I have written about all the balls I've tried from 1993 - 94 until today.
I have tried balls from a lot of different distributors, and I try not to favor any of them.
I measure the balls in: Length (1 - 10), Back - End (1 - 10), and I try to give them a total Hook Potential (1 - 20). I also use the Lichstein's Ball Guide as a reference, and you will see that my hook potential is compared to the one you'll find in Lichstein's Ball Guide !
Finally I give the balls a Grade, the grade is given on a scale from 
to 
Baltic Blue Piranha/c - Boogie - Warhawk
Terminator 2 (T2) - Dick Weber Classic - Omega LM - Pro XS 1 - Fire Quantum
Black Ice Zone - Synergy Pearl - Synergy ETS - Combat Zone
Coming Up: Thunder Road
This 3-piece urethane ball was my first bowling ball. It is a great beginner's ball and it is quite cheap. The ball has a sanded finish and is best for dry house conditions. It is also a common spare-ball, but I didn't like to use it for my 2nd shot since it has a tendency of "breaking" on dry back-ends. It doesn't break much, but it makes me feel like I'm loosing control. The ball doesn't hit hard, but it gives the power you need as a rookie.
Length: 8
Back-end: 3
Hook potential: 5
Lichstein's hook rating: 6
This ball was my first reactive bowling ball. I bought it on a recommendation from my local pro-shop operator and it's fairly easy to control. I used this ball with a box-finish for more than a year, and it really helped me develop my game. After a year or so I sanded it with 400 paper. After I sanded this ball it took a lot of the pin-action away and the ball became useless. Keep this ball polished if you want it to be at it's best! The Beast is best on oily lanes with powerful back-ends or lanes where the oil is "played down" a little bit and you can afford to miss a board or two.
Length: 7
Back-end: 6
Hook potential: 12
Lichstein's hook rating: 15
I drilled this ball shortly after Tore Torgersen used it and it's predecessor to win the '94 World Cup in Mexico. This ball featured a ceramic core and was a big hit when it was introduced. The 2-piece construction combined with the ceramic construction gave every bowler a great ball for most lane conditions. I used this ball with a box finish for about 6 months and was quite pleased with it, later I decided to polish it with 800 grit to make it go longer down the lane before it started hooking. It was after this treatment the ball really became useful to me, I used it for most lane conditions, but I preferred to use it on medium lane conditions with easy back-ends.
Length: 6
Back-end: 7
Hook potential: 15
Lichstein's hook rating: 15+
This polyester ball was my first spare-ball. This 3-piece ball comes in six lively colors and it is designed for kids or older people who needs an easy ball. I used it for my spare shots for more than a year and was not too pleased with it, the ball hooks too much! I used it when I learned how to shoot spares and it was OK for that, but when I developed a better game I lost some of my touch with the spares because the ball "broke" too early.
Length: 9
Back-end: 2
Hook potential: 3
Lichstein's hook rating: 2
This 2-piece ball was my first ball for really oily lanes, so I didn't know what to expect when I tried it out. I drilled the ball with a lot of top weight in order to make it not hook too early and it worked quite well for me. I used this ball with a light polish at first, but after a while I sanded it with 400 paper and used it on "swimming pool" conditions. Unfortunately there are not so many alleys in Norway with those type of conditions, but when I first found the oil I knew that the Warhawk was the ball to use.
Length: 5
Back-end: 7
Hook potential: 15
Lichstein's hook rating: 15
This is a great ball! This 2-piece ball was my first real favorite bowling ball. With this ball I played both 289(1) and 1787(8) in the same tournament. I always kept this ball with a light polish on it, because that was when it was at its best. The ball is a great all-purpose ball and fits most lane conditions (apart from the wettest). The T2 inverted Teal Rhino Pro Core for increased durability and drilling constituency, it is actually the same ball as the Teal Rhino Pro except for the fact that the weight-block has been turned upside-down. I also played 300(1) and 792(3) with this ball during practice sessions. The T2 is a great ball for a lot of lane conditions, but it is at its best on dry and strong blocks.
