The Orange Vibe is the newest addition to the Hammer Lower Mid Performance line. It joins three other Vibes—the Blue, the Cherry, and the Onyx—at this price point. The Orange shares the same Vibe core with all the others, and it uses the same CT Reactive Plus cover as the Blue Vibe. The change in color gave us a slightly different reaction than the Blue, but we still had it between the reactions of the Onyx and Cherry. The 500/2000 Abralon with Powerhouse Factory Finish Polish box finish gave us similar length as the Blue Vibe, but with a little more kick downlane.

On our medium oil test pattern, we started by getting lined up with the Blue Vibe. When we threw the Orange on the identical line, all three testers saw it turn over harder at the breakpoint and hook more at the back end. Shots that struck with the Blue Vibe often resulted in 4 pins with the Orange. We all had two options to strike with the Orange. The first option was to keep our feet in the same spot, increase our speeds, and throw it slightly farther right, while the other option was to move left with our feet. Stroker and Tweener ...