THIS MONTH gives us a total OF three new Ebonites (Tidal Wave Wipeout, Wildcat and Stinger) for full review. Brunswick could have a book of its own with six new balls for a full shot and tech skinny on three that missed the deadline. The big news is that Brunswick is finally putting the Zone name on three-piece urethane and reactive. Now anyone who wants "to get in the Zone" has a ball to use. The most interesting core this month appears to be in the Control Zone. But since this one is late, we'll note that while shapes on "new" balls look awfully familiar, engineers are making density changes to allow the "old" cores to mate with new covers. Each manufacturer has a core shape, which delivers the roll and reaction potential for which they are looking. Tweaks and tunes are made in the makeup of the core to deliver the desired performance.

BRUNSWICK: ATTACK ZONES URETHANE
It's about time the Zone name is on a full line of Brunswick balls, giving the company a full selection for all needs and budgets. While not monster performers of the "big brother" reactive and Pro Active two-piece Zones, the Attack Zones offer solid performance for entry-level urethane users or players needing control on fried lanes. The Attack Zones will be available in 10- to 16-pound weights in three-piece pancake weight block construction. They can be drilled as a three-piece ball or by applying one of Brunswick's seven home-grown layouts. Also, the cover on both Urethane Attack balls can be sanded or polished as needed.

Caveat - If you drill off-label, watch the undrilled top weight so the ball will meet balance specs with a weight hole. Also, just because the name says Zone, don't look for the Attack Zones to be "boomers" on the backend.

We label-drilled one each for both sides of the lane and noted they are very smooth-arcing balls, very easy to read and play. Our left hand compadre uses the green for toasted heads and is deadly with spares. These old bones need dry on the right side, but the crankers like the ball up the boards late-night. While these urethanes are very controllable, keep in mind you will give up some hit without a powerful release.

Distinguishing Characteristics - Blue sanded and green pearl models; three-piece high Rg (app. 2.69); low Rg differential (.021); low flare; smooth arc backend.

BRUNSWICK: ATTACK ZONES REACTIVE
Brunswick adds the Zone name to the world of three-piece reactive, giving entry level reactive buyers a Zone of their own. Same construction and drills apply as for the urethane Attack Zones. The exception here is the reactive cover for stronger hook potential. The polished covers sand/polish easily for bowler needs.

Caveat - Again, don't expect the big hook of a Zone Pro or the flip of a Danger Zone. It's a solid performer for the price.

Distinguishing Characteristics - Black and copper polished models; three-piece high Rg (App. 2.68); low Rg differential; low flare (.021); mild back-end hook.

We punched one each of these Zones for both sides of the lane. The power players love them on wet/dry and light/dry conditions. We rev-challenged players find this one nice on drier patterns, compared to the big motor 2-piece monsters. On tight conditions or fresh wet/dry, it is very easy to put this one through the breakpoint. But, if you're ready to give your first reactive a try, check out the Reactive Attack Zones.

BRUNSWICK: ATTACK ZONE MR
Wow! We have a new Attack Zone Mike Riggins! Actually, "MR" stands for Mica Reactive cover. This good-looking Zone uses the blending processed from the Attitude balls to produce a red and blue mixed pattern. The Mica added to the cover helps increase the length of the ball through head oil and provides extra traction and hook on the backend. Polish or sand the box matte finish as needed.

This three-piece Zone comes with a performance bonus: a puck in the bottom of the core to increase the Rg (for length) and provide a higher Rg differential for more snap on the backend. A riser pin marks the center of the puddle core on the Attack Zones. Drill the Attack Zone as a three-piece ball or apply one of Brunswick's seven layouts.

Distinguishing Characteristics - Red/Blue blended Mica Reactive; modified three-piece high Rg (App. 2.68); medium Rg differential/flare (.041); skid/snap-type hook.

Again, two Attack MR balls were drilled for a shakedown from both sides of the lane. On a house shot or lighter oil, the box finish worked well for average releases. Any level of polish worked quite well for the cranker pups. This ball could be played up the boards, or the big rev players could bank off the dry on the backend.

Caveat - The only problem with this one is not putting it away when the oil moves down the lane, or the pattern is any heavier than a normal house shot. Also, when the rev players tried the box finish, the ball lost too much pop in mid-lane.

