The Ball: MOTIV Venom Toxin

The Layout: Traditional Stacked Leverage. 3“ Pin with it set above the ring finger. Just under 1/2 Side and 1/4 Finger with no weight hole.

The Style: Power Stroker. (Speed 16.5-17, Rev rate untested since shoulder was injured.)

The Conditions: Riverside Lanes in Laughlin, Nevada. 40 FT House. Cerbat Lanes in Kingman, Arizona 41 FT Kegel Main Street. Both high friction environments.

The Plus: Blends the wet/dry and gives a very smooth transition through the lane. Retains power even as the lanes breakdown.

The Minus: Ball motion may be too weak for lower rev players.

The Score: 5 out of 5.

The Review: After the glowing review I gave to the Thrash Frenzy I was eagerly anticipating the next in the line to come to my door. Unfortunately, when I heard that it was to be a hybrid I was a little discouraged. I had bad luck in the past with matching hybrids to my own game and didn’t have much hope for this one. However, when I was told that it was going to be built on the symmetrical Gear weightblock, my interest was peaked once again. I can honestly say that the Toxin has lived up to the same expectations I had for the Frenzy and has established itself as the step-down ball in my bag.

I drilled the Toxin very similar to my Frenzy as that has quickly become my new benchmark and I wanted to gauge my reactions to how I viewed it. I began by taking the ball down and bowling on the standard 40 FT house shot which was out during our Men’s League in Laughlin. With not so much as a ball of practice before throwing it in the league, I was able to dial-in quickly and averaged 235 for the night. It was extremely easy to distinguish the motion of the Toxin and the difference it had from the Thrash.

The Toxin has a much smoother downlane motion than the Frenzy and blends the oil well for my style of game. It is a bit more arcing than the Frenzy but still has that backend reaction that allows players to move a little deeper without losing entry angle. I actually found myself scoring higher as the lanes broke down and was able to easily stay ahead of the changing oil. While for my game it is a stepdown from the Frenzy, I can see where a higher rev player may see this as a harder hooking ball based solely on the difference in coverstock reaction.

On the Main Street pattern, I found that the Toxin continued to read the same with a very smooth transition both inside and out. The only negative I could see with this ball would be if you were someone who wasn’t able to put much lift on the ball at all. I found flathanding the ball caused the hybrid to spin in the oil as again it blends the transition. All-in-all, this ball is a great arsenal ball for me and could be a great piece of equipment in nearly every bowler’s bag.

While this is not by go-to ball as of yet, this is definitely going to be the step-down ball in my bag regardless of condition. Versatile and pretty fun to look at on the lane, the Venom Toxin is sure to please any who throw it.