The Black Pearl Urethane is Hammer’s latest response to the new 78D hardness rule for the PBA Tour. This ball is harder than the Purple Pearl Urethane, creating more length and less total hook. To make up for the change in coverstock, the box finish is rougher on the Black Pearl Urethane compared to the Purple Pearl. This ball uses the same LED weight block as the Purple Pearl, NU Blue, and Purple Solid Reactive, giving it an RG of 2.650″ and a differential of 0.015″. As expected, the Black Pearl Urethane excelled on our dry test pattern, and Cranker’s high rev rate gave him the most versatility out of our three testers.

Cranker had the best reaction of our three bowlers on the dry test pattern. His higher rev rate allowed him to shape this ball more and gave him slightly better pin carry than the other testers. He could swing this ball farther right and still get it to recover on this shorter pattern, but he needed to make sure to start the ball far enough right so that he had hold left of his target as well. As oil carried down, he needed to reduce his ball speed and increase his axis rotation in order for the ball to keep shaping up. Further along into transition, he needed to move farther right as more oil was pulled downlane. Changing into a less aggressive resin ball was also an option later in the session.

Cranker easily had the best reaction on the medium oil pattern. He could strike with ease on the fresh, playing a slightly tighter line from farther outside compared to the line he used on the dry pattern. Due to the increased oil on the lane, he had to wipe the cover down before every shot. As the lane started to transition, he needed to ...