The Hustle Ink
Review Date: 4 November 2017
Reviewed by:
Storm/Roto Grip staffer John Brockland
Style: Stroker Rev Rate: 280-310
PAP: 5.50" over and 1" up
As I age and my ball speed continues to settle into the medium to soft range I am always looking for more options in my arsenal to help get the ball down the lane with enough stored up energy to make me feel reasonably competitive in house shot tournaments around town. With little width on the right to most patterns here in STL, I end up driven into the middle of the lane and most often my ball still hooks too soon in the midlane and has not enough left to go through the pins effectively from deep inside angles, especially late into eight or ten-game blocks.
When its
release was
announced,
the HUSTLE
INK that
intrigued me
in this
regard.
I
have never
experimented
much with
other
products in
Roto Grip’s
HP-1 line,
but I
thought this
may be worth
a try.
It
has a
reasonably
high RG of
2.53 and a
relatively
low flare
potential
with a Diff
of only
0.030.
I had
several
people tell
me that
their
impression
of it was
that it was
like an
overall
weaker !Q
TOUR EDITION
(RG 2.49 and
Diff 0.029)
but with a
higher RG,
so I was
hoping it
may be just
the ticket!
I
drilled it
with a
standard pin
over the
bridge
layout for
me.
The
Dual Angle
System specs
come to 60 x
5 x 40.
It turned
out to
produce a
LOT more
movement
down lane
than I ever
expected it
to.
I
was hoping
it would
allow me to
stay closer
to the track
area of the
lane on
typical STL
house shots
but it
didn’t.
Instead it
forced me to
migrate as
deep into
the middle
of the lane
as HP-2
category and
higher
equipment
does (likely
as much the
result of
the lack of
width on the
right to
most house
patterns
around town
as
anything).
With
that high
pin layout
and the
motion
produced by
its Hustle
Symmetrical
Core and
Thrilled
Solid
Reactive
coverstock,
what I felt
like I had
in my hand
was a weak
version of a
HY-ROAD
(HY-ROAD =
2.57 RG and
0.046 Diff).
The
difficulty
it caused me
was a lot of
ringing ten
pins. Even
though it
makes a
significant
move down
lane, it
just wasn’t
quite enough
engine for
me from a
deep inside
line.
For
me, if I
have to get
that deep a
super
polished
HY-ROAD with
its higher
Diff is a
better
option for
me.
So, I
thought it
would be
worth the
experiment
to plug the
HUSTLE INK
and try
something
outside the
box.
I
went with
what we old
timers used
to call a
Pin-Axis
drilling
back in the
day.
It’s
what you see
in the
photograph
below.
The
pin is
located
directly on
my PAP
(positive
axis point),
which is
5.5” over
and 1” up
from my grip
center.
The
CG then is
on a line
back from
that point
through my
grip center.
I
have not
bothered to
figure out
what the
Dual Angle
System or
VLS specs
would come
out to.
The intent
of this
layout,
which many
friends used
to use
bowling PBA
Regionals
back in the
day when the
lanes were
often nasty
before
designed and
published
lane
patterns and
which I have
also had
some success
with from
time to
time, is
intended to
create a
completely
smooth
rolling and
minimally
arcing ball
motion.
The first
outing was
on an
ordinary
league night
and the ball
was
absolutely
perfect in
practice
playing the
track area
of the lane.
We
happened
that night
to be on a
pair of
lanes where
the right
lane is
notorious
for bad
carry.
As a
result I
struck every
time on the
left lane
and only
once on the
right lane
for a solid
207 game.
My
team needed
more score
out of me
than that,
so I ended
up putting
the INK
away.
I
haven’t had
opportunity
to use it
any more
since,
because
there have
been other
more recent
releases I
have had to
give my time
and
attention to
in doing my
staff job.
However, I
am very
confident
that this
HUSTLE INK
will be
particularly
handy if my
schedule
ever affords
me some
house shot
tournament
time around
town as well
as on some
shorter
and/or
lighter
volume
patterns out
of town.
It’s
never going
to be a
first ball
out of the
bag, but it
will fill a
wildcard
niche that
at times is
needed when
nothing else
will work.
 
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