On the Shelf.....

When I pulled this ball out of the bag, the first thing someone said was, "I like the look of that ball, what is that?" Now in my eyes that’s a good sign. The color scheme reminds me of Superman ice cream. Here comes the Heat of the summer.

On the lanes.....

Just like the Hy-brid version of this ball, the Tropical Heat looks to be a really strong addition to the ‘entry level’ reactive price point. Recreational or New Bowlers will have a really good ball to start their bowling careers. Your average bowlers will have a great ball for most house conditions, and the Tournament player or weekend warrior, will have a ball for most challenge/sport patterns that are shorter in length or volume. Crankers will have a ball if they want to play the bumper on the Typical House shot. Tweeners will be able to have a go to ball when the lanes are starting to dry up a bit but really don’t feel like moving inside to much. Strokers will need this ball when they’re looking at their third game, wondering how to stay where they’re comfortable with a piece that has length and some "pop" at the backend.

Color: Red/Blue
Stock: Reactor Pearl Reactive
Weight Block: Turbine
RG: 2.55
Differential: .038

Review Ball 15 lbs.
Layout: Pin 4.5" X 40 degrees pin above ring finger

GLC's "Out of 5 Stars" Ratings......

Length: 4.25  Back End 4.75  Shelf Appeal 4.75

On the Shelf.....

The Black/Silver color scheme of this ball is relatively basic for Storm. It will not give you that WOW factor on the shelf, but I personally like the color. They also have a different fragrance, Ginger Verbena, for this one as well. Yeah, I know, scented bowling balls, but hey it matters to some customers.

On the lanes.....

Alright, for everyone thinking about the reaction of this ball, you will have to free your mind, since when you see the price point and the word "Tropical". The first thought in everyone’s mind will be that it’s a dry lane ball. Not with this combination of core and cover stock! This ball was tested on both AMF HPL, Brunswick Pro Anvilane, and wood surface with Guardian heads. All three centers had house patterns, but the characteristics of the pattern calls for playing 3 different parts of the lane. The Tropical Heat Hybrid is quite a change from the other Tropical line bowling balls. It clears the front part of the lane with ease, as the Tropical Storm bowling balls did, but this ball has a lot of backend reaction. The combination of the Fast/Furious core, coupled with the Hybrid cover, gives this Tropical Heat a serious good look out on the lanes.

 In Conclusion....

The industry is changing to give better equipment for those bowlers looking for a great reacting bowling ball without spending a lot of money and Storm has listened to the bowlers. I believe everyone will have a place for the new Tropical Heat. Strokers may have to tweak the cover because of how clean this ball is in the front part of the lane. Tweeners will enjoy the backend reaction, and Crankers may also have to watch the surface as well, to make sure that it doesn’t have "too much over/under". Storm has stepped up their game to make this ‘entry level’ bowling ball one that will be used on most house conditions, and some of the shorter sport/challenge patterns.

Color: Black/Silver
Stock: Reactor Hybrid Reactive
Weight Block: Turbine
RG: 2.55
Differential: .038

Review Ball 15 lbs.
Layout: Pin 4.5" X 40 degrees pin above ring finger

GLC's "Out of 5 Stars" Ratings......

Length: 4.25  Back End 4.75  Shelf Appeal 3.75

On the Shelf.....

The new Burst is a great looking color combination. The Color of the dark red and silver with black make this bowling ball very rich looking on the shelf. An expensive looking bowling ball without an expensive looking price tag.

I tested the Burst at Bowling IQ on the Brunswick Anvil lane synthetic surface on your THS condition. This bowling ball is definitely cleaner through the front part of the lane than the Resurgence with a much more defined back end motion. I was very surprised to see the Burst make its move in the backend. It was strong, but very predictable. When I increased my rev rate I found a lot of success with the bowling ball from the inside. When I weakened my release, it gave me the straighter angle to the pocket with a strong but manageable back end reaction. Using my normal release, caused me to have a little over/under reaction, so I adjusted the surface and it blended the Burst out much better.

In Conclusion....

The new Burst will suit bowler’s styles from the Stroker to the Cranker. Strokers will love the ease it gets through the front part without the over reaction on the outside dry part of the lane. The Burst will give the Stroker just enough "pop" in the backend to get the corners out. Crankers will like the new Burst straight out of the box finish. It will give them ease through the front, and with the Cranker’s high rev rate, give them back end reaction without too much snap. Tweener’s will have to tweak the cover, or take just a little bit of the factory polish off to smooth it out. Tweeners can use it out of the box if they want to attack those medium to lighter patterns without sacrificing back end reaction. This tester will personally have this ball for more of the longer oil patterns where you need length with some, but not too much, snap at the backend. All in all, the new Burst will be a great bowling ball for the price and give your competition something to think about. Burst out into the new bowling season with Columbia!

Color: Red Red Pearl/Black/Silver pearl
Stock: New Era
Weight Block: Resurgence Core
RG: 2.46
Differential: .040

Review Ball 15 lbs.
Layout: Pin 4" from axis point, with center of gravity 5.5" from axis point

GLC's "Out of 5 Stars" Ratings......

