Every company likes to say that their newest thing is the greatest thing ever.  In fairness, though, I need to say that this new Rad-X core is for sure a heavy rolling core and, in the way that they have kept the RG in the lower range (2.48 at 15lbs), that heavy roll kicks in through the midlane in the way that my Raisin game benefits from.  What I most appreciate about it in addition to that is that, once the weight block kicks into gear, I haven’t yet seen it run out of energy at any point through the rest of the shot like a lot of other high performance weight blocks sometimes can.  It allows me a little bit of a miss at the bottom with my release and still revs up well.  

Storm says they were aiming for an optimal combination of strong engine with strong cover on the LOCK.  With a diff of .054 at 15lbs, the LOCK has great flare potential.  The coverstock on the LOCK is brand new as well --- the GI-15^TM Hybrid Reactive.  GI stands for Game Improvement technology, a new manner of coverstock branding from Storm.   This new cover is strong and, from what I’ve seen so far, for my use their goal of an optimal combination of core and cover has been achieved.  Here’s the link to Steve Kloempken’s description of the new cover and its purpose.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjkluGbv4Sc&feature=youtu.be  I drilled my LOCK with a pretty standard, reliable, strong-ish, drilling for me.  Pin is above bridge center.  The numbers come out to 55 x 5.25 x 45.

I first used the LOCK on a very wet/dry STL house condition where the volume in the middle of the lane is long and excessive compared to the sandpaper surface in the track and to the right of it.   I was nothing but impressed with the way the LOCK chugged through the heavy volumes in the middle of the lane.  It allowed me to stay away from the dry until well down the lane and then still cornered aggressively when it was time to do so.   I don’t have anything else in my arsenal right now that will do that quite like the LOCK does. 

I also used the LOCK in the last part of a 4-game set on PBA Viper.  Having started with a pretty controllable look with my Roto Grip MENACE, the back ends tightened up during that session to the point that flat tens were the best I was producing by the end of game two.   The LOCK required a six board move deeper, but it still got me through the front part of the lane well and it made it back from places down lane that the MENACE wasn’t even close to reading anymore.  The LOCK widened the breakpoint for me by at least four boards at the end of the pattern.  A similar thing was true during a recent STL Sport League session on the 2012 US Open pattern (40 ft., 27.3 ml).   On the old, hard Brunswick synthetics in that center I found myself fighting to create a decent look both front to back and side to side with a CRUX.   The LOCK gave me easier length that allowed me to maintain closed angles between 15 and 20 board and still let me roll it softly enough so I didn’t shoot it through the break point.   It faced up off that 40’ pattern on that hard surface better than anything else in my bag.

I’m confident in recommending anyone to get #LockedIn with this new release from Storm…for house shots or flatter patterns….this ball is good enough to be that versatile!