Storm Absolute Bowling Ball

The new High Performance ball in the Storm Premier line is the Absolute. The Absolute has a brand new Core design (Sentinel) and a new coverstock ( R2S Deep Hybrid. Numbers are RG 2.48, Diff 0.050 Intermediate Diff 0.21. On paper this ball looks to be a little early and strong. I drilled the first one with a little too strong of MB. So I drilled another one with a weaker MB like 5.5 inches. (4.5 x 5.5 x 2) This ball is pretty surprising to me for an Asymmetrical Pearl. It was really pretty clean through the fronts for a lower RG core. I did sand the cover and add Storm Step 2. The Absolute still handles the league puddle very well, and still has plenty of response down lane. For me it really shined on the sport patterns. I added a light 2000 pad to help blend it out a little. For me it is a unique shape but a good one at that. When the Big solid Asyms start to bog down like the Gems, Proton or Reality's the Absolute is the ball to go to. Still stronger than the Revenants , Fate and IQ Ruby. From the reports from the PBA Storm staffers, they really like the Absolute especially with all the rev rates on tour tearing up the fronts. Great job from Alex and Hank at the Storm plant! Brian Watson PAP 3 7/8 up 1 18 RPM - 400 Tilt - 17 MPH - 16-17 Storm Pro Shop Staff.

Bowler Stats: Speed: 15.5 MPH Rev Rate: 300 RPM Tilt: 3-5 degrees Axis Rotation: 60 degrees PAP: 5 ⅜ over 1 ¼ up Layout: 4 1/2 X 5 X 2 ¾ VLS Video Ball Review: https://youtu.be/UJwK_FNwMzY With the numbers on the Sentinal Core of the Absolute, Rg: 2.48, Diff: .050, and PSA: .021, it would place this ball as a slightly weaker piece than the Reality line. Since R2S is one of the weaker pearl covers in the Storm line I didn’t know how clean this Deep Hybrid version would be compared to the other R2S pieces in the line. For me this core and cover combination gives me a stronger asymmetrical piece with a very clean cover for my speed and rev rate. After drilling this ball with a stronger pin placement to combat the cleaner cover the out of box reaction was very clean on higher volumes of oil with less friction down the lane. After using it on the local house shots it was easy to see that for my speed and rev rate this ball needed to be used on lower volume house patterns or at centers with a lot of down lane hook or friction. Over time I have changed the cover and removed the reacta gloss polish to help with how clean the cover is. This core and cover combination does give this ball a unique shape and allows lower rev rate players like myself to stay to the right, or in the dry longer, without the ball over reacting off the dry. Pete Dohan Storm Bowling Amateur Staff #StormNation

Layout: 50 x 4 ½ x 40 The core and cover combination of the Absolute allows it to have a very unique ball reaction; even though the core is quite strong, the R2S deep allows the ball to float through the midlane without over-reacting. It has some midlane read, but does not jump when it first sees friction. In fact, on a house shot, this ball allows me to miss a couple boards right without the ball over-reading. For me, the optimal lane condition for the Absolute is pure medium oil, but it has uses on a variety of conditions. In medium-heavy oil conditions on higher friction surfaces, the core will be enough to motor this ball through the pattern. In medium-lighter conditions on lower friction surfaces, the weaker cover will make this ball a great choice. Due to the coverstock, this ball is weaker overall than balls such as the Exotic Gem or Infinite Physix.

The Absolute features the Sentinal core with the R2S coverstock. It also comes out of the factory at Storms new Reacta Gloss finish. In 15lbs the Absolute comes with an RG of 2.48 a Differential of 0.50 and an Intermediate diff of 0.21. With these core number being slightly higher on both the diff and intermediate diff and lower on the RG it means that this is a pretty aggressive core. The lower RG will make it wanna see the lanes a lot more front to back and left to right while the diff is making it a little higher on the flare potential side which makes this ball a hook monster core wise…. Except it is wrapped with the R2S Deep cover which up until now has only been seen overseas. The R2S deep cover is very similar to R2S just overall it’s a little bit cleaner. So that makes the reaction of the absolute a little bit more unique. It has the torque of most high end balls like the Exotic Gem and the Infinite Physix except with R2S Deep it is making it a lot cleaner which allows you to play the track of the lane a little bit longer without it wanting to hook to early on you. The closest ball to this in my memory was the AstroPhysix and if you liked that ball then chances are you will love the Absolute. I recommend getting yourself one you will not be disappointed!

