Punch Out
Review Date: 24 June 2014
Reviewed by:
Storm/Roto Grip staffer John Brockland
Style: Stroker Rev Rate: 280-310
PAP: 5.25" over and 1" up
The PUNCH OUT is the newest pearl addition to Storm's Hot Line. It is a follow up to the successful hybrid LIGHTS OUT. The coverstock is R2S™ pearl reactive which is also found on the very popular HYROAD PEARL as well as the !Q TOUR PEARL.
What makes the PUNCH OUT different from those other pearl options from Storm is that it is built around the Turbine™ core. This is the same medium RG core that provided steady, controllable performance in the TROPICAL HEAT. With close to the same RG but a lower differential producing less flare, the PUNCH OUT creates a less dynamic ball reaction down lane than the HYROAD PEARL but similar length. It has a higher differential producing more flare than the !Q TOUR PEARL, but with a higher RG it has more and easier length than the "Gold Ball."
The layout I put on my PUNCH OUT is one of my standard benchmark layouts because I anticipated that would pretty much be where the PUNCH OUT would fit among the pearls in my arsenal. The pin is above the center of the bridge and the drilling angle puts a would-be PSA (it's a symmetrical) just to the right of my thumb. That comes out to 65 x 5 x 40.
My first test drives with the PUNCH OUT showed some success on local hooking house shots here in STL. It has the kind of clean motion through the front of the lane that you'd expect from a pearl and a little stronger backend move than I initially was expecting given the core and my layout. As I hoped it would, though, it fits pretty well right in between the reactions I get from my HYROAD PEARL and my !Q TOUR PEARL. The longer pin to PAP layout I have on my PUNCH OUT is one that typically allows me to stay a little farther right a little longer with a ball as lanes transition and tends to keep a ball from going sideways too sharply. That's pretty much what I'm seeing getting from this ball so far. In fact, the PUNCH OUT is reminiscent in shot shape (mindful of the weaker layout here) of what I see from my WRECKER from Roto Grip. I anticipate it will be a helpful ball in the bag in the middle stages of tournaments as the lanes transition. I predict, though, that it's also a ball that I'm going to have to put away in favor of the HYROAD PEARL or something like that when I have to migrate my rev-challenged game too deep into the middle of the lane where for me carry always goes down. It isn't at all that the PUNCH OUT doesn't go through the pins every bit as nicely as one would expect from a Storm product! It's just that for my game I have to have something with a stronger core in my hand when I have to play anywhere around 20 board.
I haven't had opportunity myself to put the PUNCH OUT to use on much of a variety of flatter patterns, but I could see it being a pretty good tool for some medium to lighter volume, medium length sport patterns. My USBC teammate and fellow down-and-inner, Mike Mineman, had good success with his at the USBC Open Championships in Reno this year shooting 726 in the singles event (40 ft., 26 ml). Even with the somewhat tamer layout I have on mine, I don't think it's quite tame enough from what I've seen to be useful on the fresh of something like Wolf (32 ft.) or Stockholm (34 ft.).
At its price point, I think the PUNCH OUT is a good recommendation for any league bowler particularly if you bowl in a center like many of our older wood surface centers in STL that hook quite a bit in the track and to the right of it (for righties). An outing in a Summer Sweeper in one of those centers tonight after writing this earlier today confirmed that suspicion -- 1485 for 6 games and a win!
 
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