Mini Bowling Ball Reviews

[Amyers]

My wife decided to purchase a new ball for me for my birthday but for once I've just been completely stumped with what I wanted. Luckily my PSO came to my rescue with a friend of his that has a very similar thumb/finger size and span than I do. He does have quite a bit more reverse pitch than I do so that took some getting used to but of the 4 balls he brought in I was able to successfully throw 3 of them. At the beginning of testing I was throwing on the previous days league pattern that was pretty burnt then the PSO had the lanes oiled so I got to test these balls on the burn and on a fresh pattern. So here are my thoughts on the Brunswick arsenal that I got to try out.


Burnt Pattern:

Melee Jab- This is the one ball I never found any success with at all. On the burnt pattern (Where I expected this ball to excel) the ball burnt up way to fast when thrown on the dry hooking much less than I expected. I expected this ball to be long and strong with it's higher RG and polished finish what I got was short with a limp. In this balls defense it never felt right coming off my hand and maybe the setup just wasn't right for me but from what I've thrown this was the worst reaction from a ball that I've thrown.

Melee Cross- My expectations for this ball were muted from my experience with the Jab. I had not really intended to test this ball as I wanted to try the Intrigue but he brought the wrong one (beggars can't be choosers I guess). This ball performed better than the Jab but this ball still hooks less than anything else in my bag but the ball rolled ok off my hand and did hit the pins well

Mastermind Scholar- Of all the balls this is the one I was most excited to try. The ball performed very well on the somewhat burnt pattern clearing the heads easily and making a strong defined move to the pocket. After throwing this ball for a while I understood why the Mastermind line has been so successful for Brunswick. This ball clears the heads better than anything else in my bag and carried very well. I often struggle with polished balls giving a uneven reaction and just not seeming to hit the pins correctly (My Virtual Gravity Nano Pearl being an exception) I seen none of that the ball moved flawlessly once it hit the dry. Really impressed with this ball.

Mastermind Einstein- I had some trepidation about this ball also. I was worried the midlane read that is talked about in the reviews with this ball would make it unthrowable for me. I also wanted something a little less than the VG Nano Pearl that I currently have (it tends to be unplayable for me on a lot of conditions just too strong with my lower speeds) and from what I have heard this ball was the most aggressive of the lot. I only got to throw a few with this ball before they oiled. The line was similar to the scholar but a little earlier. On the 5 shots I got I left quite a few 10 pins (maybe a move farther inside would have helped).

On the Burn the winner was the Scholar

Fresh Pattern:

Melee Jab- After the bad experience on the burn decided to give it a chance on the fresh. It wasn't any better this ball was allergic to oil and doesn't hook much off the dry. I put it away as a bad experience after 5 shots.

Melee Cross- The cross performed better on the fresh than it did on the dry. Still not really what I was looking for the ball still has less movement than my Hammer Arson Low Flare.

Mastermind Scholar- As good as this ball performed on the burnt pattern it wasn't quite as successful on the fresh. The ball still hit well and made a very nice move to the pocket I still liked it. The ball would recover from just about anywhere on the lane. I actually missed my target by about 6 boards on one shot and I'm pretty sure this ball went all the way out to the first board came roaring back for a strike. On a inside miss this ball struggled a little had a tendency to skid to far and not read the pattern. All in all really liked this ball though.

Mastermind Einstein- This ball came alive on the fresh. It seemed to perform and carry well regardless of the line I was playing. Playing inside to out the ball came off the dry well and finished strong with out overshooting the pocket. Playing inside on a straighter line the ball came off the pattern well read the lane and made a strong move to the pocket. I did have a little stretch of leaving 10 pins but I moved farther in and the ball just seemed to pick up that much better and started rocking the pocket again.

On the fresh winner Mastermind Einstein

Currently I throw the Arson Low flare the most and the Virtual Gravity Pearl most of the rest of the time. I currently Bowl mainly in three houses. One that is wood in fair condition unpredictable oil (sometime light sometimes heavy), One that is wood in good condition medium oil, one that is synthetic heavier oil. The VG is unusable period on the fair condition wood, often unpredictable on the good condition wood but rolls well on the synthetics. The Arson Low Flare is perfect on the fair condition wood and makes a good ball down option on the other lanes. So I was looking for something that provides more than the Arson and more controllable than the VG. I decided on Einstein mainly because I intend on using this ball more on the fresh. If I was looking for something for the burn I would definitely consider the Scholar. If you wanted to build a very versatile arsenal I believe you could do it between the original mastermind (heavy oil) Einstein (Medium oil) and Scholar (lighter oil).

[LyalC52]

I added a Meele Jab to my bag a few weeks ago. I got it specifically for one league.
The THS favors the up the outside shot. If everyone is playing straight I can use my Seismic Photon LMB all night and not run out of room.
But on the nights we bowl against the 2 handers and high rev guys, the Jab allows me to stay outside when I run out of room with my LMB.
I've found its break is very tame and predictable. Yes, I agree it's not a fresh oil ball at all.

[ChuckR]

I throw the Mastermind Genius when I started Thursday. It jumped around and I left 4 splits in a row. A team mate said it was time to change balls to even in the last 4 frames of the first game. I used the UpRoar for the last 3 games and ended up with an 812 series(started with a 168). I love the UpRoar as it is controllable in most conditions. I would like to win a ball just so I could replace the Mastermind.

[Amyers]

The original Mastermind is more of a heavy oil ball. It fits better on heavy s

[billf]

I wish more people had the chance to try a ball on both conditions. It allows a knowledgeable bowler to see the difference conditions can really make

[Amyers]

I wish more people had the chance to try a ball on both conditions. It allows a knowledgeable bowler to see the difference conditions can really make

Yes it was nice to be able to see the balls in action on multiple conditions. Hopefully the new ball will work as well as the borrowed one

[larry mc]

i love my einstein on anything between flood and desert , the nirvana looks like it could be the flood ball

[Amyers]

i love my einstein on anything between flood and desert , the nirvana looks like it could be the flood ball

I was pretty impressed I have a few friends throwing the Nirvana and they both really like it. It does look good on the lanes. I'm not sure how much better it really is than the original Mastermind myself. I know all the staffers think the new cover stocks on the Einstein and Nirvana are a big hit but I don't put that much stock in what those guys say. The real truth is to wait until the next big ball is out and see if those guys are still going back to the other ball when they are struggling.

[vdubtx]

Saw a Nirvana on the lanes last week. Along with my first look of the Roto Grip Haywire on the lanes. Nirvana was being thrown by a mid-rev guy and it looked good. Cleared heads and made a nice move, sometimes too nice as he left a few smash 9's and went heavy a few other times.