Named after a Japanese sword with a curved single-edged blade, the Radical Katana lives up to its namesake by being all about sharpness and curvature. Our Radical Katana review will look at this groundbreaking high-performance bowling ball from every angle, giving you a panoramic view of the ball before making a potential purchase decision.
Does the innate angularity of the Radical Katana work in its favor or is the ball too aggressive for its own good? How does the asymmetrical core design work in concert with the ball’s pearlized cover stock? Delve into our in-depth Radical Katana bowling ball review for the answer to these questions and much more!
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Overview
The Radical Katana’s down-lane recovery and undeniable angularity off the spot makes it a standout in both Radical’s company oeuvre and among all high-performance bowling balls on the market right now. Radical designed an all-new pearl reactive cover stock and asymmetrical core for this ball to ensure a massive breakpoint reaction which has an extreme wow factor upon first throw.
While its sequel ball, the Radical Katana Legend, ups the reactivity ante on several levels, the original Radical Katana strikes a powerful balance between top-tier reactivity and finesse. This ball’s down-lane reaction is distinct and active, but there’s a sense that you’re always in the driver’s seat and can tweak its overall path to fit your shot style.
The Radical Katana is also versatile enough to do damage on a wide swath of oil pattern lengths and densities. Even when it catches an extremely dry portion of a complex pattern, the Radical Katana maintains its length and snaps into action late for an impressive back-end reaction. This ball can punch its weight in a variety of different rings!
If you’re looking for a skid and snap ball which goes long with strength to spare, you’re going to have a lot of fun playing with the Radical Katana. Those lower-rev bowlers who wants to increase their entry angle possibilities will love how the ball’s core revs itself up with seemingly very little behind it. It’s a truly impressive display of inherent firepower which separates the Radical Katana from the vast majority of its high-performance bowling ball counterparts.
Features, Specs & Materials
FEATURES:
The Radical Katana introduces the Forged reactive pearl cover stock to the bowling world. This cover stock is an absolute beast on medium oil patterns, conserving energy efficaciously to unleash a dizzying array of angles heading into the pin pocket.
Also new to the Radical Katana is the Katana asymmetrical core which dials up the aggressiveness and adds some off-kilter punch to this ball’s overall hitting power. This core is a dream for any bowler looking to open things up and come at the pins a different way.
The rough 500 / 1000 SiaAir / Crown Factory Compound box finish ensures that this ball can clear the freshest and deepest of fronts with little to no hesitation. Most of this ball’s firepower comes late in the pattern, and this box finish helps with that.
SPECS:
Color: Black, Charcoal Pearl
Core: Katana Asymmetric
Coverstock: Forged (Reactive Pearl)
Finish: 500 / 1000 SiaAir / Crown Factory Compound
RG: 2.503
Differential: 0.050
Flare potential: Significant
Recommended Lane Condition: Medium
MATERIALS
The strength and durability of the Radical Katana’s Forged pearlized cover stock cannot be overstated. This is an extremely impressive thing considering how angular and fiery this ball gets both off the spot and upon pin impact. It’s a great balancing act carried off really well by the folks over at Radical.
If you want a core which revs itself up nicely and still keeps a low center of gravity, the Katana Asymmetric core is it. This weight block keeps the ball under the pins at impact for some extraordinary trajectories which are truly breathtaking to behold.
Advantages & Disadvantages
Advantages:
The Radical Katana is an absolute down-lane achievement which portends fantastic hook potential and insane angularity off the spot. You’ll have no problem clearing the fronts with the Radical Katana. And once you do so, you’re going to be amazed by just how much gas this ball has in the tank late. That’s true even when oil patterns are at their longest and most complex.
A skid/snap ball which goes extremely long with tons of strength to spare, the Radical Katana is the right ball for lower-rev bowlers who want to see their games completely open up. The entry angles you can achieve with the Radical Katana as a lower-rev bowler are simply unseen with the majority of high-performance bowling ball offerings out there.
One beautiful thing about the Radical Katana is that it offers a ton of angularity with its aggressive cover stock and asymmetrical core, but that doesn’t take away from the overall sense of control. This ball doesn’t jerk nor does it really have a mind of its own. A steady hand and a smart approach will get this ball snapping into the pin pocket with impressive consistency.
Also, there are no worries when it comes to resurfacing the Radical Katana for varied oil conditions. This ball’s cover stock and core combination are built to perform and perform well regardless of whether the box finish is still present. This versatility can keep the Radical Katana in your strike ball rotation even when oil density breaks down a bit or deepens.
Disadvantages:
While the Radical Katana is versatile enough to tackle the majority of oil patterns and densities it faces, that doesn’t mean it should be a go-to ball on dry or heavy oil patterns. The Radical Katana’s first-gen pearlized cover stock can get gummed up and slightly submerged in deep oil patterns, losing some of its trademark firepower on the back end.
As for dry lanes, the Radical Katana can be resurfaced to respond better. Out of the box though, the Radical Katana won’t be nearly as long nor as strong if there isn’t a fair amount of oil for it to gobble up. You can definitely get a solid amount of versatility out of the Radical Katana, but you’ll need to be diligent about resurfacing it.
Our Thoughts
As a standalone high-performance offering with its sequel ball taken out of the equation, the Radical Katana is a great achievement with amazing angularity to its credit. There are some struggles to be had with too much dry or too much wet, but that doesn’t take away from this ball’s earned reputation as a long and strong marvel.
Overall Score: 9 out of 10
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