The hook from the MR is very strong, and for a ball that costs around $100, the hit is impressive. This one works very hard on oil. Don't think you can punch this one up and conquer the STP Open - even these old bones put this one through the breakpoint on some carrydown. If you've got dry to play on or you are looking for a kick-butt hooker for the typical house shot, don't be afraid to look at this "econo" performer.

BRUNSWICK TECHNOLOGY VENTURES: NAVY QUANTUM
The introduction of the Navy Quantum completes Brunswick's first generation of Axiom Pro Active cover stocks. The Navy Q-ball features DTX-1 (Delayed Traction Effect) Pro Active urethane, which produces longer skid, is less sensitive to oil breakdown, and decreases the "jerk" off the dry back-end boards. The ETX and MTX pro active covers can require a lot of effort to get a ball down the lane, but the Navy Quantum sails the heads very well and recovers with more of a snappy arc than the aggressive arcing hook of prior Pro Active. This one comes out of the box with a moderate shine and can be scuffed for more overall hook without delivering the early roll and loss of power associated with a sanded reactive ball. The DTX cover can be polished as needed, and we have found the Active Attack polish from Ultimate works very well for polishing non-traditional urethane covers.

Distinguishing Characteristics - Two-piece; medium/high Rg (approximately 2.58); medium Rg differential/flare (approximately .047); snap-arcing hook.

The Navy Quantum has a mushroom core much like the Forest Green Quantum, and can be drilled in any two-piece manner or one of Brunswick's seven layouts.

Caveat - If you are a power player, heed Brunswick's advice and use one of the weaker drills. And, if you are on the average-or-lower-release scale, use one of the stronger drills. Our test balls showed us that the big hands get plenty from the ball with a lower flare drill, and weaker hands can utilize the strength of the core and cover to open the lane a bit.

We used a higher Rg drill (5-inch pin) on the left-hand ball (our lefty can hit the ball). The right side drill got a label leverage drill (we can use some help). The Navy Q yielded great results on any condition between toast and medium (or more) carrydown. This ball is very clean through the heads and has a great recovery and hook.

An average release had trouble getting the left-hand ball around the corner. On the right side, power players had trouble with the power drill squirting out or hooking a bit strong in the dry. These results emphasized Brunswick's advice on which drills to use for release strengths. This is a Pro Active ball with the back-end look of the old reactives - a very readable, playable and powerful snap/arc. This version of Pro Active does not have the big jerk of reactives out of the oil and into the dry, but the Navy Quantum brings plenty to the table regarding hitting power and mix.

BRUNSWICK: CONTROL ZONE
This ball did not arrive in time for testing, so here's the tech skinny: The Control Zone will feature a new reactive cover - N-Control - developed by Brunswick and Bayer, designed for power players on broken-down conditions. As the track oil goes away, this cover is formulated to be less sensitive to the dry up-front and still give this player a stronger backend than PowrKoil 19. Brunswick says we weaker hands need lighter patterns for this ball. The green pearl cover will be polished out of the box, but can be scuffed or polished as needed.

The core of this ball is very interesting. Picture a football on its side on a pedestal with a nucleus in the football. The numbers on this core offer high flare potential, but the cover offers control (this big motor may come wrapped in bigger tires down the road). Apply two-piece drills for bowler and condition needs. "Rev-challenged players" can buy one, then expect to play with the crankers. This one is designed for the big boys to use when the heads break down and we "normal" release types are letting the lanes play our "power" balls.

BRUNSWICK: WALTER RAY WILLIAMS JR. MVP
A no-show, the light tech skinny says this one will use a compound core with a shape from the Sapphire Blue Zone. The tech sheet shows medium Rg with medium/high flare potential. The cover will be PowrSurge from the Combat Zone. The polished cover will be tuneable (as in sanding/polishing). This one should be slightly cleaner up front than newer reactive Zones with a good snap on the backend.

BRUNSWICK: PARKER BOHN III MVP
This one also missed the deadline. The light tech skinny says this MVP also borrows the core shape from the compound-core Sapphire Zone. Densities have probably been tweaked as this one shows a slightly lower Rg with a higher flare rating. The polished cover on this one will be PowrKoil 17 as used in the Rhino Pro T2 (which was a pretty good skid/flip ball in its day). This cover may be sanded/polished as needed. The specs on this one show an earlier roll and a stronger back end than the Williams MVP.

EBONITE: STINGER NAVY SHINY
One of the better length resin balls just got stronger. The old Stinger line was a great series of balls for a player needing length with a nice pop on the backend or entry-level two piece ball with solid hook potential. The new Navy Stinger features a polished Detonator Plus resin cover like that used on the Tomahawk X-Plosion hook monster resin ball. This cover can be sanded or polished as needed.