I love this ball so far, especially on my house shot which is at a high friction house. I am a huge fan of the R2S coverstock in general and have loved everything that had any R2S on it. I have a pretty forward roll so this ball allows me to move more left without worry about dying out and leaving corner pins. For me, its also one of the more angular and sharper balls Ive thrown. As sharp as it looks to me, its also very controllable once you knock off a little bit of the shine. Its a great bridge between the high end asymmetrical balls like gem and exotic gem, and the symmetrics like Phaze 2 and Zen. It just wants to read the lane and make a left turn. It blends in the dry and hooks in the oil, which is why I absolutely (no pun intended) love it on house shots. I also think its really versatile and can be used by any style of bowler, whether youre an up 10 dumper or you hook the lane on 5th arrow

Nice & smooth through the fronts with snap on the back ends.

Ball Specs: Ball - Storm Absolute Core - Sentinel Core - Asymmetric Coverstock - R2S Deep Hybrid Coverstock - Reactive Surface Finish - Reacta Gloss Finish Dual Angle Layout - 60 x 4 ¾ x 60 VLS Layout - 4 ¾ x 4 ¾ x 3 ¾ and 3 ¾ x 4 x 2 Bowler Specs: Right Hand 14 - 15 out of hand Tweener Speed/Revs matched PAP: 5 ⅜ over x ⅞ up Review: The Storm Absolute was a ball I was super excited for when we first caught wind of it releasing! My first impression of the ball was a little confusing. Do not get it wrong, if you are looking for a ball that has that pop down lane while getting through the front and mid lane, then this is the perfect ball of choice! The R2S Deep Hybrid Coverstock paired with the new Sentinel Core is a great combo. Having a strong Diff and PSA helps this ball read the lane and give you the flare you desire. For me, I had to bump down the surface. Generally with asymms for me, especially with a higher RG, pearls tend to be a bit over/under and that is what I noticed with this ball. After hitting it with a wet 2000 pad on the 4 ¾ inch ball, it looked a lot better and gave a more consistent motion! With the 3 ¾ inch ball and 2 inch pin buffer, it read much better and wanted to read the lane sooner, but if you are bowling at a place where it can be a bit wetter in the middle part of the lane, you might want to hit it with some surface! Anywhere from 2000 to 4000 grit is great on this ball, and you do not lose the backend reaction that this ball is known for! Summary: Overall, this ball gets an A minus! (A-) The Absolute is very clean through the fronts and gives a strong backend motion being a pearl asymmetrical ball! If you notice any over/under motion, hit it with a little bit of surface and it will create a little bit more pop hitting the dry. To compare to other equipment, the Absolute is a good step up from bowling balls such as the Phaze 2 or Zen Soul, and is a good step down from bowling balls such as the Gem or DNA. This ball loves friction and if you are bowling mainly on house shot conditions, I would recommend a stronger Pin buffer or Val angle to utilize the responsiveness of the Absolute. For the Pin-to-PAP and PSA-to-PAP, I recommend stronger angles/arcs if you want the ball to read the mids sooner, and longer angles/arcs if you want the ball to skid further down the lane!

