Brunswick: Mike Aulby MVP
This is the first of three new MVP signature series balls (along with Walter Ray Williams Jr. and Parker Bohn III) to join the Johnny Petraglia ball in the Brunswick line.

This ball was in the final phases of testing at deadline, but here's what we know: The core system is from the Zone reactive line - bulb-shaped with an inverted Bismuth Graphite bulb in the main core body. The 16-pound model will be two-piece compound core with lighter weights, using an outer core wrap to maintain dynamic integrity in those lighter weights. This medium Rg core (with medium Rg Differential) will provide strong performance, as has been shown by the Zones.

The cover is the Powerkoil 18 from the Zone line. We already know how powerful this reactive cover is; enough said. The Aulby MVP can be drilled in any two-piece manner, or use one of Brunswick's seven popular layout drills. The polished cover will lend itself easily to sanding/polishing as needs dictate.

Each of the three Brunswick staffers has been extensively involved in the testing and design of his respective signature ball. Their involvement assures that this will be a ball in which they are confident of receiving approval. These should be some great-performing balls, in the price category of the LT 48 Gold.

Ballistic Bowling Balls: Boomerang Supreme
This deep green reactive two-piece ball shows a lot of Mica under the factory polish. The aggressive cover sands and polishes very easily, and works well with the large inverted bulb core with a flip block on the bottom. The ball's medium/low Rg core offers medium differential. The core cutaway and specs make this one look mild, but you can't judge this book by its cover. Apply any two-piece drill, or choose one of the box drills.

We label-drilled a 15-pound Boomerang (pin at leverage and CG in grip line) and went to play. We rolled a practice set behind a senior league, and were quite surprised how smooth and strong this polished ball works on carry-down. The Supreme delivered a heavy roll in the mid-lane, with an aggressive hook to the pocket. We hit this one with a gray pad and opened up the lane five more boards with a consistent back-end hook and excellent hit. On a fresh strip shot for league, the dull surface lost too much on the backend, so we made a quick trip to the spinner for a polish during practice. With fresh head oil and fresh backends, this ball was effortless up front and very strong on the end. The Boomerang really impressed the cranker pups with excellent length and a big, smooth sweeping hook and pin-blasting hit.

Columbia: Surge
The new Columbia Surge utilizes a new cover and a familiar core. This Electric blue (yellow logos and pin) uses Columbia's new Super-Flex resin with Mica Traction Affair additive. The extra Mica in the cover adds an increased, continued curving-type hook from the breakpoint to the pins. While the Surge offers a lot of hook, the reaction is a smooth, continuous hook that is easier to read than a sudden snap. Result: a readable and controllable big hook. As we have seen in testing the ball, the 600-grit sanded factory finish (a sheen look) readily accepts rougher sanding or polishing as needed.

The core in the Surge resembles the Cuda/C core, with a large inverted bulb main core, a large, dense flip block on top, and the Titanium Ceramic Core in the center. The initial run offers 14- to 16-pound weights, all with a medium-low Rg. The Surge will be unique in that the three weights will have different Rg differential ratings. The 16-pound has medium differential, and the differential is lower in the 15-pound ball and lower still in the 14-pounder. This decreasing differential in ball weights should allow the lighter weights to mimic the smooth, heavy hooking action of the 16-pound ball. This is not a huge flare ball (four to six inches), but the Surge does hook a lot and smoothly.

With two Surges to put through their paces, both balls were given label leverage drills - one for left and one for right - after checking out the core specs. Our resident lefty has moved the Surge to the "A" bag. With a breath of backends, a touch of polish has allowed this mild core and aggressive cover to play all over the lane. If our test southpaws want to hit the Surge, they can play deep and open up the lane. If they want to back off and fudge the ball up the dry, the mellow core clears the heads well and the cover sucks the ball back to the pocket.

On the right side of the lane, users with less hand action found the box sheen finish to be excellent. Head oil and fresh backends allowed the Surge to deliver effortless length and a big smooth hook. Tight lanes? No problem; just tighten up and let the ball work. Drier conditions? Again, no problem; move left and open up the lane. This cover delivers a continued smooth hook, period. For the big hitters, we applied a medium polish and let them play wherever they were comfortable. Once they were lined up, the hook was consistent, reaction smooth and the hit devastating. While not a monster skid/snap terror, it delivers a steady/readable hook to the pocket.

