Daten- und Textquelle:  BOWLING THIS MONTH ®

Testmonat: Februar 2011

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Rating von 1 (flop) bis 10 (top) auf den Konditionen:

Stärken: What we liked most about the Infection is the strength it offered at the back of the lane. Hammer changed the cover and factory finish to push the reaction further down the lane, which creates an exciting reaction at the back end.

Schwächen: Due to the aggressive reaction at the back end, the Infection could become hard to control on conditions that have more friction than this ball requires. Pin-down layouts will offer more control when facing shorter oil patterns.

Insgesamt: The Infection takes the performance of the Plague and adds a couple of feet of length while maintaining the aggressive overall reaction that Plague offered. Those who experienced the Plague will definitely want to get the Infection.

Comments: The Infection is the next release in Hammer’s upper mid—performance category. Both the Infection and Plague use the same Biohazard core design. With its low RG, high differential, and medium mass bias strength, this core will create an above average read of the midlane with a very aggressive move at the back of the lane. Those who owned the Plague will find the Infection to offer more length through the front ofthe lane with the same, if not stronger, motion at the breakpoint and back end. On some oil patterns, these two will be able to cover the same amount of area on the lane. On our test patterns, which vary in both length and volume, we found the Infection to match up better with our medium patterns while the Plague matched up best with our oily pattern. On longer patterns, the Infection will push a little too easily down the lane which may make it hard to predict the breakpoint for some. The Plague, with its 2000 Abralon finish, never showed signs of over-skidding. Those finding themselves on longer patterns will want to take the 4000 Abralon finish ofthe Infection down to 2000, which will increase the midlane traction while maintaining the strong motion at the back end. During our testing on the medium pattern, we found the Infection to offer several options for all three bowlers. We were able to stay firm with ball speed to find the pocket or we were able to move in a touch and soften up the ball speed a bit. The second option allowed us to stay away from the track area, making this ball less sensitive to the changing lane conditions. The strength at the breakpoint was exceptional from all angles. Success on drier lane conditions will depend on the bowler’s ability to move around on the lane. As long as you can find some head oil, the Infection will get the job done at the back. Those bowling on conditions that break down rather quickly may want to stay away from skid/flip layouts, as this ball offers that reaction from the beginning. Pin-down layouts will give the Infection more control of the dry, which will make adjusting to fast changing lane conditions much easier. The easy length and super aggressive move at the back end will not be ideal for fresh sport patterns. This ball is better suited for the later games when a ball with a big move down lane is required.