This ball is NOTHING like its
predecessor!
When the original PHAZE was released, my first
comment in reviewing it was “this new addition to the
Master Line of the Storm arsenal is that this is not the
‘go long and hook hard’ ball motion that has been the
famous characteristic of most Storm products for years.
Nor, is it intended to be.”
For that reason, a lot of people – particularly
some of my higher rev player friends – really didn’t
find the original PHAZE useful at all.
The PHAZE II has been released for a week now,
and many are finding what I have found – it is not at
all like the first one!
he PHAZE II is build around the same
VelocityTM core as its predecessor -- still early
revving and still good midlane.
In the drilling shown below, the pin to PAP distance
is nearly 6 inches for me and I still never miss the midlane
with it! That
speaks volumes about the dynamics of this core.
The real ingenuity in the
PHAZE II, however, is in the coverstock.
Storm tech guru, Victor Marion, has spoken about the
process that led to the development of this latest
advancement in coverstock technology.
After reaffirming that the design intent of the
original PHAZE was to produce “something that was smooth,
something that was controllable, something that when it
encountered friction it didn’t really jump,” he said:
“In the PHAZE II we have a sanded solid.
The additive in the solid, when it’s sanded, creates
very strong peaks – very strong spikes – so those displace
oil. So
essentially what we’re doing is, by making those really
strong dynamic peaks, in the TX-16 cover we’re able to
create something that reads dry even drier!
But the nice thing about it is you can now move in
and play in the heavier oil.”
I have heard many top
caliber bowlers compare the early revving character of the
PHAZE II to the MARVEL-S.
Combining that with its surprisingly strong (but not
at all snappy or sharply angular) backend motion, many have
found themselves thinking it similar to the very popular
SPECIAL AGENT from several years ago, a ball I never owned.
In my arsenal these days I
have several strong asymmetrical balls that I have good
success with on heavy volume and long patterns and I really
didn’t need to add another piece to that section of my
arsenal, even though the symmetrical core in the PHAZE II
would be something a smidge different in that category for
me. So, I
decided I would try something I usually don’t do in an
effort to make the PHAZE II a good addition to the middle
range of my arsenal.
I went with a layout that has a pin distance to PAP
longer than 5.50 inches – which for me creates what some
used to refer to as a “pin in the negative” (i.e. over the
middle finger).
The specs on the layout come to 65 x 6 x 40.
I’ve not been seeing much
tournament action lately because of my work schedule, so my
read on the PHAZE II is entirely based on STL house
conditions which typically are hooking wet/dry in the track
area with a long puddle in the middle.
I’m bowling a league this year with my good buddy,
Pete Weber, and as much as he already loves his PHAZE II
(especially its good midlane) from having tested it at Storm
headquarters in Utah, when he tried it in league his first
words were “that thing slows down too much to use here.”
That was exactly my read as well when I tried it a
box surface (3000-grit abralon).
So I polished mine to see if that would give me the
little bit more delayed hook/roll transition I needed.
Most often it has forced me into launch angles that
are too steep and I’ve had ring-ten, solid nine carry with
it.
Many top caliber bowlers – like Jeff Richgels – who bowl in
parts of the country where there is regularly more volume,
have spoken about the PHAZE II as a perfect new benchmark
ball to be first out of the bag on most patterns.
The low RG and high differential for sure are in my
preferred range for that. Around
the STL however, the benchmark category for me is more true
of something a little cleaner like the ROCKET SHIP.
Even in STL for a person with more ball speed and/or
less hand (weird for me to say that!), the PHAZE II is a
great ball to consider in that benchmark category.
I look forward to returning the PHAZE II to box
finish and having it in the bag for tournaments on medium to
medium-heavy, medium-length and longer patterns.
If USBC Open Championship patterns stay similar to
what they have been I could see it being very useful to
navigate that tricky ICE oil through the heads without
missing the midlane and without creating anything too
sharply angular on the back.
We’ll see!
