. I use good quality micro fiber towels and the one in my bag is clean every week. I clean my balls (usually with branded ball cleaners) after every night. The other ball currently used in my bag does not suffer as much from lack of reaction after 1 game. However....

The Taboo had been heavily used. As people often like the 200+ game mark as a sign a ball may need replacing, it had bowled over 200 games (probably welll over) when practice is taken into account. In my mind this was why the ball was dying, but then as I say I have an even older Morich Mania in the bag that although not as 'hooky' as when new (which ball is?) still lasts an evening if used in every game.

My theory is a simple one. Despite cleaning, you're not going to get the oil soaked deep into the ball out. Even a 'bath' will only get so much of that out. As a good reactive ball picks up more oil during play and certainly absorbs some of it, the Taboo was simply reaching saturation point very quickly i.e. so much oil in the ball it had nowhere to go after a game or so. The various cleaners on the market from alcohol to high end branded products simply cannot suck oil out of anything but the surface of the ball or maybe just a little below it.

I think the theory holds true after having had it sit in the revivor oven at the local pro shop for a spell. It's now almost back to its original performance and certainly now lasts 3-6 games again. It simply soaks the oil up like a sponge and needs a deep, deep cleaning more so than perhaps some other balls in a similar price/performance range. This is perhaps not a huge minus point for the ball but something to bear in mind when purchasing this (or tbh any) ball i.e. get it cleaned deeply from time to time.

So I once again love my Taboo :)

My biggest problem with my initial 'review' (apart from missing loads of info people like such as drilling layout etc) I think is that I posted it giving my views of the ball after some heavy usage. People are so used to a ball being rated out of the box and usually being praised because...most balls are great straight out of the box. Give a review 6 months or so down the line and it confuses. Personally I'd like to see more reviews on a balls performance after some use, as that's the real world for many of us. I'd love to replace a ball every 200-300 games but with the amount I already spend on bowling and other hobbies (golf springs to mind) it's sadly not gonna happen.

[noeymc]

i use the hammer taboo deep purple i love it i have room for error roughly 2-4 boards i have it drilled to go long and then cut but i do love it