Daten- und Textquelle:  BOWLING THIS MONTH ®

Testmonat: Dezember 2008

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

oily:           9,2
medium:    7,5
dry:            4,0
sport:         6,8

Technische Kennziffern:
RG (1-10+):                  2,3
Diff/Flare (1-10+):      7,5
Torque (1-10):             7,0
Lengh (1-25):               11
Backend (1-20):           16,5
Total Hook (1-100):      53
Coverstock Type:        Reactive solid

Stärken: Die Ballbewegung über den gesamten Bahnbereich hinweg stach am auffälligsten hervor. Der Virtual hat eine perfekte Traktion über alle drei Bereiche der Bahn hinweg. Der Bereich zwischen Midlane und den Pins gefiel uns hierbei am besten.

Schwächen: Auf trockenen Konditionen sollte man den Ball in der Tasche lassen. Hier wird die Bahn zu früh gelesen, auch wenn der Ball anpoliert wird. Nur wer wenige Umdrehungen mit hohem Speed kombinieren kann, wird ihn hier einsetzen.

Insgesamt: Der Virtual Gravity ist der bislang beste Ball aus der Shift-Serie. Als hätte Storm die positiven Eigenschaften der bisherigen Shift?s genommen und in diesen Ball gepackt. Er ist sehr zuverlässig auf mittel bis öligen Konditionen.

Original BTM Comments: The Virtual Gravity is the fourth introduction from Storm in its Premier line. This one uses the same core/cover combination as the Gravity Shift. The low RG version of the Shape-Lock core creates easy revs for all. The cover is a solid version of R2X. The change to a sanded 4000 Abralon finish gives the Virtual Gravity a much stronger read of the front and midlane...compared to the Gravity Shift, allowing it to handle larger volumes of oil without loosing the strong breakpoint and back end reaction. We found the Virtual Gravity matches up best with our long test pattern. The overall ball motion allowed each tester to play in their respective comfort zones, both with release and area of the lane. The medium pattern forced all three testers to play an arrow deeper than they were playing on the oily pattern. The overall ball reaction was just as good from this deeper inside line. Those who don't like playing the inside part of the lane will want to look into a polished finish to create the length necessary to play the outside part of the lane on medium patterns. Drier patterns as well as short patterns will require longer pin-to-PAP layouts, combined with a polished finish. The Virtual Gravity creates enough friction by itself, so it doesn't require a lot of help from the lane. Sports patterns on the medium to oily side will offer the best look for the Virtual Gravity. Those looking to use this ball on fresh sport patterns will want to look into layouts that offer more of an arcing reaction, due to the strong breakpoint that the Virtual Gravity creates.