Distinguishing Characteristics - The core design is retained from the original Stingers. This is a very high Rg core with a very high Rg differential for lots of flare and hook potential. With the core and cover combo on this one, the ball is very clean up-front (even on fried heads) and the ball delivers a sharp flip with excellent energy retention for great hitting power. The 10- to 16-pound weights will make this one a ball for a broad spectrum of bowlers. Drill these as two-piece balls.

We drilled one each for the left side and the right side. On a lane with backends, the Stingers played well from any angle, for all users. Weaker hands played this one up the dry or in the track as the track dried up. The power players played the ball from anywhere as long as they found some dry on the backend. This is another long, strong ball for about $100.

Caveat - Be ready to sand the ball and watch the speed on tight conditions; the twin pucks in this core deliver a lot of length out of the box.

EBONITE: tidal wave wipeout sparkle
Distinguishing Characteristics - This Cat borrows the core from the Riptide/8-Ball (low Rg with a high differential for flare and hook) and wraps it in Super Tack Plus resin with PET particles. The PET additive adds Sparkle and traction to the navy polished cover of the Wildcat. The new formula of Super Tack Plus and PET gives the Wildcat a very strong move on the backend.

The core is designed to get the Wildcat into a quick roll off the hand, then the core and cover hook up to give a heavy mid-lane roll and strong hook. The ball is available in 10- to 16-pound weights and should be drilled as a two-piece ball.

Caveat - Let us say up-front that this Cat does need some head oil to deliver playable length. If the heads blow up, this Cat rolls up very early, tries to hook early and bleeds off too much energy before it finds the pocket.

We drilled the test balls over label with the pin in a strong position for left- and right-hand use. These Cats bump the oil line very well and let players play in the oil - as long as the bowlers stay within their release strength. The power players can chase the oil inside as the lanes break down and get strong recovery. Average/normal releases need to find a little head oil to help send the ball down the lane. The core delivers the power on the backend and the new cover delivers the traction to get to the pocket. We tested this one recently in the bowling center in Corbin, Ky., while on a trip to Stinking Creek, Ky. The house used a very wet (in the middle, 10-10) top hat with a 40- to 42-foot buff. This is a considerably longer pattern than house shots in our area. The Wildcat let us go left on the approach and loop the ball through the puddle and still get to the hole with great carry. When we tried to bank the ball outside the 10-board, the Wildcat tried to recover but our release didn't provide enough help. We watched the pups rev this one and bank the ditch from both sides. Gosh, to have that power.

EBONITE: WILDCAT
Distinguishing Characteristics - The new Tidal Wave Wipeout also uses the Polished Super Tack Plus resin cover with PET sparkle in a navy/green pearl finish. The infusion of the PET particles adds a sparkle and traction for a big back-end flip. The cover can be sanded or polished as necessary, but we left both balls with the box polish.

The core in this Wave is the twin flip block design with the offset millable B.O.M.B. to create a defined mass bias. With the new cover on this one, the core numbers are almost a paradox. While the core is rated as low Rg with a high Rg Differential, this Wipeout delivers length between the Stinger and the Wildcat with a big move to the pocket. The ball will be available in 10- to 16-pound weights to cover most needs. Ebonite packs B.O.M.B. drill sheets for ease of layout and drilling.

The left side drill had a 4-inch pin (from PAP and BOMB in an arc position) applied and the right side ball was drilled with label leverage (BOMB is strong position). We would like to say we had the 299 first set out with the ball, but it was Mr. Beach, our left handed co-worker. The control drill on the left side of the ball gives the power players length and a very strong snap with excellent hit. This drill gives the average releases great power from the core and the cover provides plenty of hook to the pocket. This is one of the few polished reactive balls we have been able to play in the out-of-bounds and still recover in a house that is out-of-bounds outside the 10 board. On the right-hand pass around, all users just had to stay within the strength of their game and let the Wipeout do its job. This ball will turn the corner! Average strength players had no complaint with this one on anything from oil to dry, even with some carrydown.

Caveat - The only problem came with the power releases as the heads began to fry. They all said this was too much ball for scorched heads. Gee, if we could force 'em to stay with this one on late sets, these old bones might give 'em a spanking, so we hope they don't heed this. This is a very strong resin ball on a big variety of conditions.

* 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.