Nomad Pearl

[bowlrbob]

The new Nomad Pearl is a great compliment to the Nomad Solid. When the lanes are hooking a little early with the solid you can step right into the Nomad Pearl. The pearl will go through the front of the lanes with ease go longer and save energy for the back end. I drilled this ball with the pin just under the fingers in grip center with the cg directly below 12:00 stack. This ball came with a 1 and ¾ inch pin from cg. My track is high axis is 6 over and ¼ up. The great part is I found that I did not get skid flip. I got a nice controlled hard arc reaction in the back. Because the Pearl is saving energy the carry was exceptional. I used the Pearl in a local tournament on July 19th 2009 it was a single game elimination tournament. The lanes are synthetic heads to 30 ft. then wood to the decks. For this tournament short oil pattern was used. I started the tournament with the Roto Grip Mars to hold the back end flip down. The shot was tough so I just hung in there for two games. Then the transition hit the oil carried down very fast. I switched to the Nomad Pearl and the lane opened up for me. In the last 4 games of match play I had 225-244-218-222 and won the tournament. This on a shot that most of the bowlers could not get a read on the lanes and if they did could not carry. I had both with this ball. Try it with the Nomad Solid for a one two punch and coupled with the Cell line you will have all conditions covered. Bob Korth writer of ASK BOB Q. and A. article.

[dougb]

Thanks for the mini-review. These balls sound like winners... makes me think of the T-Road Solid and Pearl.

I'm also excited to see the Storm Reign in action.

[Rockteschel]

Roto Grip NOMAD PEARL, 15LB

I drilled my Nomad Pearl a week ago. The ball started out with a 3-1/2” pin and 3 oz. top weight. I drilled it 5 x 4-1/2 with a 1” pin buffer. I placed a weight hole 1” in and 1” up from my PAP as I needed to remove some side weight and some finger weight. The ball weighed in at ¾ side weight and ¾ finger weight when done. After drilled, the pin ended up above and to the right of my ring finger.
I bowled with this ball on a THS and it has strong movement off the break point. The house that I bowl at oils 39 feet. I started the ball at 3rd arrow and breakpoint at about 8 at 40 or so feet. The ball hits hard and retains energy nicely throwing the pins around the deck. When missing outside with the break point, the ball recovered nicely but had a tendency to leave a 9 or 6 pin. When I missed in it sat still hitting the pocket and throwing pins around and striking with a higher frequency than missing out but not as often as hitting the mark. If you like to throw pearls this will be a hit for you.
I bowled on the Shark pattern next. This layout did not match up with the length and volume of this pattern.
I bowled with this ball on Cheetah next. Like with Shark, it was a bit touchy but this ball matched up better on Cheetah as it had more dry lane to work with. When missing out it would recover but when missing in it did not sit. Neptune was my ball of choice for this pattern previously. I will pull my Nomad pearl out of the bag for this pattern first from now on.
Overall, I think that this ball will fit nicely under the Cell Pearl and over the Neptune. The Nomad Pearl will be a benchmark ball for those that only throw Pearl equipment. Good Job Roto Grip.

[tbs1]

Basically what I wanted for this piece was something for the transition.
If the Nomad Solid started burning up too quick, the plan was for me to make a small adjustment and switch to this ball.

Well sometimes plans change..

4 1/2 x 4 pin under ring finger.

This ball is its own animal. It took my expectations and shattered them, to say I am blown away is an understatement.

It does make it down the lane and it recovers!!

Its everything the Illusion was supposed to be.

Let me elaborate on that statement. The Illusion(for me) was too much over/under. If I sent it to the dry it would would react super hard, but if I kept it in, it would skate. Seemed to be very condition sensitive.

I feel that with this pearl I have room for error- almost like I can throw it anywhere with confidence.

Video Coming soon to YouTube (bowlerssolution) and bowlerssolution.com

Thanks,
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James McCarter
Co-Owner/Operator
The Bowlers Solution INC
Roto Grip Amateur Staff

[precisionrotoguy]

Layout- Pin 3 3/8” off of PAP (4 ¾” straight out) with a 7/8”x 1” hole 5” straight out.

I have been excited about the release of the Nomad and Nomad Pearl for a while, but in all honesty, both balls have exceeded my expectations. Believe it or not, my Nomad Pearl is stronger than my Cell Pearl (albeit it is also drilled a bit stronger and is newer) by roughly an arrow. What’s nice is the increased length this ball has over the middle and high end stuff Roto has released lately. It gives their lineup a completely different look they were lacking before. You can still get the smooth, archy reaction with the Cell line, but now the mid range stuff covers the longer stronger reaction missing from the line for so long. The Illusions were good, but the separation from the Cells wasn’t enough in my opinion. This ball, even with a stronger drilling, is clean through the front for me (a must considering I’m a high rev/medium speed player that is very “up the back” of the ball) and really aggressive on the back. The continuation is more than adequate and the ball punishes the rack in an almost violent manner. It makes me happy inside… lol..

