The Ebonite Choice is an aptly-named new high-performance offering which has come about as a result of Ebonite picking and choosing some of their most impressive technologies and placing them in one bowling ball. Our Ebonite Choice review will look at this hook-heavy new bowling ball from every angle, giving you a detailed look at all of its bells and whistles before you make a potential purchase decision.
Do the modifications on a proven asymmetrical core design help or hinder the Ebonite Choice in its quest for high-performance bowling ball supremacy? Is this ball destined for the heaviest oil patterns and those alone? Delve into our in-depth Ebonite Choice bowling ball review for the answer to these questions and more!
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Overview
The folks over at Ebonite won over the bowling world previously with the hyper-aggressive Centrex Symmetrical Bias Core, but they weren’t satisfied with just bringing it back for the Ebonite Choice. Ebonite’s design department reshaped the core and lowered the differential considerably, leading to some impressive lane length for what is an extremely reactive ball all things considered.
Paired with a fiery, oil-drinking reactive hybrid coverstock descended from the ones which wrapped Ebonite’s Game Breaker line of balls, the new asymmetrical core design of the Ebonite Choice provides fantastic continuation down the lane while accentuating the aggressiveness of the coverstock. This ball goes long, strong, and hits extremely hard when it juts into the pin pocket.
Out of the box, the ball’s reactive coverstock and rough sanded finish simply cry out for the heaviest and most complex of oil patterns. This ball has one of the strongest and most distinctive hooks you’re going to see in heavy oil. It also has a very angular and powerful reaction off the dry, tracking the pocket extremely well before its low center of gravity lofts the pins in wild trajectories.
The best part of all this is that the Ebonite Choice doesn’t sacrifice down-lane control for its wide array of hook possibilities. While this ball moves early and often, it’s calibrated perfectly to adjust with you as you tweak your shot to get your angles how you like them. For a ball which hooks this hard and absorbs this much oil to do so, it’s an impressive thing to see!
Features, Specs & Materials
FEATURES:
A low-differential asymmetrical take on the crowd-favorite Centrex Symmetrical Bias Core, the new Mod-1 asymmetrical core design tempers this ball’s innate angularity just enough to keep the ball locked in on the pin pocket for eye-popping pin carry.
The balancing act of the new asymmetrical core is crucial considering just how much firepower has been built into the rough GSV-1 Hybrid reactive hybrid coverstock. This coverstock is all about absorbing oil and using its power for some dynamite pin crashes on the back end.
The coverstock gets even more traction and potential for new entry angles out of the box thanks to the sanded 500 / 1000 / 2000 Abralon finish. This ball easily clears the fronts, early motion and all, partially in thanks to this well-chosen box finish.
SPECS:
Color: Black, Red, White
Core: Mod-1 (Asymmetrical)
Coverstock: GSV-1 Hybrid (Reactive Hybrid)
Finish: 500 / 1000 / 2000 Abralon
RG: 2.49
Differential: 0.054
Flare potential: Significant
Recommended Lane Condition: Heavy
MATERIALS
You have to be extremely diligent when it comes to regularly cleaning the porous GSV-1 Hybrid coverstock on the Ebonite Choice. If you’re not, the ball’s reactivity will start to taper off dramatically and you’ll see your ball’s angularity muted to a troubling degree.
Keeping your coverstock in peak health is critical if you want to get the most out of the ball’s groundbreaking asymmetrical core design. Its energy-storing capabilities and hitting power can only be fully unlocked when the coverstock is able to gobble up oil and bring it energy to play with.
Advantages & Disadvantages
Advantages:
This ball is a heavy oil hook monster in the best way possible. The fresher the oil conditions are and the lengthier the oil patterns get, the more efficacious and explosive the Ebonite Choice can be. This is the perfect opening strike ball for a long league night. It fires through the slickest stuff before its distinct breakpoint reaction leads into some massive back-end booms and crashes.
About that back-end reaction – it’s simply one of the most impressive in the marketplace today when it comes to sheer firepower and off-the-wall pin trajectories. This ball’s low center of gravity and angular reactions late in the pattern turn this ball into a wrecking ball even if you hit the pocket just a little off its detonation point. This ball is that powerful.
The Ebonite Choice is all about heavy hooks in the deepest oil, but those hooks aren’t randomized and won’t cut into your overall shot control. In fact, there aren’t many other high-performance bowling balls out there which temper their explosiveness to such a serendipitous degree. It’s the best of both worlds when you play with the Ebonite Choice as power and control intermingle and intermingle well.
In summation, the Ebonite Choice hooks and hits with a controlled fury that is simply spellbinding when you get it slotted into the pocket. The more oil you can get underneath this ball, the more creative you can be in opening up your entry angles for maximum pin carry. The Ebonite Choice is a heavy oil masterpiece which isn’t afraid of making its move and making it early.
Disadvantages:
While the Ebonite Choice can handle dry spots in more complex oil patterns, it is not made for play in oil conditions on the dry or medium-dry side. In fact, you risk burning this coverstock out and costing yourself invaluable reactivity in fresher oil conditions down the road. This is a dry lane stay-away ball if there ever was one.
This ball also needs plenty of the oil in the fronts to really be effective down the lane, making it a tough proposition when heavier dry blends into wet later in the pattern. This is a ball made for oil, so make sure it has plenty or it will have an extremely hard time staying on the lane.
Our Thoughts
The Ebonite Choice is the right choice (pun intended) for any hook-dominant bowler looking to put heavy oil conditions to good use. It’s not the most versatile high-performance bowling ball out there, but it makes up for that with the inordinate strength and hitting power it portends when oil densities are at their deepest.
If you need a strike ball for the deepest and freshest stuff, you’re going to have a hard time finding anything better than the Ebonite Choice.
Overall Score: 9 out of 10
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