Length: 4.00  Back End 4.00  Shelf Appeal 4.75

On the Shelf.....

The new 920T has a very rich cherry color. Sticking with the trends of bowling balls this year, it’s subtle yet simple. This tester doesn’t like the flashy colors and this ball suits me very well.

On the lanes.....

I tested the new 920T on QAMF HPL Synthetic lane surface at Bowling IQ. We had the PBA Shark Pattern oiled on the lanes. I brought out the 920A to do a comparison between the two bowling balls. At first glance, I thought my eyes were deceiving me. The new 920T had a very strong backend reaction. I actually saw more backend reaction with the 920T than I did with the 920A. Both pieces had the exact same surface and drill pattern for a more accurate test. When I asked a couple of other on-lookers about what they saw, they agreed. The new 920T had some real get up and go at the back end. Compared to the 930T, I saw more down lane recovery with more pop on the back end. With the new 920T, I definitely got a lot more "bowling breaks" with pin carry than with the other test balls. On the shark pattern, if you leak it too far outside you will not get recovery down lane. Instead of the typical washout leave you would see, the 920T came back stronger than expected which was great to see out on the lanes.

In Conclusion....

The new 920T is a great complement to the 930T. It gives you a cleaner read through the front part of the lane than the 930T with more backend ball reaction. In this tester’s hand, it had more back end than the 920A. Most bowling styles will have this ball fit in their arsenal. Crankers will like the power and explosive carry the 920T has, while the Tweeners and Strokers will have a ball to go to when the heads get a little dry and they start to see some carry down. The 920T will be great when you need to clear the fronts while still maintaining power and movement in the back end. I look forward to Track’s new lineup this year simply because I feel they have some great equipment and have covered themselves with bowling balls to combat most, if not all, the patterns a bowler will see. If you haven’t given Track a try lately, I suggest you do this year.

Color: Cherry Cover
Stock: Intermix Hybrid Technology
Weight Block: Modified Leggo
RG: 2.57 Differential: .057

Review Ball 15 lbs.
Layout: 50 degree by 3 1/2 by 30 degrees (pin aboe ring finger mass bias 1" left of thumb)

GLC's "Out of 5 Stars" Ratings......

Length: 4.25  Back End 4.50  Shelf Appeal 4.25

This week I wanted to talk about a bowler’s push away at their initial start and set up position. I have started doing a lot of coaching the last few weeks so I thought it might be a good idea to actually talk about some common minor adjustments from the teachings of the past to some of the new teachings in the sport of bowling today. Today’s conversation will be about a bowler who pushes the bowling ball straight out in front of them to more of a rounded smoother swing.

Bowlers where always taught in the past to push your bowling out toward the lanes and stretch the arm out and straight. Let’s think about that for a second. If you push the bowling ball out straight in front of you what happens to your arm swing? You have excessive muscling with your bowling arm to do this task. So haven’t bowlers been taught recently to be smoother and less muscle in there swing? If that’s the case, then by stretching the arm out with the heavy bowling ball already causes an inconsistency in the statement. What bowlers really need to think more about in there push away is a more rounded compact push away.

Here is a way of helping you eliminate the long push away to a more compact push away. If you are holding the bowling ball about waist high in your set up, and you push the bowling ball out all the way you end up locking your elbow in this position before starting the ball into the back swing. One thing you can try is to only make your push away about 6 10 inches out in front of you. By creating a smaller distance from your body to the push away you will automatically not lock your elbow in this first position and you automatically created a more compact swing. Look at the two charts below. One is the old school teachings and the other is the push away that we are discussing.

If the push away is longer, it causes you to hold the heavy bowling ball out further from your body thereby creating extra muscling in your entire game. Getting the push away closer to your body eliminates your muscle to over work thereby creating a more fluid freer swing When you have a freer arm swing you can repeat shot making more consistently. Isn’t that what we as bowlers want to do? Become more consistent. What happens when we become more consistent? Scores and averages go up and isn’t that why we love this game? We love to score big.

So in conclusion let’s recap this week’s tip. Shorter push away from your body equals less force and creates less muscle. Try this out during your practice sessions this summer and let me know how you did.

T.J. Yeip is the Manager of GLC Bowling and the Lead Technical Advisor. He is an IBPSIA Advanced Certified Member and former PBA member. He is a USBC Certified Coach. You can email your questions to him personally at thomas.yeip@glcbowling.com

I do not have to write anymore about my Nationals this year, considering that it is over. Although I do see that the scores out there continue to be shot. This week I wanted to keep things small and just write about how to sharpen your skills for bowling over the summer months.

One great way to sharpen your skills this summer is to actually go out and practice on a variety of tougher conditions. You can do this by bowling in a Kegel Lane Pattern league, or a PBA Experience league, or if you do not want to be committed to bowling every week in the summer you can still get your skills on at Bowling IQ. Bowling IQ is offering a summer Instructional PBA Invitational day. For only $15.00 you get to bowl for two hours, and have a coach to assist you while you are bowling. Where can you go and get a certified USBC coach work with you AND two hours of bowling for that price? Only one answer: Bowling IQ. I will list the times and details below. More...