The color is sharp, very reminiscent of the old Silver Streak Pearl (a ball sharing the same core as the new Nomads), but with blue instead of purple. It looks sharp on the rack, in your hands and going down the lane, not to mention on the pro shop shelf. The great part about this ball, as well, is its versatility. You can put this core in the hands of pretty much anyone and have success on a large variety of conditions, making it a must stock in the pro shop and a must have for bowlers looking for a little more from their benchmark ball.

[John Brodersen]

Ball specs – 15 lbs 3 oz, 3.12 top weight, 3.25 inch pin.

The Nomad Pearl was drilled using the dual angle drilling method. I was looking for additional length and a stronger move down lane to compliment the Nomad Solid (please refer to my Nomad solid review for specifics). The layout used was a 5-inch pin to PAP distance with a 55-degree drill angle and a 35-degree VAL angle. This placed the pin above the ring finger about 1 inch and the non-marked mass bias just below and about 2 ½ inches to the right of the grip centerline. The CG ended up 1 1/2 inches under and to the right of the ring finger but no extra hole was needed. The cover was left in OOB condition.

The Nomad Pearl is very clean through the fronts with about an additional two feet of length than the Nomad Solid. The backend move was quicker and also stronger off the spot (more angular) than the solid. The Nomad Pearl provides tremendous recovery and the pins really scoot when hit by this powerful pearl !

With the return of the “Rotary Core” combined with the new, tweaked cover stock, the Nomad Pearl and the Nomad solid is a hard combination to beat for those medium conditions. The Roto Grip Sword line continues to advance in performance.

John Brodersen

[RonCase823]

My Axis is 5 5/8 right, ¼ up, my speed is average and I would consider myself with higher revs but more up the back. So not a cranker but not really straight either.

Placed pin under ring finger and CG in positive thumb weight quadrine. Extra hole to right of thumb to get weights back to 0 thumb and ¾ side. This is how I had a couple of Silver Streaks drilled in the past and it worked then with those and it works really well with this ball. This ball is very smooth through the fronts and mid lane then it hits the back end and just goes hard. You cal also release it up the back more to play more parallel on the lanes and then it reads the mid lane a bit before it hits the back end jump (that release works well on the extreme outside shots I have come across on some PBA patterns). It’s a great ball for me when I have to move inside a lot because this ball has enough back end to turn the corner and get back to the pocket. This ball drilled this way has scored well for me on fresh house shots, PBA shots and even burned house shots especially when the heads go. The ball is like the older Silver Streak Pearl with a bit more kick.

[MoonsLefty]

The layout I used on my Nomad Pearl is 60 x 5 x 35, this places the pin above middle finger, and no balance hole.

This layout gives me a LOT more length than my Nomad Solid. I can move farther left and play straighter with this ball. I normally can't use many balls that a skid/flip but with this I can. Usually I get a lot of over/under with balls like this, but with the Pearl I don't. Even though this is a skid/flip ball, I actually don't get too much flip, nor do I get too much reaction off the break point. This could be a pearl ball that I can use more often than not.

[mred2u]

Drilled my first Nomad Pearl with a 5 1/2 pin under my middle finger and the ball is in box condition as of this review. My usual ball motion is an arc on the back end but this ball will go sideways in the back for me. I bowled on a PBA-X scorpion pattern and after 2 games I was able to open the lane up and finish third in the qualifying round. This ball compared to the Grand Illusion this is a ball that goes longer down lane and makes a stronger move off the spot. It really reminds my of the motion that the Mystic makes. I never got to use the Silver Streak line of balls so that is why would compare it to the Mystic. This is another winner front the Roto-Grip team and I am proud to be part of the team.


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Ed Riffle
Roto Grip Advisory Staff

[Bucko the Bowler]

This ball works great on wood or synthetic lanes and light to medium oil patterns. The ball seems to roll great on any distance of oil. It is clean through the front and mid lane. The ball has a very angular back action with good drive through the pocket no matter how deep or straight you are playing on the lane. With this ball’s strong backend reaction, the oil carry down does not seem to affect its reaction too much. Overall I feel that no matter what style and type of bowler you are everyone will get a great roll with this ball in their hand.

My drill settings: Pin under riddle finger 5-3/4 from PAP; CG swung out at 40° angle 4 inches from PAP; 11/16 weight hole over 4 inches, down 1-1/2 inches.