From: aspi@tigger.jvnc.net (All-Source Processing)
Subject: Re: Success at Centreville (VA) No-Tap Tourney
Originator: aspi@tigger.jvnc.net
Organization: JvNCnet, Princeton University, NJ
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1992 00:57:21 GMT

Aki writes:

>Bob Ashley (ashley@oasis.gtefsd.com) writes:
>
>>The thing about this series ... I used the Burgundy Hammer, at a house
>>that is notorious for early lane breakdown.  My second game is indicative
>>of that ... however, I got things lined up for the closer ... I had to
>>add some speed to slow down the break, which seemed to do the trick.
>
>hmmm....maybe  _I_ should have ordered that Hammer!

Heh heh... well, you sold one of them to me :).  I tried it out for
the first time on Sunday; when I got it drilled on Saturday the guy
at the pro shop had a lot to say about the ball.  First he was intrigued
by the fact that the Burgundy Hammer wasn't even in the latest, just-
arrived-in-the-mail 1992-93 Winter Catalog from Fab.  Then, when looking
at the stats for the ball on the side of the box, he noticed that the
ball had been shipped not from Fab but from AMF -- which "has not made
aball themselves in 30 years or so, the AMF label is now licensed out
to other manufacturers".  Then when drilling the ball he found an oddity
in the core which I was unable to explain for him (not having any
detailed description of the ball handy) -- the left hemisphere seemed
normal, but the right hemisphere was difficult to drill since it was
"crystallized" and flaky in consistency just under the shell, "as if
the material hadn't set".  After a bit of research after drilling my
ball he turned up the tidbit that what was so special about the Burgundy
Hammer was that it was extremely soft -- so soft, in fact, that it has
been banned from tournament play on several circuits.  "So what does
'extremely soft' mean?" I asked him.  Answer: hooks hard.

Well, heck, all of that was over my head (except that I was a bit worried
that I might have gotten a defective ball, so I kept the shipping labels
and receipts).  I just took it out on the lane.  I jived with it really
well at first, scoring my first 200+ game, but then after an hour or so
it started hooking more and more -- the oil on the lane being used up,
I guess.  I am not good enough a bowler yet to adjust to lane conditions
with any regularity so it threw me.  This is not a defect in the ball,
of course, just in my bowling :).  I tried various things to compensate,
such as starting from the center and throwing the ball out a bit towards
the gutter, which worked for a while but after a few throws I was either
just slingin' it into the gutter or else having it hook past the pocket.
I tried throwing it "straighter" to eliminate some of the hook, which
didn't work; I tried "lofting" it to get rid of some of the hook, but
it just went straight to the pins then hooked past *all* of them.

In short, (ha,) I think the Burgundy Hammer is a pretty good ball but
I need to learn to use it.  I used to have the same problem with my other
ball -- a U2, which was stolen about a month ago -- but where I used to
score either 170 or 130 (when I figured the lane condition or didn't)
I now score either a 180 or 120 :P.  Any suggestions?

-Warren

PS -- Thanks again, Aki, for the great deal!

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