Ebonite Predator Bowling Ball

i pulled this one out looking for a more even rolling more predictable roll on sport patterns and thats exactly what i got. i have the pin 3'' below the bridge and the cg kicked way out. this gives me strong midlane and decent backend. i like this ball because it does whatever i do to it. what i mean by this is if i want to stand 40 and with a lot of lift and tilt, the ball will let me do this consistently. also if i wanna stand 10 to 15 with my hand under it, i can that too. i think the strong midlane roll takes away from its hitting power but thats ok. on the sport patterns im happy just to get to the pocket consistently. i suggest if u have anything old and u bowl on sport patterns to just plug it and drill it to roll early and be even on the backend. this gives me a lot more confidence knowing were my ball will go. this allows me to make clearer and better shots. just my opinion. if u see any old ebonite ball from the cat series(predator, puma, cougar) i suggest picking one up and

This ball cuts hard out of the box. I am a medium speed, low rev bowler in my opinion and this ball hooks like crazy. I shot my 300 with this ball and many 700 series. My only complaints are that this ball lookes alot of its sharp hook in heavy to super heavy and that this ball requires regular upkeep. I have to say that for my bowling style, this ball works well on all other conditions and axis tilt adjustment can easily be used to change ball reaction. For instance, I soak my in hot water and dishwashing liquid about once a month, clean it immediatey after every three games, and wipe it off after each throw.

This ball started out great for me, then it went down hill. As many people have stated, this ball is a sponge to oil. I used cleaners, I used machines, I used pro shops, nothing helps for long. The ball is great the first game, then it fails on you in the last 2. If you are looking for a ball to use as a spare ball, this is it, but don't rely too much on it for pocket shots. Also, try to avoid the wood lanes, it will make your ball look like the moon with all the pits and craters you'll get, best on synthetic; if there is a best for this ball. Recomendation for a great pocket ball with power and accuracy, the Hammer Razor Blade.

Bowlerkid, you didn't leave an email address so I could explain what needs to be done to bring your Red Predator back to life! If bowlingballreviews will allow me to, I will try this way to help you. You are experiencing ball death, as your cover is exposed directly to oil without the protection of polish, the cover clogs-up with Platisizer over a period of 90 games and the extent of cloging goes deeper than a resurface could reach. The Pastisizer in the cover joined by the particle is what makes your ball grip the lane, as Plastisizer comes to the surface, the ball looses it's ability to read the lanes! Ebonite has developed a process called the Hook-Again system which consists of a plastic cone in 2 seperate half's, when the ball is placed in this cone and it is sealed, a sand-kittie litter compound is poured over the top of the ball and is shaken till the entire cover of the ball is covered! If left in the cone for a minimum of 48 hours, Ebonite claims a 97% recovery of all reaction

i posting because i want to know if anybody has any suggestions on how to bring this ball back to life. it WAS a really nice ball now it performs as well on the lanes as a 80 year old chick in bed. i was hoping that somebody went through the same thing i went through. should i get it resurfaced? is there a special cleaner or cleaning method? help! dont have enough words to complete the entry so dont mind the following crap: a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a<scrip

this ball was so nice out of the box. i used it for about 1year and a half. It started to show signs of aging. about 3 months later i was getting a real crappy reaction. this ball doesnt hook at all. I tried sanding it and it was worse. I just put it away. Its a nice ball in the beginning but now its garbage. It was worth the money though, as it brought my average up. but a little while ago, i tried using it and it would hook ok on normal lanes. but it would hit like a bag of marshmellows. i could throw my shoe down there and knock more pins down than that ball, but i like my shoes. but hey, its seen better days. defenitly bad in the long run.

This ball was awesome, you can throw this thing hard as you can(w/accuracy!!) and get awesome scores. Play the 2nd arrow on right, or inbetween the 2 and 3 on the right, either one will do. Will do good on all lanes. Get a towel and wipe oil off EVERY THROW! This ball is like a sponge to oil, and if u don't it will soak it up and stop reacting right. This is a HIGH MAINTANANCE PARTICLE BALL!!!!!!! I really like this ball, and i can throw it hard on oil and still get strikes and spares

This is truly a good ball if its used right. I think its meant for a stroker. If you put a lot of revs on it it gets jumpy and youll leave some ugly shots. The people who pick this ball and say its crappy probably didnt pick the right ball. This ball isnt for everyone. I bowled my highest series with this ball, 720. One more thing. Sometimes you may throw a perfect shot and this ball will somehow leave an 8-10 split. Its really a pain in the butt but its ok, since i do have such good games with it.

