The Fierce Phobia is the sanded, hybrid-covered follow-up to the original Phobia in Hammer’s Upper Mid Performance line. Just like the original, it features the symmetrical Phobia core, giving it an RG of 2.49″ and a differential of 0.054″. Its Semtex Hybrid cover rolls out of the box at a 500/2000 Abralon finish, giving it lots of hook through the oil. All three testers quickly noticed how early this ball picked up the lane and how smooth its reaction was off the dry at the end of the pattern.

The Fierce Phobia’s easy hook throughout the entire lane was best on our heavy oil test pattern. Tweener loved his reaction on the fresh. The dull finish allowed him to be as firm as he wanted with his speed without ever worrying about his ball skipping past the breakpoint. This ball consistently revved up strongly off his hand, providing a large and smooth curve throughout the entire lane. The sanded cover easily tore through the oil in the front, making a strong arc in the midlane and a continuous motion through the pins. He had to throw it pretty poorly in order to not hit the pocket on this pattern. If he was anywhere close to 12 at the arrows and eight downlane, he had a really good chance of striking. Cranker also liked his reaction, but he didn’t have as much pin carry as Tweener. His higher rev rate pushed him farther left with his feet and his target at the arrows. He was sliding near 30, which placed his...

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