Ebonite: Tombstone
This latest release from the folks at Ebonite features a tweaked version of their Pro Reactive Resin cover (granite gray with white logos and pin) and a new level three "Bombs Away" core. This new core release is the first mass bias core (marked by the BOMB logo) to position the mass bias in a strong reaction position with a simple label drill above the fingers. The mass bias location and cover combine to produce a more powerful finish. The core is medium/low Rg with a medium/high differential. Drilling of the 14- to 16-pound Tombstones is simple, thanks to Ebonite's simplified box drill instructions.

The new Pro Reactive Resin cover is very clean up front and really turns the corner on the back end. This modified (from the Riptide) cover has a higher box polish than the Riptide, but tunes easier than the original Pro Reactive Resin cover.

With a case of 15-pound Tombstones to use, we drilled one for the left side and three for the right. Of the righties, we drilled one for a mega-cranker, one for a stroker and one for this old guy. After looking over the specs and drill sheet, all four users opted for the control drill. With what we saw on the lane and from the feedback on the pass-around, we would hate to see what this ball can do with a power drill. This is unquestionably the biggest-hooking ball we've ever seen from Ebonite. This ball out-moves any reactive, and is in the hook category of other non-reactive covers. Give this ball some carrydown and it turns the corner; give it some backend and you better jump left or take some hand out of the ball.

The first shakedown with this one was a super cranker on a heavy, fresh strip/oil. It was wild to watch this big hand walk around the ball return and slide on the next lane to hold the backend. This with a control drill! These old bones used this one recently on a tight pair (polished reactives going through the breakpoint) and had to think about a soft hit. With no more hand than we can muster, the box polish would hook too hard if we "leaned" on the ball. Ebonite has unleashed a serious ball. And we are happy to report that so far, with lots of games, this new cover seems to be wearing better than the Riptide formula.

Roto Grip: SD73
As you'll tell from the box drill sheets, Roto Grip's option has been picked up by Storm. While Roto's name has not seen a new ball for a while, the SD73 is a butt-kickin' performance ball. This grape-colored ball uses a large barrel-shaped core body with a puck on top and a large flip block atop the puck. This low Rg core has a high Rg differential, which gives the ball a strong mid-lane/early roll and flare potential of up to nine inches. Any two-piece drill or box layouts can be employed.

The Sure Grip reactive cover is formulated to clear the heads and mid-lane easily and offer a combination of power and control at the breakpoint. The box finish is a 400-grit wet-sand with a 1500-grit polish applied. The ball comes factory polished, and sands or polishes to a higher degree easily as needs dictate.

We applied a label leverage drill to our test ball and went to play. If we can get half of the advertised flare, we figure we got something. This Roto gave this old hand over five inches of flare and a boomin' backend. As advertised, the ball is very clean up front and in the mid-lane with a smooth move at the breakpoint, lots of boards of hook, and hard hit. This one was tagged by the pups as one of the cleanest resins around (up front even as the heads evaporate), and one of the most consistently-hooking resins they have used. This one stayed with the box polish; we didn't have to work on a wet/dry, and the ball didn't labor to get around the corner on light carrydown. We followed some "spray it around the middle" open-play bowlers to see what would happen on spotty carrydown. With the polish, we had to really watch the speed. A scuff would have cured the oil problem, but this ball is so much fun in league play that we didn't bother with the scuff. We have fond memories of some big games with a Roto Star, Outlaw and Bandit; it is really nice to have a new Roto Grip ball back in the arsenal. Storm: Meteor Flash
This medium Rg (with medium/high Rg differential) "economy" ball from Storm utilizes the core system from the red Meteor Storm. The core is a large ball with dense double pucks stacked in the top and the dense teardrop Fe2 ionized core in the lower portion (in 12- to 16-pound models). The 10- and 11-pound Meteor Flash balls use the large main core with double pucks at the top of the core. This core can deliver more than four inches of flare, but the number can be deceiving. Give this ball light to dry conditions or dry backends, and it'll really cover a lot of boards in a hurry.

The black Curelyon reactive cover is factory-polished and contains Red Meteor Flakes in the cover. Catch the cover under a light and you can see the red flakes and a deep red swirl look in the cover. The box drill sheet (with ease-of-use layout guides) also features a section on tuning the surface.

