Hammer Black Pearl Urethane 78D versus Purple Pearl Urethane and Nu Blue // Ball Review

[@kimlanglewis152]

Bowled at West Seattle Bowl last year for a tournament. Absolutely love that house and the lanes. I did very well with the Purple Urethane.

[@wsbproshop]

Awesome! Glad you enjoyed spending time with us. Come say hi next time!

[@Equanimityforall]

Great video. Best example as to why urethane is less superior to reactive. Bowling is hard enough. Don’t add unneeded variables to your game. Enjoy bowling guys.

[@carlchilders4813]

For most players, I would agree. This fella has a lot of ball speed. I'm making a comeback, after a long layoff, at age 64. I'm LH, my ball speed is low (around 12.5), and I don't have a lot of revs. I'm finding Urethane to be far superior to Reactive, but I do like the Hammer Purple Reactive. The Purple Urethane and NU Blue are great for me, but I have to fight the hook on the Purple. The NU Blue is polished at this time. I'm thinking about getting a Black Hammer Urethane 78D. My goal would be to go up the boards with it as if I was using a plastic ball. With a slower ball speed, I should have no problem consistently hooking it enough.

[@athlonen]

Something some of the old school bowlers need to think about. The Black Pearl Urethane has the same hardness as the original (Faball) Blue Hammer and Burgundy Hammer. Both of those clocked in at 77-79D, while the rest of the original Hammer lineup clocked in between 75D and 77D. So this should be the same hardness as the entire Faball lineup, and still give the same shape as the Purple Pearl Hammer, as it has the same core. So those that still have the Blue, Blue Pearl, and Burgundy Hammers should feel very comfortable with this ball.

[@markmatroni631]

Well back in the day, hammers and angles were thrown on a LOT less oil than now. I understand what you’re saying though.

[@athlonen]

@@markmatroni631 Agreed. But the hardness level is what I'm getting at, not the performance. When modern day bowlers look at this ball and say "it doesn't hook like the purple pearl hammer!" it is because the Purple Pearl Hammer is a much softer ball, at 73D. We've had harder urethane Hammers before and they perform well, both back then and still now. One of my recent honor scores is with that Blue Hammer, which is still going strong 35 years after buying it. My point is don't let the hardness and comparing it to the Purple fool anyone; this is still a phenomenal ball that handles like the Purple easily. All that really needs to be adjusted is ball speed and angles.

[@barkanellichasingdreams4142]

@@athlonen Still bowling isnt interesting to watch by the normal NON bowling viewer. So this is still not thr way to go. We need to re-think the concept of what bowling should be. We need People with No knowledge be able to understand faster or they Will never be won. Comercials for this that want to watch, and free of Comercials for those that pay. Getting good enough equipment now is hard, cause you need stuff to handle the transition of what is supposed to be an Oil profile. Most times its not what it started out to be. There should just be one rule about how much a ball can pull Oil down the lane. So less bowlers use it to make it harder than it needs to be. The profile im itself Will give you the difficulty level. The cash of bowling is so high, in the pandemic bowle tech i europe just added 20 % on everything. The normal bowler is very older, and young bowlers cant afford it.

[@barkanellichasingdreams4142]

Badly spelled, but i am sure you understand we need to change.

[@athlonen]

@@barkanellichasingdreams4142 People need to understand that bowling is a sport, and not entertainment, first off. That is why the sport has much more respect in Japan, S. Korea, Singapore, Europe, and everywhere else in Asia than here. But that is a different issue altogether than the hardness of a ball. As for the non-bowler, what we had going on with it prior to technology taking a huge leap forward is what we could have. Back when the tour was king, 3 separate bowling shows were on, including Celebrity Bowling, and even the POTUS bowling in the White House. Everyone took the sport seriously up to when home entertainment came about (read: video game consoles and computers) which not only took out bowling, but every other participation sport. Time for it has been eaten up by the First Person Shooter and Co-Op games in the US. Outside the US, bowling is still treated with respect. Case in point: Round 1. Here in the US it's nothing but a huge video arcade with prize drop games, shooter games, and 10 lanes of bowling. In Japan? every place open 24 hours, with the smallest location having no less than 40 lanes. Some have 3 floors of lanes and nearly 100 lanes, and that isn't even including the stadiums. The closest we had to that in the US was the Showboat/Castaways, which had 132 lanes. Now it is a parking lot, a gas station, a Subway restaurant, and a storage unit. Perhaps if those non-bowlers would get off their couch and spend money outside of the latest Nike shoe and PlayStation, then we'd have something to go off of. But that's a lifestyle change that the person has to make, not the sport.

