Ball Review: Black Widow (1)

Bowler: Jeff Ussery

Date: April 1st, 2007

Coverstock: Violent Reactive
RG: 2.50"
Differential: .060"

Pin to PAP Distance: 5 1/2"
Mass Bias Position: 55 Degrees
Balance Hole: 25/32" Hole x 2" Deep - 4" Over and 1" Upfrom Grip Center
Surface Preparation: 4000 Abralon

What I Was Looking For in this Ball and Layout:

This was the first Black Widow that I ever had. I had heard about the hype all year long, and finally had a chance to toss one of these. I wasn't really looking for anything in particular. That would come with the second Black Widow I drilled. For this one, I was simply trying to get a feel for the ball and the Hammer brand signature.

What I Ended Up With in this Ball and Layout:

Well, it became obvious to me very quickly why this has been the ball of choice with Hammerheads over the last season. The Black Widow gives the bowler an extremely strong overall ball motion without sacrificing control at the breakpoint. In the heads, the Black Widow scoots down lane as well as any of our other 4000 grit Abralon products. Many people don't realize just how smooth a 4000 grit Abralon finish. It can be a real benefit to get an aggressive ball through the front of the lane without having to use polish. In my opinion this is one of the biggest benefits to our coverstock technology right now. Being able to get a ball like the Black Widow through the front of the lane without having to put polish on it is a real asset to this ball.

This Black Widow is very clean through the midlane as well. The 5 1/2" pin position over my fingers gives the ball very nice length through heavy and medium lane conditions. Only lanes on the drier side of the spectrum will give this ball trouble getting to the proper spot. You'll see the Black Widow pick up a lot of revs in this part of the lane as it begins it's strong transition back to the pocket.

At the breakpoint, the Black Widow is very unique to our market. It's strong, but controllable. It just always seems to give you a comfortable look back to the pocket. For me the Black Widow is no different than most players. Aggressive down lane ball motion is easy to achieve when you can push a non-polished high-performance coverstock down the lane. Because of the ball layout I chose, this Black Widow is probably a little sharper than most Widows that I see on the market. On lanes that are scoring very high and allow me to use large launch angles this Black Widow can be a real advantage for me.

***Our ball reviews are developed from a wide variety of lane conditions, surfaces, and environments. We are attempting to give you an idea of our overall experience and findings from a ball. Remember that all bowlers are different in regards to ball speed, revolutions, axis rotation, and axis tilt. Bowlers will see different qualities from bowling balls based on these factors. Be sure to also take into account the bowler's environment (lane surface, oil pattern, etc.) and their expectation (hook, score, etc.) before drilling a new ball for anybody.