The Hysteria
Review Date: 22 August 2014
Reviewed by:
Roto Grip staffer John Brockland
Style: Stroker Rev Rate: 280-310
PAP: 5.25" over and 1" up
It was a hard call to predict what Roto Grip would do in the HP3 line of its arsenal with new releases slated for August 2014. The DISTURBED, DERANGED and ASYLUM were such winners for so many people and the combination of core and coverstocks in that line was so successful it was hard to imagine something new being a significant improvement or providing significantly measurable or necessary difference.
Inspired by what many had come to like in terms of smooth rolling and clean ball motion from the former NOMAD series, Roto Grip has released the HYSTERIA with a brand new Late Roll 69™ core. The characterization of this core as "late roll" compared to the 70™ core of the DISTURBED, etal., as "middle roll" is dead on accurate. The HYSTERIA kicks into its roll noticeably later than its HP3 predecessors. In terms of the overall power or strength of the core, though, the difference in guts rating from 70 in the former HP3 core to 69 in this new core is negligible in my opinion.
The other thing that's significantly new with the HYSTERIA in the HP3 line is that Roto Grip has released a factory polished solid coverstock. When combined with the characteristics of the new core, the 67MH™ polished solid coverstock makes the HYSTERIA very clean through the front part of the lane giving it easier length. As a result, the core and cover combination here create notably more angularity down lane than any of its HP3 predecessors. Also contributing to these performance dynamics are a little higher RG in the HYSTERIA (2.56 compared to 2.50) and a little higher differential (.049 compared to .043) at the 15lb weight. This gives the HYSTERIA 6+ inches of flare potential.
For a layout on my HYSTERIA I went with a standard favorite that has served me well on all of its HP3 predecessors. The pin about 1 inch above the ring. The numbers are 50 x 4.25 x 35.
The first outing with the HYSTERIA was a practice session on a fresh pair of original pro-anvilane on the PBA Viper pattern. At first the combination of volume and hard lane surface was a little much for the ball and it went through the break point too easily. But what I was most happy to see was that I could back off on ball speed to my "soft touch, roll the ball to the baby" gear and I didn't lose the clean motion through the front of the lane, the ball got the break point, and was ready to make its move strongly enough that I actually ended up with a few boards of miss room to the right down lane. That's like gold for my stroker game! The kind of cornering that I was seeing down lane even outshone some of my favorite and more angular pearls.
The HYSTERIA was the ball of choice for me and for several others at the PBA50 stop in Welch, MN this month on the PBA50 version of the Dick Weber pattern. With the minimal amount of mistake room left of target which that pattern affords and an inability on my part to open up any significant launch angle through the heads because of the new Brunswick Defy oil that was in use that week, the HYSTERIA created a really good degree of length and clean motion through the front part of the lane allowing me to keep my angles more closed and still negotiate the double-stripped back ends and the short-ish feel that 39-foot pattern had. My failure to make match play in that tournament was purely the result of not getting out of the ball consistently clean enough, poor speed control, and too many unforced errors on spare combinations that you just can't fail to convert at that level of competition.
I also found the HYSTERIA useful for a portion of Jeff Richgel's 11thframe.com Tournament this month in Dubuque, IA. It, too, was a pattern that started out with pretty crisp back ends and minimal mistake room to the left. On the fresh the HYSTERIA was a little too hit and miss. But, after the young guns started going sideways through the pattern and there was need to move in and get through the middle of the pattern cleanly, the HYSTERIA was a great first go-to. There was a point thereafter when it didn't read the lane early enough to avoid some hang that had developed down lane to the right so I had to put it away, but for a time it performed really well.
The long and short on the HYSTERIA is that it has clean and smooth ball motion, easy length, and good strong back end and should find a useful spot in any bowler's arsenal. What remains to be seen is how much more versatile it may become with surface adjustments or alternate layouts. National Team RG Member, Stu Williams, speaks very highly of the ability that the HYSTERIA gives him to hook the lane when he wants to as well as to close down his angles and stay direct through a pattern. You can't beat performance versatility - especially on what the pros bowl on! Give the HYSTERIA a try!
 
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