The Idol Pearl joins the original Idol as the only two current bowling balls in Roto Grip’s HP3 line. This ball very nicely complements the Idol by providing more length, a stronger move off the dry, and more back end motion. It accomplishes this thanks to its pearlized eTrax-P18 coverstock, which comes out of the box at a 1500 grit polished finish. For bowlers who are looking for a ball to change into when the original Idol starts hooking too early, or a ball to start with that is more on the skid/flip side, the Idol Pearl will be a great option. It is best suited to fresh medium volume and length patterns or broken-down heavy oil patterns.

All three of our testers struck early and often with the Idol Pearl on our fresh medium oil test pattern. Its pearlized eTrax-P18 coverstock easily cleared the fronts, picked up strongly in the midlane, and had a big pop off the end of the pattern. The 1500 grit polished finish matched up well to this pattern, as it kept our balls from checking up early, while not showing any signs of wanting to skid past the breakpoint. Stroker liked being able to stay straighter through the front of the lane while having a very strong movement at the back end. Cranker could start as far left as he wanted, without losing any downlane hook or hit at ...