Length: 8
Back-end: 7
Hook potential: 12
Lichstein's hook rating: 13
This rubber ball is the only ball I have got left from the 95/96 season. It was a gift from one of my sponsors and I loved it the day I got it. I have used it as a spareball with great success because it doesn't hook a board !! I hand-polish it quite often just to keep it perfect, and I don't think I will ever stop using it as a spareball.
Length: 10
Back-end: 1
Hook potential: 1
Lichstein's hook rating: Not Answered
This ball hooks !!! I used this ball for really oily conditions and it worked great. The ball has got a Level 4 core and an Acryllium cover. Because of its Acryllium cover is it very sensitive to different lane conditions, but I sanded it with 600 paper so the ball should start hooking earlier and that's exactly what happened. The ball started hooking early on those "swimming pool" conditions, and it became quite useful to me. I used it in the two "oiliest" bowling alleys in Norway, and I did over 200 avg. both times. (I was the only one to play over 200 avg.). I tried to polish it after a year or so but then the ball became less useful to me, it sort of "died-out" on the back-end. I think this ball is a winner on heavy oil, and if you are looking for a ball to sand, this is the one !!
Length: 2
Back-end: 7
Hook potential: 16
Lichstein's hook rating: 15+
This is probably the most underestimated ball in the world today. Here in Norway all I hear about this ball is that it is useless and should never have been invented. Those who think that this ball is useless don't know the first thing about bowling!! I used this ball for two years and I loved it. This 5-piece ball with its 3-piece asymmetrical Ceram-X core with a double shell has got a very high spin rate and flare potential, and it fits all lane conditions !!! I used it whenever I wanted and always with great result. I bought this ball from a friend who had used it in Reno '95 and thought that it hooked too much for him. So I gave this ball an extra polish before I drilled it in order to cut down the hook. when I first tried it out I was really shocked because the ball hardly didn't hook !! So I sanded it down with a Zone-block (1000 paper) and tried it again. After two throws I knew that this ball was something special. The ball is very easy to play with and it provides you with a great back-end reaction. Even though the ball fits all lane conditions I preferred to use it when the lanes are oily/dry.
Length: 7
Back-end: 8
Hook potential: 14
Lichstein's hook rating: 15+
This reactive 2-piece ball was made with a highly reactive urethane cover and flow-through core design to create durability in a late-breaking, big-hooking ball. I got the ball as a gift from a friend who broke it, so I feel that I can't give this ball a fair judgment. The ball was a pound to heavy for me when I got it so I got trouble when I played my normal shot with it. Besides that the ball was also repaired and heavy polished so the ball reaction it provided was delayed (it hooked later than it should have done) But by all means the ball was OK, I played some big games with it, but when another player offered to buy it from me I didn't hesitate very long.
Length: 7
Back-end: 7
Hook potential: 14
Lichstein's hook rating: 18+
This ball is something special! Two days after I bought it I used it in a stepladder final an bowled a 256 average. The ball is a pearlized edition of the famous Danger Zone and it skids far down the lane and provides you with a powerful back-end reaction. I kept this ball with a box finish for a year or so and loved to use it on fresh house conditions (wet/dry). Unfortunately the ball was destroyed during a tournament in a lousy bowling alley, the machine caught the ball and returned it to me with a 2 cm. deep crack. After that I tried to fix it in various pro-shops, but the ball never became the same.
Length: 6
Back-end: 8
Hook potential: 14
Lichstein's hook rating: 18,5
This 4-piece ball is the winningest ball on the PBA tour (according to Track) And it is without any doubt the best pearl. ball I have ever used. It is extremely powerful and provides you with a substantial back-end and a tremendous pocket-entering angle. I use it for most lane conditions except from the wettest. I rolled an unsanctioned 300 with this ball only two weeks after I bought it. I kept a box finish on this ball for a long time until I decided to polish it with 1000 grit in order to make it skid further down the lane (in order to make it replace my Black Ice). With the new finish the ball became invincible on dry lane conditions and I bowled some really high scores with it. (739 in a league match). The Synergy is the ball I have bowled most games with and even though it is getting a little tired, it is still an important part of my arsenal. I need a new pearlized ball now, and I am thinking about drilling a new Synergy !
