Hammer
Black Widow Pink
PatternStTwCr
Oily:778
Medium:9.59.59.5
Dry:NANANA
Sport:666

(1-10 in order of Stroker (ST), Tweener (TW), Cranker (CR))

Coverstock Info
Name:
Aggression Pearl CFI
Type:
Reactive Pearl
Box Finish:
500 / 1000 Abralon / Powerhouse Factory Finish Polish
Color:
Pink Pearl
Core Info
Name:
Gas Mask
Type:Asymmetrical
RG:2.50
Total Diff:0.058
Int. Diff:0.016

The Black Widow Pink is the latest addition to Hammer’s Black Widow series, joining the Black/Gold, Gold, and Urethane among their current Black Widow offerings. This new release uses the same asymmetrical Gas Mask core shape as previous Widows, but with an upgrade to the coverstock. The Black Widow Pink uses the Aggression Pearl CFI cover, which is the same shell used on high performance Hammer balls like the Rip’D Pearl and Statement Pearl. This is the strongest coverstock used to date on a Black Widow release, helping the Black Widow Pink to create a big move at the breakpoint and back end.

This ball’s sharp movement off the breakpoint gave all three of our testers plenty of downlane recovery on our medium oil test pattern. The Black Widow Pink is clean enough through the heads to play straighter in the front of the lane, while still creating enough traction for players who like starting farther left. Stroker started with this ball around 12 at the arrows and got it out to eight downlane. Tweener was near the center of the lane, crossing 16 at the arrows and feeding his ball out to seven at the breakpoint. Cranker was crossing the middle arrow and also getting his ball out to seven downlane. The Black Widow Pink gave all three testers enough traction through the oil on shots missed left of target to still slap out the...

To read the full review, please visit:
https://www.bowlingthismonth.com/bowling-ball-review/hammer-black-widow-pink/

Performance Ratings

NameValueComments
Torque
(1-10)
8.2
The angularity of the Black Widow Pink gives it a stronger change of direction at the breakpoint than the Black Widow Black/Gold and Gold. The box finish plays a huge factor in creating this big downlane motion.
Length
(1-25)
17
We had the Black Widow Pink as the cleanest Widow to the breakpoint. The factory polishing process is the same as other shiny Widows, with the only difference being the type of coverstock.
Back End
(1-20)
18.5
The change to the Aggression Pearl CFI cover increased the motion on the back end over balls like the Black Widow Black/Gold and Black Widow Gold. We were able to get this ball back from nearly anywhere downlane.
Total Hook
(1-100)
57
The majority of the Black Widow Pink's total hook comes from its big back end movement. The added motion downlane is why this ball creates an increase in total hook over the other polished Black Widow bowling balls.

Strengths: The easy length and strong back end reaction are the biggest strengths of this new Hammer release. Bowlers who want to open up the lane will see the downlane recovery they need out of this bright pink ball.

Weaknesses: The polished box finish provided a little too much length on our heavy oil test pattern. Also, the Black Widow Pink's aggressive coverstock and core combination created too much hook on our dry test pattern.

Overall Summary: The Black Widow Pink has more length and is more angular than the last two polished Black Widows, the Black/Gold and the Gold. While this ball is more angular off the breakpoint, it covers fewer total boards than the Statement Pearl.