Good day bowling fans. The ’06 season is now in full swing and ball manufacturers are busy making new toys for all the good girls and boys who love this game.
Today’s review will focus on Hammer’s latest high performance release, the No Mercy. This ball features Hammer Aggressive Reaction Technology (HART) and is marked differently than typical mass bias bowling balls. The box that the No Mercy comes in has a big, red stop sign that screams for the attention of the ball driller. Be sure to have your pro shop operator read the drilling and layout instructions AND FOLLOW THEM!! This is a very impressive bowling ball but is VERY layout sensitive. As it states on the box, the drilling sheet, and the plastic bag that the ball comes in, simple layouts are the strongest in the NO Mercy.
The No Mercy, a sharp looking black ball, features Hammer’s “Violent Response Reactive” cover stock wrapped around an asymmetric cube core with HART technology. Technical data for 16 pounders: rg-2.50 diff-.050 15 pounders: rg:2.51 diff-.056
We placed the pin above the ring finger, 4 ½ inches from the PAP, the cg slightly left of the center line as required for a proper HART placement, and the HART marking 1 ½ inches left of the thumb hole so that the first oil ring would roll over the HART marking. This HART positioning is recommended for the strongest ball motion.
The first oil pattern we tested the No Mercy on was a pattern used on the PBA senior tour during the 2005 season. The conditioner was applied to the 40 ft mark and gutter to gutter with a “hump” between the 8 and 14 boards. I lined up sliding around 25, crossing 14-15 at the arrows and swinging to about 7-8 at about the 40 foot mark. The initial reaction was a few feet earlier than the Black Widow drilled with a similar pin placement. After about 6 shots, I moved me feet several boards left so I was sliding around 32, crossing the arrows just left of the 4th arrow and swinging out to the 8-10 board area at the 40 foot mark. It was here that the No Mercy really showed its incredible mid-lane strength. There was no sign of over scoot in even the heaviest oil this pattern had to offer and its continuation through the pins created a very high percentage of carry. We continued this session for about four games, making occasional small moves left to keep the No Mercy in fresh oil through the front of the lane. The strike percentage and hitting power diminished only slightly after about 4 games, but a little extra twist with the hand was a quick and simple remedy for those issues. After about an hour and a half, (I’m not sure how many games) the front of the lane dried up to the point where energy retention became a bit of an issue. This is to be expected considering the strength of the cover stock.
As with the Black Widow, a little bit of hand rotation goes a long way in getting this ball to perform up to its full potential. It is definitely a bit sooner than the Black Widow, perhaps not quite as angular in the back end, but very continuous. Once again, players with higher tracks and minimal axis tilt may need to shine the No Mercy up in order to help retain energy.
Large quantities of thanks go to Joe Farley and Brian Graham at Hammer for the test equipment and to Karl Wolf and Hi-Roc Lanes in Saratoga for use of their center as our test facility. Lastly, special congratulations to Gary Hulsenberg for mapping out the most incredible rolling No Mercy the state of Washington has ever seen. (as told by Russ Hunt) 