With a pair of Flash balls to use, we drilled the left- and righthand balls with the pin and CG stacked in grip center line. The Red Meteor is a great ball for length and strong backend, and the Meteor Flash goes very long and is a little stronger in the hook department. This ball plays wet/dry very well. We soft-handed players can go up the boards and stay in the ball track when the crankers burn up the heads. On the pass-around, the heavy-handed players liked to see how far they could bank the Flash. Short of putting it in the ditch, it came back with any kind of hook area. The Meteor Flash is very clean through the mid-lane and just short of the boomer category on the back. The Red Meteor cover can be sanded for heavy oil/carrydown, but with all the boomers on the market, we left this one polished and played with the dry boards. Three of us with a variety of releases tried this one on tight lanes one night, and the polish allows the ball to go too far. If you're going to use this one on tight backends, try removing the shine. Storm has delivered an excellent performer for lighter patterns and fried heads.

Storm: El Niño Wrath
The new El Niño Wrath uses the vertical dual density Motion Control core similar to the original El Ni–ntilde;o. We say "similar" because the densities have been tweaked to give the Wrath a higher Rg differential for slightly higher flare and a stronger backend. The low Rg core allows the Wrath to rev up strongly in the mid-lane. The mass bias of the Wrath is marked with the MC2 logo. Box drill sheets allow for ease of layout and drills.

Around the tweaked Motion Control Core is a new multi-colored pearlized Curelyon with SuperFleck reactive cover. The orange/violet cover is 1500-grit and factory-polished. The cover can be sanded/polished as needed (Storm includes a section on surface work with the drill sheet). The SuperFleck in the cover allows the Wrath to be very clean up front and deliver a powerful hook on the big end. The only knock we heard on the "old" El Ni–ntilde;o was the cover's being a little sensitive to lane conditions due to the power of the core. Even with the pearl cover of the Wrath, the addition of the SuperFleck to the cover handles the increased power of the Wrath core.

With a pair of 15-pound Wrath balls to roll, the left-hander opted for a leverage drill to see how much the ball could open up a lane; we opted for a leverage pin with a mass bias in a control position for the right side. The lefty was pleased with the power drill. The Wrath needed a 400-sand to smooth out the hook on wet/dry or light patterns, and a medium polish on heavier patterns. These finishes weren't what we normally use for these patterns for this strong lefty, a good indication of the power of the core and the new cover. Our right-side drill was applied for use on "house" conditions. Even with our "rev-challenged" release, we are often stymied by the typical violent wet/dry patterns. However, the new cover on the El Ni–ntilde;o Wrath is a great marriage. We left the box polish on this one and passed it around to seven different style players. The Wrath let all users play their game - the crankers let it fly, heavy rollers whacked it up the boards, and strokers just moved to their comfort zone and let the ball do the work. Even with the control drill, power players could loop the ball, and we strokers could play down and in with a smooth hook and pin-smacking hit. If you liked the El Ni–ntilde;o, you'll love this one.

Track: Triton Knock Out (T.K.O.) Punch
With each new release, Track's Triton line has enjoyed stronger performing balls. The new K.O. Punch just raised the ante. Let's start with the new core: Track calls it a Parabolic Hemisphere with a large cylindrical base. We call it a short fat mushroom with a knob on top. The 16-pound balls use a single density core, while the lighter weights have different densities in the top and base portions with a dense puck in the bottom of the core base. The lighter weight cores use the compound construction to keep the performance numbers in the same realm as the 16-pounder. A box drill sheet gives pin and CG distances for length and hook based on the bowler's axis rotation. The sheet also has points to remember for ball speed, strength of release and ball surface. This medium Rg core with medium/high differential is versatile for a big variety of bowlers and conditions.

This new core is wrapped in a deep teal Power Plus Gold II with Mica reactive cover. This juiced-up Power Plus family cover is a factory-satin finish. The new cover readily accepts sanding or polishing as conditions dictate. The core and cover combine to offer increased rev rate with less effort, a consistent breakpoint, and the biggest hook potential yet in a Track ball.

We label-drilled our test ball with pin ½-inch inside leverage and CG in grip center with the box finish. Rule number one in the shop - no polish on the Punch! The satin box finish allows this ball to cover many conditions with a move on the lane, a change in hand position or a change in ball speed. This is a nice neutral finish on this ball. This finish is too much for the power players, but darn, we got a ball you can't use. Okay, call us selfish but we got a ball that lets us play with the pups! On tighter heads and carrydown, the satin finish is still clean up front and turns over well. Track just continues to amaze us with some very simple looking core designs that deliver outstanding performance.

* We would like to say thanks to all of the manufacturers who give their support to the International Bowling Pro Shop and Instructors Association. Our organization offers the best training and education programs available. Look for the IBPSIA member decal where you shop for bowling equipment, and feel confident that you are dealing with a shop professional who cares about keeping abreast of ever-changing technology.