Roto Grip Wicked Gremlin Bowling Ball Review

The Wicked Gremlin is the third Gremlin entry into the HP3 line for Roto Grip. This ball uses a solid coverstock to complement the pearl cover on the original Gremlin and the hybrid cover on the Gremlin Tour-X. The Wicked Gremlin uses the same Rondure MaxD asymmetrical core as the original Gremlin, providing a higher RG and a larger differential over the Rondure TOUR-X core that was in the Gremlin Tour-X. The new G-R1 Solid coverstock was stronger and earlier for us compared to the V-R1 Solid cover on the Transformer. The ball comes out of the box at a 2000-grit Abralon finish, which is rougher than the 4000-grit box finish on the Transformer. This ball started hooking quickly, providing lots of traction on longer and heavier oil patterns. We had too much hook on our dry oil pattern, even after adding polish. Bowlers who like to use strong balls with shorter pin-to-PAP layouts to get the ball to burn off and be very controllable should consider this ball as an option.

Stroker

Stroker liked the strong motion from the Wicked Gremlin on the fresh heavy oil pattern. The ball started up quickly, creating lots of traction in the midlane and giving him plenty of total hook on the pattern he struggles on the most. The Wicked Gremlin had no trouble creating traction and getting into a heavy roll. On the fresh, the ball hit like a truck for him, finishing very strong through the 8 and 9 pins as it went off the deck. He couldn’t stay in the same part of the lane very long, as the ball removed oil from the front quickly. He needed to move farther left with his laydown point to find more oil to keep the ball strong through