It looks great in practice, 2 games later the line that you were rolling before is history. I think it is a good ball if you want performance, but for a long time ball it just doesn't cut it. The other Cats work okay. Like the Tiger, Pantera. It Reacts just like the Aggression. My highest series out of league with the Predator is a 684, the ideal lane condition is carrydown. So if you are looking for ball for tournament and heavy oil this is the ball for you other than that it's a really good ball that dies out pretty soon.

well i used the demo day lay-out, pin below the ring finger and cg directly below under the midline, 3-4" pin the ball rolls very trueand hits the pins with great power. with this balls coverstock it will always get through those tough heavy oil conditions. the demo-day layout works great for me because it allows the ball to work the most part which allows me to focus on what i need to do more. this ball gives you the confedence that it will come back from any part of the lane. this ball has claws if you are looking for one for heavy oil. now that i have used the ball for awhile it is key to keep up with cleaning this ball and just like all the particle balls of today it is important to do regular maintance on it, i find that cleaning it then using a rejuvinator or small space heater to get out the oil and then top it off with a retouch with whatever grit sand paper you like best helps to keep this ball and not lose its punch in oil.

I had a pretty beat up Monster 12 lb and got a TI Messenger 12 lb but the Messenger with a polished surface had the same or almost the same hooking power as the Monster with a rough surface. I then checked this site and looked for a medium to heavy oil ball since the Messenger was listed as medium to light oil. Well as soon as I got the Predator it was clearly a medium to heavy oil better hooker than the Messenger and I had no problem whatsoever in adjusting to the changing lane conditions as the oil wore down troughout the series. I like this ball very much, it is very consistent for me and finishes with great power not hooking until the last third of the lane.

This ball is a very virstile ball that I really like. This is a really hard hitting ball and I have not seen anyone not like this ball or find a lane pattern. I know taht my ball speed is slow but I still love this ball. I have also seen people with really fast ball speeds throw this ball well. I would use this ball anywere. The only place that I would not use this ball is if the oil carried down and their is no backend. This ball soaks up oil very quickly. This is one of the best balls that I have ever had, and I would recomend it to anyone.<s

This ball is excellent whether you are a beginner or a high average league bowler, this ball performs very well. It has a good range in styles and shots whether you are a cranker or a stroker, and you like to play across the lane and hook over or play like I do and go up the gutter and bring it over. This ball is excellent and worth a hell of a lot more than what you pay. Just make sure you maintain it and resurface it after no more than 300 games. Congrats to Ebonite for another success on the Cat line.

The predator overall is good ball for the money. The way I throw it I can miss by 1 or 2 boards either way and it will still find the pocket. Since getting this ball my average went from a 175 to a 185 and I'm starting to get 600's almost everytime out Incl. my top series, 672. But it's not very good on a sport shot unless you put a lot of revs on it. Also it seems like about once every game you will throw a perfect ball but the 7 pin will stay standing. But it has a lot of carry on balls light in the pocket. And for only 100 bucks it is definatly worth the money.

I liked this ball and used it quite a bit during the 2001 - 2002 bowling season. I shot 700 my first series with it on my local houses hardest pair of lanes. The Predator was a killer for most of a season but then it started to fade. Towards the end it just didn't have the finish that it had new. This was my first experience with a Particle ball that was burnt up. I've since owned other particle equipment but try to limit their use for this very reason. Needless to say that even though I liked this ball I had no use for a burnt up ball. I sold it on Ebay for that reason. While this ball was fresh it was a killer and worked well. Resurfacing didn't seem to work well with this ball either. Limit it's use and you'll be ok.

It's a great ball for holding longer but still has a mad hook. It's got aggression that's under control. Like I said it's my second to my most aggressive. It might be different to other bowlers but this is how I felt about it. The Predator is just a great ball for both med and heavy oil. I found it to be very versatile. It can also pick up alot of spare and splits when angled just right. Nice even arch is what I found it to do if you take your thumb to the right enough. However, with this ball you really need to make sure you keep up your ball speed.

I HAVE HAD MINE FOR 1 year now, and i have had it polished only twice, it still works the same way as when i first got it this is my prefered strike ball, i use a Columbia arc to tear me a good track usually around the 2 arrow, and then i play 2-4 rounds with my predator, before i switch to the sparkle predator, that combo can pretty mutch carrie me trough a tournament, i carry 6 balls around but i almost never use the other 3 all in all. if you polish this ball from the start you will have a fantastic ball for atleast a couple of years and at a really great price too

this ball is so forgiving, it doesnt really matter where i throw it as long as im within a few boards of my mark.. probably because i crank the hell out of the ball.. but anyways, it comes back from anywhere but its horrible on dry lanes... i guess i really dont like the fact that its an ebonite regency instead of a predator.... even though its the same exact ball... i had this ball in my closet for a year maybe and then i brought it back out for a few practice games and had a 246 and it was one of the worst games ive ever played.. i just threw the ball out there and it came back to the pocket and carried.. if you get it too deep it can really recover, its kinda nice

I wanted to try a particle ball without spending the big money. I picked up my predator last year had it drilled standard Ebonite Medium Arc drilling pattern. Right away this thing out hooked everything else in my bag. I soon after shot my highest series of 752. The following weeks I was shooting rather well with another 700 and some 670's. About 60 games after I bought the ball it just quit hooking. Since then I have tried everything from washing it to getting it redrilled for stronger reaction. All of which have worked for about 6 games or so. Then its back to the same thing. No hook.