Length: 6
Back-end: 9
Hook potential: 15
Lichstein's hook rating: 17
Since I was so satisfied with the Synergy Pearl I decided to give the ETS a try when it came on the market. This 4-piece ball was supposed to be the best thing that had happened to bowling since the X-Calibur was introduced. To be completely honest I have never been so disappointed as when I first rolled the ball down the lane, it reacted exactly similar to my Synergy Pearl. I bought the ETS so I could have a ball for those REALLY wet lane conditions, an I did not need another ball for wet/dry conditions. I have to say that the ball was great on fresh house conditions, but that was not what I needed. I took the ball to a pro-shop and sanded it with 320 paper so I could have a really mean rubbed ball. When the ball was sanded it became more useful to me and I used it in one tournament. It started hooking really early, but it did not hit as hard as I wanted so I stopped using it after six months.
Length: 3
Back-end: 8
Hook potential: 17
Lichstein's hook rating: 19
This ball is the best ball ever made !!!!!!!!!! The first game I bowled with this ball I rolled a 277. I drilled this ball with all its weights down in Axis Point in order to make it hook early so I could play those deep inside lines. The ball has turned out to be the best investment I have ever made, I can use it almost every lane conditions except from the driest. If the lanes are really wet I just move out to the 1st arrow with the Combat Zone and play it from there. Even when the lanes are suffering under the "summer-conditions", the Combat Zone is great to play with. Even though the lanes are impossible I can always play some high games with my Combat Zone. I KNOW that I am going to drill another Combat Zone !!!
Length: 5
Back-end: 10
Hook potential: 17
Lichstein's hook rating: 19
I drilled this ball shortly after it came to the Scandinavian market. According to the people at BTV it is the first ball to utilize "dual cover stock technology" - a conventional urethane stripe surrounded by highly reactive cover. The ball is meant to go straight through the heads, and that the Power Stripe shall prevent it from overreacting early. That is just not right !!! When I drilled the Helix, (it can only be drilled one way because of the Power Stripe) I wanted a ball with a strong and late back-end arc. But when I started playing with the Helix I did not take long before I felt dumbfounded. Because of the Power Stripe (which is made of Urethane) the ball caused friction on the early part of the lane, and started hooking very early !! (If you play with a lot of revs. You CAN'T play with the Helix because it will hook immediately and burn up most of its energy before it reaches the pins. On Norwegian lane conditions, the ball is pretty useless, but when I played the Danish Tour last summer I got a pleasant surprise: On the long oil, the Helix worked great and it was the only ball I used for the entire week. The Helix performs well on oily "down and in" conditions, but on normal league conditions it is not very reliable.
Length: 2
Back-end: 9
Hook potential: 17
Lichstein's hook rating: 17
If you are looking for a ball to use on heavy oil, I think you'll find that the Wolf is a potential buy. The 3-Component ball ha got a Mega Bite reactive coverstock with a Tungsten Graphite flip block and Zirconium core. The Blue Wolf was a big hit when it came on the Tour, and everybody (including myself) wanted to try this new wonderball : - ) I drilled my Wolf with a Barbel Weight (5 inch pin) in order to make it hook a lot on the last part of the lane. What I got was a ball that was not designed for early roll and powerful back-end reaction. No the Wolf started hooking the second after it hit the lane (and it was polished too !!) So I understood that I had to try something else, so I used a "zone-block" (1000 paper) on the ball in order to create more friction, so I could play those deep inside lines. After the rubbing the ball became O.K, but I felt that it did not hit very hard so I put it away. I still bring the ball with me to different tournaments, but the lanes have to be REALLY oily before I take it out.
Length: 2
Back-end: 10
Hook potential: 18
Lichstein's hook rating: 18
