The new neon yellow Radioactive Vibe from Hammer features the solid CT Reactive Max coverstock with the HK22 base resin wrapped around the classic symmetrical Vibe core. Like the Ocean Vibe, it comes out of the box shiny, but with final finishing steps of 1500 SiaAir and then Factory Compound. Between the different coverstock materials and the different finishing processes, the Radioactive Vibe is smoother at the breakpoint, with more overall hook to provide a nice complement to the pearlized Ocean Vibe while still matching up to medium and drier conditions.

Stroker had the best reaction out of our three testers on the fresh medium oil pattern with the Radioactive Vibe. The strong recovery he saw from the CT Reactive Max coverstock gave him some area at the breakpoint with strong pin carry. As the pattern started to break down, he could make small parallel moves inside to stay in the pocket and strike without ever needing to change the surface. Stroker also had the best reaction on the dry pattern. He could play the exact same line he played on the medium pattern, but he didn’t have as much hold. This ball was smoother at the end of the pattern compared to the Ocean Vibe or Raw Hammer Red/Smoke/Black. He saw very little transition on this pattern when using the Radioactive Vibe, but he started to see some hang when urethane was in play. His move was to open his angles more and get the Radioactive Vibe to go around the hang spot created by the urethane. The sport pattern is where Stroker struggled with the Radioactive Vibe with the box finish. The ball wanted to slide too far with his normal ...