I drilled this one rev-leverage(33/8x4) with balance hole in the thumb positive quadrant.It was my intent to use it on fresh oil in box condition.While it was adequate for this purpose I grew tired of having to force it through the fronts with superhuman ball speed and so I sanded it finer with a green scotch-brite pad.This made the ball more user friendly.After a while I decided to compound the finish to remove the sanding lines just to see what it would do.This is when the ball really came alive.Now it gets through the fronts with ease,makes a hard but predictable arc to the pocket,and hits with a thud like a sack of potatoes slamming into a brick wall.No messengers with this one, the pins just seem to lie down and roll around.Not very exciting at all,that is until you look at the final score.If you are looking for a nice control ball for difficult conditions this may be the one.If you want a predictable oil ball it also may fit the bill.I love it in its current surface for use on ca

OK SO THE OTHER BALL I TESTED AT DEMO DAYS WERE GOOOD, BUT WHAT A POS THIS THING IS. EVEN ON THE WET FLAT SHOT THIS BALL STARTED TURNING RIGHT OFF UR HAND. IT GETS UP IN THE BACK BUT IT DOESNT HIT FOR BEANS. HAD TO MOVE DEEP NO MATTER WHAT WITH THIS ONE, BUT WHEN IT GOT BACK IT HAD ABSOLUTELY NO HIT. DEAD FLUSHED THE BALL TWO SHOTS IN A ROW, AND LEFT THE APPLE AND AN 8 10. THAT WAS ENUF TO CONVINCE ME. THIS ONE MIGHT BE GOOD AXIS LEVERAGED TO DELAY THE ROLL AND MAYBE STORE SOME ENERGY. BUT I WONT PAY THE PRICE TO SEE. THIS WAS THE LAST BALL I THREW AT DEMO DAYS AND IT REMINDED ME WHY I LIKED EBONITES.(YEAH RIGHT) I GAVE IT FIVE PINS CUZ I LIKED THE COLOR AND ITS A SHADE BETTER THAN A HOUSE BALL. BUT OTHER THAN THAT DONT WASTE UR TIME. IF I WANT TO THROW GARBAGE ILL TAKE MY AMF ENFUEGO THANKS WHICH AT LEAST WILL HALFWAY HIT WHEN IT GETS TO THE POCKET.

The Ebonite Predator is a great ball for the price..it may just be mine that hits like a wet paper towel, because it is only 14 lbs, (got it for free) , it hooks like it has a motor in it, but hits the pins and just dies. It also may be since it is 14 pounds that i rev the heckl out of it that it hooks so much, but i like it. Can be used for a variety of shots, but has to hit the pocket very square to kick the 8 pin. Dont polish this ball, kills the hook, and loses even more power. Great ball for the price, but get over 14 lbs.

I drilled the ball yesterday and played 5 games. Its so amazing on heavy-oil. I stood at 20 and target 15. It came back to pocket very very nicely and dead on. I tried outside standing at 15 and target between 1and 2 arrow, the ball went brooklyn. I guess the ball flied as soon as it hit dry area. Be careful that the ball eats oil like a sucker, so fast that you couldn't believe. I took the ball out of the box without polish. After 5 games, the ball shines on me. Still I love the ball. rated 9 out of 10.

Man, does this ball hit hard and carry thru the pins! I don't play down and in, so I throw hard up the boards around board #3, which is risky. The backend is awesome on this ball, and Ebonite rates it to go early, but I don't see it. It's defintely not a spareball, and you can't use it to hit the 3-10 because it does not deflect a bit after hitting the 3 on the right. I had 4 straight Brooklyns with it. Soaks up oil and dirt like you wouldn't believe! I rolled 3 games with it and the coverstock was scarred in a few places. I bought some Blackmagic cleaner and buffed it and it looks good as new (save for the scarring) and the cover's tacky. I will say I haven't rolled on dry lanes with it yet. I'm afraid to. Probably can't play the same way I do at my center. Highly recommend this ball, though.

New, this ball is really unlike any ball I've thrown before (I also throw a Super Power, Complete Chaos and Extreme Chaos). I have a medium RG drilling on it and typically use it on an overwalled shot - long and heavy oil inside of 10 (right side) and light oil outside, dry backends. Factory finished, this ball sails through the heavy stuff and makes a hard charge left when it hits dry. It never stops rolling through the backends. I've never had such pin action - I consistently shoot the head pin to the left side board and back accross the lane on most hits and I rarely used to send messengers. Drawbacks: when the lane breaks down, you need to find oil or the ball will use up it's energy and leave 10 pins (if you can get it to the pocket). One other major problem I have with Ebonite is their "hook monsters" seem to soak up A LOT of oil in a short amount of time, moreso than other manufacturers. This ball is no different. After about 10-15 games, it acted like a much differe