Motiv Shadow Tank Bowling Ball Review

The Shadow Tank is the next evolution in Motiv’s Tank series. This ball uses the Flux Symmetric weight block that has been used in previous balls like the Purple Tank, Desert Tank, and Tank Yellowjacket. This design was also used in the reactive resin-shelled Thrill from 2019. This is a very high RG (2.57″) and low differential (0.015″) weight block that keeps the flare potential low. The new Frixion M7 Pearl MCP (Microcell Polymer) coverstock gives the Shadow Tank a hardness of at least 78D, allowing it to be used at most major competitions in light of the USBC’s most recent rules changes surrounding low-absorption coverstocks. This new cover comes out of the box at a very dull 1000 grit LSS finish, getting it started very quickly. All three of our testers saw an extremely early start to the hook phase and a very controllable motion downlane. The Shadow Tank was at its best when it had some friction on the lane, and all three bowlers had their best looks on our dry test pattern.

Cranker

Cranker liked how smooth and rolly the Shadow Tank was for him on the dry test pattern. This is typically his least favorite pattern, but the Shadow Tank let him strike early and often. The ball grabbed the lane very quickly and really blended out the motion at the end of the pattern that is usually so hard for him to control. He had a smooth motion that didn’t over-hook when it saw the dry. He wasn’t able to be as aggressive as he wanted with his release when the pattern was fresh, because being too aggressive would cause the ball to hook even earlier and then not bail enough at the back end to hold its line to the pocket. His adjustments on this