Hammer Black Widow Pearl

Comment: but afterward it is very rewarding. The way I had it drilled, it has pretty wicked hook and can be hard to handle, but once you get the hang of it, watch out pins.

Comment: I am not a good bowler by any definition. In fact before I got this as a Christmas gift, I have always stood wondering how anyone can hook a ball with a three finger hold. My average was around 150 with the house ball. And I used to have the two fingers - no thumb grip. All that was about 4 weeks ago.

In my 4 outings since I had this ball, and with a brand new 3-finger-tip grip my average went up by about 10-15. Nothing big, but I know how the future looks. And it is bright. Last week, I had my best round ever, scoring a 255. My highest previous to that round was a paltry 202, over 7 years ago.

See the improvement I am talking about? All of a sudden I am consistently hitting 170 or so. Without killing my wrist with ugly hook efforts. This ball is wicked good - it hooks, and it hits those pins with such a snap, it is a sight to behold.

Buy it - you won't regret it.

Comment: This is my stike ball and it hits hard. It gets its job done well. Today with the black widow pearl I got thirteen strikes in a row over two games. Then i got twelve strikes in a row, eleven in one game giving me a 290. This ball is good and is consistant I would recommend it to others. The only down side is that my ball has gotten multiple chips in it but they don't effect the effectiveness of the ball.

Comment: It's been a while since I bought a Hammer product having leaned toward the Storm line of balls. But I was looking for something that ran long then had a hard snap at the backend. It eventually came down to a choice of the Storm Special Agent and this ball. I chose the Black Widow Pearl and have been glad I did. I have never had a ball be so versatile and yet attack the pocket as aggressively as the Pearl. I can throw this on almost any condition, with the exception of dry lanes where it just gets over aggressive.

For comparison purposes, I'm a "down-&-in" type of bowler as opposed to a "cranker." When I purchased this in the summer of 2007 I carried between a 198-202 average. Since purchasing the Black Widow Pearl my league averages have been 209, 214, and currently 212.

A couple of things I noted about the ball. I found that for me it's best to keep the loft to a minimum, let the ball do the work as early as possible especially on oily conditions. Also, I need to watch my speed. The ball works best for me at around 15-16 MPH. If I start throwing harder than that it doesn't quite finish into the pocket, causing a lot of ten pin leaves. As long as I keep the speed right the ball just explodes into the pins!

Overall I would have to rate the Black Widow Pearl as one of my favorites. A great value that provides versatility on many lane conditions. Highly recommended

Comment: Great ball, and does exactly what it is designed to do. Be aware that the 12 pound ball is a little different and not as aggressive, however. My wife has been a little disappointed in the break she has been getting.