Layout: 5” x 3.5” x 4.5”
Over the years I’ve had many, many CELL balls with this layout and it’s by far my favorite. When the new Fused came out, there wasn’t a question what layout I would pick for it. But, while I knew what I wanted to do, the hardest decision to make though is I currently have a No Rules Pearl in the same layout and I LOVE it. So I’m in a bit of a quandary…..I don’t want to have the Fused overlap the NRP, but I also wanted to take advantage of a new cover available on the Fused. What happened is I was so impressed with the Fused, I took the NRP out of my bag and gave it to my son to use – that is now his favorite ball. With a big pin-out on the Fused, it allowed me to do this layout with an extra hole 6” from the pin and 1” from the PSA making the core add differential in making it hook more, sooner and smoother. If you attended the Intense seminar Storm ran last year you’ll know why this position is so important to enhancing ball reaction. I’m really impressed how assertive this cover is off the friction; the response is fast and strong. We have been finding in the shop that speed dominant players can throw this ball hard and still see it change direction. If anyone knows Nick Bruckner and how hard he throws, just watch this ball off the spot and you will know what I mean. And for what it’s worth, in my opinion a pin up layout looks better than pin down going through the pins. So even though I say that, a 4.5” buffer makes this pin down for me. This classic core combined with this cover makes me think you could legitimately have two of these; one pin up and one pin down and have a solid 1-2 punch when you need different shapes on the lane. Something like a 5” x 3.5” x 2” and a 5” x 3.5” x 4.5” I believe would complement each other well with the spot the ball starts to lose energy and the shape through the zone being the same but with the 2.5” difference in buffer making the responses different down lane. You will not be disappointed in this ball as it’s the hottest selling thing in our shop. I haven’t had anyone ask for a No Rules Pearl since this came out. If you’ like to test this one, be sure to contact me to schedule an appointment to roll out MatchMaker bowling balls.