This ball took a little time to for me to understand. The motion is greatly different than anything else we have in the line. I messed around with surfaces for a while until I matched up with one. Out of the box I was not a fan. The ball was SUPER clean and once it hit the spot it went sideways. I needed it to be much sooner so I hit it with a 1500 pad. I used it there for a while, but It gave me a motion where I preferred the balls around it. I later hit it with a 3000 pad and BOOM, there it was. It then gave me a motion that was EXACTLY what I needed. I was able to start the night with it, playing straighter and continue chasing it left. Some nights I even loft the cap with it and it never hooks early and still peels off the spot. This new core and cover combo really allows the PSO to fine tune reaction with layout but it never hooks and bails! For me, Misunderstood at first but now its LOVE! Pin up: 5x4x2 Balls getting a lot of play Infinite Physix: 5x4x2 HyRoad: 4.5x4.25x3.75 IQ Ruby: 5x4x2 Phaze4: 5x4x2 Fate: 5x4x2

Ball Specs: Storm Absolute Coverstock R2S™ DEEP Hybrid Weight Block Sentinel™ Core Color Copperhead/Jade/Phantom Black Finish Reacta Gloss™ Layout 45x4 3/8 x70 or 4 3/8x4x4 Bowler Specs: Right Hand. PAP 3 1/2 Over 5/8 up Rev Rate 400 Speed at release 17.5 Review: The Storm Absolute is the new clean and responsive asymmetric ball in the Storm Premier line. This ball features a new core and cover combo. The first thing that I noticed with this ball is really clean. The R2S deep is cleaner than other iterations of R2S and creates a strong aggressive shape downlane. The box surface is reacta gloss but if you want it to pick up a little sooner step two compound is a great way to shine it. The cover is also going to allow for surface changes very easily. When you compare this ball to the Infinite Physix, this ball is going to be longer downlane with more shape also. This is going to be a great step down from any of the big solid asym balls or if you are bowling on a lot of friction. This ball is going to be great for a variety of bowlers whether you are high speed or high rev rate. Get yours now at your local Storm VIP pro shop. Alex Thomes #StormNation #StrikingWorldwide #SquadRG #Driven2Bowl

Storm Absolute – all new Sentinel Core with the R2S DEEP coverstock – Box finish is with Reacta Gloss My specs: Ball speed 15+, Rev rate 425, PAP 4 and up 13/16 Layout: 60 x 6 x 65 refinished with 2000ab, used on SPL and HPL lane surfaces with Typical house pattern – both with a BIG cliff on the end of the pattern. First impression was “why do I need another asymmetrical ball”. My next impression was – why did I wait to so long to really dig into this ball, the Storm Absolute! As I stated earlier, I changed the surface because I noticed with the new Sentinel core and updated R2S coverstock – that the ball was a little late in reaction when I tried to swing the lane as much as I could, which is something I normally would have to do with strong asymmetrical balls like the Astro Physix, Parallax, and the Code series. Both the brains at Storm Bowling found that if you put evenly weight parts on the core at both ends, to me, that would cause the cover to remain unstable almost like if you added a weight puck on the core. By updating the very successful R2S with the DEEP update, which basically means that Storm made the cover for consistence because they made the additives all equal and balanced in amounts used. (More technical information at stormbowling.com) Back to on the regularly scheduled ball review, sorry – Got a little nerdy there! I realized watching a wide range of styles using the Storm Absolute during several Storm Matchmaker events, that the straighter you played, the better the Absolute worked and produced better overall carry and striking percentages. So, at a demo, I used the pro shop’s ball spinner and hit the surface with a fresh 2000ab pad and proceeded to play very straight up the track on the SPL that was there. The Absolute was no joke on worn out, beat up, no fresh oil in 2 days lanes that I practiced and bowled on a few days later. I was still able to play very straight forward up the track area and the Absolute moved a little earlier than the Exotic GEM and with a little more angle into the pocket. I feel that if you try to “hook” the whole, this ball would not be a good fit as a middle road/ “benchmark” ball. Like I said a little bit earlier – the straighter you play, the better the Storm Absolute is. The Absolute will travel with me in my tournament bag as ball #4 in the strength department. I hope you found this interesting and informative. Thanks to the crew at Bowlers' Supply, Inc, Roto Grip, Colony Park Lanes and Vise Inserts for all the support and assistance! Remember to Bowl Up a Storm! #SquadRG #Coolwick #ViseInserts