As the heavily anticipated follow-up to the crowd-pleasing Storm Code Black, the Storm Code Red bowling ball has a heck of a legacy to live up to. Our Storm Code Red review will look at Storm’s newest bowling ball offering from every angle, giving you every bit of information you need to decide whether or not it’s the ball for you.

Does this ball have what it takes to truly improve on the successful Storm Code Black? What are the drawbacks you could run into with the Storm Code Red as your primary strike bowling ball? Delve deep into our Storm Code Red bowling ball for the answers to these questions and more!

Overview

The Storm Code Red’s biggest notable improvement over the Storm Code Black is the ball’s extra traction in medium and medium-heavy oil conditions, particularly at the end of patterns. This ball has one of the most unique and explosive back-end reactions we’ve seen in any high-performance bowling ball, let alone just in the Storm catalog.

The Storm Code Red also offers just a bit more total hook potential than its predecessor. You can get a bit more angular reaction possibilities out of the Code Red than from the Code Black, particularly in fresher conditions. That extra bit of oomph may not seem like a whole lot right away for those familiar with the Code Black, but it sure adds up.

Just like the Storm Code Black, we don’t recommend this ball in drier conditions. It simply gets too violent and loses a ton of its lane length on dry lanes and depleted oil patterns. This ball is a medium-oiled gem as that’s just enough to get this ball to react strongly without sacrificing lane length or control.

To be sure, this ball is for bowlers who want all of their ball’s energy to be expended at the back end of the lane. The Storm Code Red is extremely angular at the breakpoint and won’t unleash its total fury until it powers through the heads. It can be a bit overwhelming for some, but it’s the perfect punctuation point for someone who wants to add a big burst to the end of their hook shots. 

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Features, Specs & Materials

FEATURES:

One of the key changes from the Storm Code Black to the Storm Code Red is the alteration of the cover stock from an R2S Pearl to an R2S Hybrid Reactive cover stock. This is the same cover stock used on the popular Storm Hy Road bowling ball. It’s a noticeable upgrade when it comes to reactivity and back-end power.

The Storm Code Red’s updated cover stock is paired with Storm’s RAD4 asymmetrical core. The RAD4 core is an energy-storing beast. We’ve rarely seen a core/cover stock combo which saves this much energy for the back end before releasing it like the big finale in a fireworks show.

The ball’s 1500 Grit Polished box finish is perfectly balanced to make this a medium-oiled masterpiece. It’s a versatile finish which adds length and unique control.

SPECS:

Color: Two-Tone Red Pearl, Red Solid
Core: RAD4 (Asymmetrical)
Coverstock: R2S Hybrid Reactive
Finish: 1500 Grit Polished
RG: 2.50
Differential: 0.058
Flare potential: Moderate
Recommended Lane Condition: Medium to Medium-Heavy

MATERIALS

The change from a reactive pearl to a reactive hybrid cover stock does come with a disadvantage. The Storm Code Red is just simply not as durable as the preceding Storm Code Black. You’re going to have to do a bit more regular maintenance on the ball to ensure that you can reap the rewards of the new cover stock’s increased reactivity.

The great thing about the construction of the RAD4 asymmetrical core is that it makes up solidly for the cover stock when it’s beat up a bit. There’s just a lot of innate energy storing and potential in the core and its construction. That helps smooth things over if your cover stock is flagging a bit.

Advantages & Disadvantages

Advantages:

It’s all about back-end reaction with the Storm Code Red. This ball picks up a bit more traction in medium and heavy oil conditions than the previous Storm Code Black, and it uses that traction to its advantage for an explosive back-end finish that’s second to note among high-performance bowling balls.

The overall hook potential of the Storm Code Red is worth the price of admission alone. This ball gets extremely angular at the breakpoint and can do some really interesting, creative things while staying in line with the pocket.

For an aggressive reactive hybrid bowling ball, the Storm Code Red is surprisingly forgiving. Since it does most of its hooking at the back end, this ball forgives off throws and slots into the pocket with ease more often than not. That’s huge when you get tired and your throws start to lose some of their crispness.

If you want a true skid/flip ball which puts some extra firepower into your hook shot, there really aren’t many balls that can do so like the Storm Code Red. If you can harness its aggressiveness, it’ll translate big time to increased scores and strike counts.

Disadvantages:

The Storm Code Red can be nearly unusable on dry and shorter oil patterns. This ball tends to get extremely violent and unwieldy in such conditions, cutting hard into lane length and making your margin for error very slim.

There’s so much aggressiveness to the Storm Code Red that it can be a bit much for bowlers who aren’t used to such strength. This is a ball with a sharp learning curve. If you’re an intermediate bowlers who’s just getting your hook shot harnessed, you’re going to be a bit burnt by the Storm Code Red’s particular blend of bowling dynamite.

This ball can also be a struggle on sport patterns. The Storm Code Red has a tendency to skid and cut hard in such conditions, once again making this a really hard ball to track and keep tamed. You may want to bag this ball in such conditions in favor of something a bit weaker.

Our Thoughts 

The Storm Code Red dials up the aggression to eleven. If you want a ball with angular reactivity and a back-end boom that’ll leave eyebrows raised and jaws dropped, you can’t do any better. However, the ball’s aggressiveness can also be its Achilles heel. Unless you get this ball locked into prime conditions and know how to rein it in, it may just be too much. That’s not a huge knock, though. This ball remains a really good, bordering-on-great aggressive bowling ball that can really up the right bowler’s game to a completely new level.

Overall Score: 7.75 out of 10

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