[@frederickwoodard9551]

I am thinking about upgrading my Ebonite Rainbow Black Pearl to a Hammer Urethane ball and I don’t know which one to get. 🙂

[@brandonvanlacken2126]

Great video, thank you for information.

[@wsbproshop]

Thanks! We appreciate it. I think Tanner threw I a bit this last weekend in a tournament, too

[@MatthewJrP]

I think that they are very similar. And it’s up to the buyer of which one to get. If they plan to bowl in the PBA they should get the black if not they should just pick which one they prefer. The blue, black, or purple. Personally I’m gonna get the black hammer even tho I’m not bowling in the PBA

[@wsbproshop]

Love it! Thanks for chiming in. And yeah, the Purple and Black Pearl are definitely pretty close. Tanner seems to think he slightly prefers the Purple for his style, but the Black rolls plenty good.

[@nordattack]

Great comparison. Thanks for this informative video. Did you ever try the Zen U and if so how does it compare to these three?

[@wsbproshop]

Thanks! We appreciate it. Tanner hasn't personally thrown the Zen U, but I can personally say that the Zen U has way more down-lane motion than the Black Pearl. Mostly, it's because the Zen U doesn't read nearly as early, and so stores a ton of energy without bleeding it at the front.

[@nordattack]

@@wsbproshop Thanks. So Zen U is more of a resin reaction then.

[@bamtanner]

The Zen/U has more similarities to the NU Blue and now the IQ78. But Zen/U still is urethane and doesn’t meet the new PBA requirements of being a 78 hardness ball. We could go on and on about urethane and the difference reactions. If you’re looking to get a urethane I would recommend going to your PSO and talking to them abut which of the several urethane/urethane like would be best fit for you and your game.

[@frederickwoodard9551]

I need a better urethane ball for my fill shot. 🙂

[@irishchewiegaming]

Any recommendations for me on any of the urethanes in the market? My avg speed is 16 rev rate around 460 with no thumb one hand release? I play around 25-30 board to start as a right hander and benchmark 15 board as my release point.

[@blinkers88]

Have you ever throw urethane before?

[@wsbproshop]

If you don't bowl in an PBA competitions, I'd probably recommend trying out the Purple Hammer. It's a legendary favorite for a reason, especially for higher-rev players such as yourself. You might get a lot of use out of it!

[@donthompson9862]

Is it More like a Pitch Black Now?

[@wsbproshop]

To our eyes, the Black Pearl seems to read later than a Pitch Black does. Perhaps that's due to the Black Pearl's 78 hardness.

[@donthompson9862]

@wsbproshop Oh Thank you.

[@Sieze_1]

Why is the purple pearl urethane banned in PBA competition?

[@wsbproshop]

It's a long story, but, in short: the PBA instituted a revision to their hardness rules. That, along with a study that they conducted which they said showed urethane hardness dropping 5 points over time, meant that urethane balls for PBA competition need to be at around 78 hardness so that they don't fall below the limit of 73.

[@Sieze_1]

@@wsbproshop Thanks!

[@lesgrosshans2266]

Too many purples on TV.

[@gaka-h3k]

I don't know ball well, but i know that blue pearl is very pro-performance better than other balls. If you are stroker, pls don't use black. because this ball not show effected your hands.😂

[@frederickwoodard9551]

I am just a pure USBC amateur bowler. 🙂

[@frederickwoodard9551]

I live in Ohio. 🙂

[@erikknudson3077]

Bring in ALS, he will show you what to do with black hammer...........

[@wsbproshop]

:D

[@barkanellichasingdreams4142]

Urethan is boring to watch.

[@wsbproshop]

Depends--sometimes, if urethane's the best ball for striking, it's a lot more entertaining than 6 through the face and tons of spare shooting. ;)

[@fredhampton1786]

This video automatically gets a thumb down simply due to the "Fact" that I can safely say that the bowling community is heavier with "Average League" bowlers that have never played on a 39' pattern. Your video states that you are on 39'pattern right? How does this video relate to THS vs what you're talking about here? To hell with what PBA players are using on the tour. Are you bowling on the tour, ever? Then why talk about the PBA and Sport patterns? Is this video for them, no. They have equipment guys and pro level coaches to discuss ball types and lane conditions/patterns. So who is this video for???? Stop the BS.

[@wsbproshop]

Tanner is a PBA member, and does compete in PBA events. So throwing a Black Pearl on a harder oil pattern is mandatory, just as it is for many higher level players in our area and beyond. Most "average league bowlers," as you call them, probably shouldn't be using the Black Pearl on a house shot, so we decided to showcase the ball in a light that's befitting of the ball's intent. This ball isn't for everyone, and it isn't for all situations. Sounds like you fall into that category. Maybe consider the Nu Blue?