The Roto Grip Sinister is the new hybrid high performance asymmetrical ball, in the HP4 line of balls. It has a new weight block called the Cage core. The cover is called 76H, and has a factory finish of 4000 grit abralon. The core numbers come in at 2.52 Rg, 0.054 diff, with a 0.015 PSA differential. The Sinister is neon yellow and white pearl, with solid navy in color. The guts grit and grime of the ball is 82-76-H.
I drilled the Sinister with a 4 ¼ x 6 x 2 ¾ layout. This puts the pin up and just slightly left of my ring finger. I used the Sinister in the box finish and saw a ball that has a lot of overall motion. When using the Sinister in a regional in Syracuse NY, I had a great reaction on the fresh, and also through the middle of the event. Once the lanes started to get choppy, and the righties started to get really deep into my lay down area, I had to put the Sinister away. The cover was just too strong for me to get it through the front without forcing it, which thus would give me bad angles. The Sinister is a ball that does seem to allow me to chase a pattern a little deeper than I usually would with other asymmetrical balls, but still is at its strength when I can keep it in front of me, and need a strong hard defined motion at the end of the pattern. I have also used the Sinister with 500 grit surface on the very long 52 foot PBA Badger pattern. It worked for a little bit, but lane shined a little quick, and exposed the pin distance of the layout as being a little too long for this pattern. I have also smoothed the cover down with Storm step #1, and used the Sinister on our league condition. It rolls well, and has a nice change of direction with this finish.
Over all, I like the Sinister on medium heavy conditions when I need a strong change of direction down lane. The Sinister is a real good compliment to the Asylum. When the Asylum starts to bog down because there is too much oil, or carrydown, I can go to the Sinister and get that shape that I need to get the corner pins out. The cover on the Sinister has a lot of versatility as far as polishing or dulling the ball to dial in the reaction needed. Thank you for taking the time to read my review of the Sinister, and always remember to “Own It!”.