The Hammer Envy Tour follows up on the success of the Envy and the Obsession Tour, pairing the Envy Solid coverstock with the Obsession Tour’s low differential core. This combination provides more total hook than the Obsession Tour, thanks to the more aggressive coverstock that comes out of the box at a very rough 500/1000 SiaAir finish. Despite having less flare than the Envy, the Envy Tour still likes oil, and all three of our testers liked this ball best on our heavy oil test pattern.

Stroker had the best reaction of our three bowlers across all the different test conditions. His lower rev rate helped keep the Envy Tour from overreacting and hooking too early, allowing him to keep the ball in the pocket much more easily than the other two bowlers. He was most comfortable on the heavy oil pattern with the Envy Tour at the box finish. Its early traction handled the oil easily, allowing him to play a small swing on the fresh. He needed to wipe the ball down between shots to create his desired reaction, and he started losing carry as the surface picked up some lane shine. Despite the large hook potential, this ball was actually better for him after using a stronger ball with more flare, when he wanted to stay straighter than the Envy would allow. On the sport pattern, the Envy Tour’s rough aggressive cover really smoothed out its reaction at the back end, allowing Stroker to control the pocket. With more total hook than the Obsession Tour and the Dark Web on the fresh, the Envy Tour was very smooth and controllable downlane. Once the pattern started to break down, Stroker’s reaction ...