Today we dive into the topic of Urethane. Which urethane ball is best for you and we talk about urethane and its properties.
Get all three balls shown in this video below.
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Would’ve liked to see the Fast Pitch mixed in there too! Great video though!
I would like to see you throw the same amount of shots on a fresh lane 1 with reactive. Then bowl a game with reactive on both lanes 1 and 3 and see how much different they react. That would be extremely interesting.
My experience with a purple hammer, and in discussing it with other bowlers, is that it acts like a very weak solid. It has much more shape to it compared to a Pitch Black, and has better recovery to the pocket. A lot of that is the RG difference (2.65 vs 2.57). The higher RG on the hammer gives it more continuation on a hook where the Pitch Black tends to roll sooner.
That said, I can get a higher rev rate with a Pitch Black without forcing it. The hammer is definitely a beautiful ball, but it wasn’t working well for me. I was having to work really hard to get my hand around the ball to keep it hooking, so it didn’t really have a solid spot in my arsenal.
what are your thoughts of the new purple hammers having hardnesses of 60? or just below 68 in general.
it can’t be 60 or 68 . . . USBC states it must be 73 or higher or you can’t use it.
@Bill Schenher well the early addition had that hardness but they don’t check balls at tournaments for that, apparently it’s been fixed and the newer ones are legal but they still allow the early ones that should be illegal.. maybe I’m wrong but I’ve heard that from reliable people
I feel that all but the straightest players should carry at least one urethane ball. If you watch any of the videos online of the lowest scoring PBA telecasts or single games of all time you will see lots of backend snap, washouts and crazy splits. No one could ever convince me that a urethane ball on the exact same lane conditions wouldn’t have given those pro’s a good chance at grinding out 180-190+ instead of 140’s & 150’s. Much like in golf, it’s not the club (ball), it’s knowing when and how to use it.
I use the purple tank and my rev rate is low. Works well for me when I need it.
Urethannnnneeeeee strong enough to start an engine mayyyyneee!
E-40!
I bowled my best with the sumo back in the day. Miss it
This is a nice way to see everything
A very well made video.
One caveat that I think needed be mentioned, but wasn’t: the Purple Hammer is a pearl urethane, compared to the solids that are the Pitch Black & Purple Tank. It truly does make a difference, even with the Brunswick version.
Edit: Thank you *very much* for this educational video. This should help a lot of people in creating their arsenal, instead of the expected “I have to have it because everyone else is using it” reaction.
What conditions should you be using Urethane on?
That is mentioned in the video
@Ronald Hickland Jr Thank You. I saw it at the end.
Not a pro but I found if you play behind a urethane and play close to the dry you will get a better reaction and also control your speed
i have motiv purple tank it worth it and it polished i dont like sand😀
So I am a little confused by one portion of the video. As someone who has thrown all 3 of these balls, I wasn’t a fan of the hammer but like the other two and I am a higher Rev rate player. My confusion though is the hardness. If the hammer is softer than both the tank and the pitch black, how is that considered more urethane by hardness definition than the tank and pitch black? The hardness numbers were 75-76 on the pitch black and tank and the original black hammer was in the 80s, so what does that mean for the 72-73 from the hammer? Sorry if this is jumbled just looking for clarification is all.
Are the lights on? Vid seems very dark
no. they have them off so they can use the shot tracker.
Great video man!
Great video Ron. Why is the Purple Hammer more difficult to polish than the Hammer urethane balls from the 80’s and early 90’s? The original Black Hammer could be polished to a mirror polish with ease. The Purple Hammer is almost as difficult to polish as the original Blue Hammer.
It’s softer, that plays a roll for sure. We have a video that shows how to polish it in less than 15 mins coming next week.
Had a purple hammer and didn’t love it. I’m a high rev rate player ~475-525rpm and the 2.65 RG on the hammer made it difficult for me to control axis rotation. That said, on certain days I could use it fairly well as a strike ball, but the high RG made it feel heavier than it was.
I switched to a Pitch Black for short sport patterns and as a spare when I’m throwing at 10 pins and the lower RG made it much easier to handle. Haven’t gotten the right line to use it as a strike ball on a house pattern, but for me, I didn’t buy one with that purpose in mind.
A guy on my one of my league teams ended up buying the hammer from me and he does quite well with it, but with 3 very different reactive balls in my arsenal, no need to rely on urethane for most strike shots. The Pitch Black is absolutely amazing for throwing hard and fast when you need predictability.
Drilling patterns are also fairly important, and with the high RG balls, even more so in my experience.
I’d like to see this done again on a shorter/flatter pattern (when urethane should be used)