Roto Grip Defiant Soul Bowling Ball

I throw this ball on THS, and I recommend this ball because of the forgiveness it gives. I drilled this ball with the pin above my ring finger with the CG in line. It's very aggressive and opens the backend of the lanes up. This ball reads the fronts so smoothly; it never jumps or reads early. I left the out of the box finish on the ball so I could play deeper in the oil. When I put a little polish on the ball, it allows me to open the backend of the lane up giving me more room for error, and still carriers great. I have seen nothing but great results with this ball; the Defiant Soul would be an awesome addition to your arsenal

Defiant Soul PAP – 5 over and ½ up Ball Speed: 15-17 mph Rev Rate 300-350 Right Handed Layout 4x4x2 Surface Preparation: Polished What I wanted from this Ball: Clean throughout the front portion of the lanes creating hold when the heads dried up a bit and recovery when the oil carried down to the outside portion of the lanes. Result: Exactly what I expected. Good length and some recovery with a consistent arc. I tested this ball on our at home house condition on our wood lanes. The house pattern is heavy oil 16-18 ft. and buffed down to 32 ft. Our typical house pattern is not an easy pattern and usually creates carry down on the outsides of the lane and a massive snap in the middle. An out of bounds typically forms quickly and the mid-lane becomes very dry. The Defiant Soul is a hybrid cover-stock and I tested this ball on a fresh oil pattern immediately after the lanes were oiled. I started at my typical area which is 30-35 with my feet and my target around 15 board sending the ball out to the 5 board. The Defiant Soul was clean through the front part of the lane and picked up about the 30ft area down lane and gave me a great arc to the pocket. I tested this ball for 6 games. After each game I moved one board left with my stance and kept the same target area until the 4th-6th game required moving my target to 20 and sending the ball out to the 8 board due to the carry-down. This ball continued to roll clean through the front part of the lanes and kept its arcing motion on the backend. I am very impressed with this ball on our house pattern. I was able to get the ball through our dryer mid-lane conditions and even get some recovery when I sent it wide. Compared to my Defiant and my Defiant Edge, this ball isn’t as angular as my defiant but much cleaner through the front portion of the lanes. Compared to the Defiant Edge, my Defiant Soul did tend to pick up a little sooner and not flip as hard on the backend as expected on our lane condition. This is a great addition to the Defiant series and is perfect addition for my in-between ball with my Defiant and Defiant Edge. I have Drilled up 6 Defiant Souls for various customers and have only positive feedback. This is an awesome ball! I highly recommend to anyone purchasing the Defiant Soul first and deciding which direction to go from there when drilling up Defiant series. Sean Baker Roto Grip/Storm Pro Shop Staff

Defiant Soul PAP - 4 3/16 over 1/4 up Ball Speed 17-18 mph Rev Rate 300-350 Right Handed Layout 35 x 5 x 35 Surface Preparation: OOB What I was looking for: I wanted this ball to be very strong and roll smooth. A ball I can use when there is a lot of oil to just hook and be strong and predictable. What I got: This is a hook monster! The hybrid cover really helps this ball store some energy and that’s also why I went with a 5” Pin to Pap. I by no means have a ton of hand but to throw this on house conditions I had to stand in front of the ball return. Once there I had a ton of room and all I had to do was throw the ball right and watch it turn the corner and crush the pins. This is going to be probably my benchmark ball for when I go out o nationals. This and the Disturbed are going to make a great pair on almost any heavier volume shot. This fills the shoes of the original Defiant very well. It is a little cleaner through the front part of the lane and is a little more angular but doesn’t seem to trade length for overall less hook. It creates a little better entry angle in my opinion. Have a little SOUL. Steven Fagan Storm Pro Shop Staff Lexington, KY

I tested the Defiant Soul on our 40 ft. house pattern, at box finish (4000 abralon), and on Kegel “middle of the road” navigation pattern (39 ft.) On the Kegel nav. pattern, I found the Soul to be my best piece. It came off the pattern with a strong motion to the pocket without overreacting. If I missed a board or two right, it still made a strong recovery and carried. It smoothed out the pattern for me, where others gave me more of an over/under reaction. This ball is great on our 40 ft house pattern as well. It’s a great compliment to the original Defiant. This ball gets down lane and makes a slightly later, stronger turn to the pocket. When the Defiant starts to read the mid lane too soon, I use this piece and it’s like having a fresh shot again! The Soul has a very strong back end motion to the pocket. It is always in my bag, for THS or tournament patterns. I will not be leaving this ball home. It is a must have for your arsenal! Carol Teel Roto Grip Amateur Staff Member

I tested my Defiant Soul on my 39-foot house shot. This is the latest release featuring the Paragon weight block. This Defiant is offered with a 4000 grit Abralon finish Hybrid cover. With this version, I was able to play 2-3 boards deeper than with the Defiant Edge. My Soul is drilled with the middle fingers where the pin was with the CG in the palm and the mass bias in the strong position. This ball produced about 5-6 inches of flare. With the hybrid cover, the ball skidded nicely through the heads on the fresh oil. Once the ball encountered some friction, it revved up nicely and made a predictable controlled move to the pocket. ?As with all the Defiant balls, it drove through the pin deck and devastated the rack. The Soul has a very predictable reaction, and with the 2.49 RG and .054 differential makes it a great addition for the lower rev medium speed league player who needs that little extra to make the corner. What I enjoyed the most about this ball is the controlled hooking reaction. It produced a nice dramatic hook to the pocket and destroyed the pins. This will be the ball of choice on medium and heavy league and tournament conditions. The Soul is a nice ball to round out the Defiant line. This ball is a must have and a nice addition to tournament players. Mike Johnston Roto Grip Staff

Ball specs – 15 lbs 4 oz, 3.45 top weight, and 3.5 -inch pin. The Defiant Soul was drilled using the dual angle method with a layout of 4 1/4 inch pin distance, 55 degree drill angle and a 65 degree VAL angle. Using Storm’s drilling methodology the layout is 4 1/4 X 4 1/2 X 3 7/8 pin buffer. An X-hole was needed and was placed at the P2.5 location. The surface was left OOB which is 4000 abralon. The HP4 line Defiant Soul, which is a hybrid, was rolled on a left over 41 foot, 24 micro-liter house condition. I threw some shots to get lined up and ended up standing 32 and targeting at 16. Once lined up the Soul made the house pattern play very easy as it struck on 16 of 18 shots. The Soul was clean through the fronts, picked up appropriately in the mids and unleashed a hard arc on the backend. The Soul had plenty of energy on the backend with hit and carry being exceptional. When comparing the Soul with the original Defiant, the Soul had more length and a stronger move down lane. When comparing the Soul with the Defiant Edge the Soul picked up sooner and was not as angular on the backend. The overall hook of the Soul was close to the Defiant and a little more than the Edge. The Defiant Soul is a great fit between the original Defiant and the Defiant Edge. If you are only going to get one ball in the HP4 Defiant line, the Soul may be your best pick for medium/heavy to heavy conditions. John Brodersen RG amateur staff

The Defiant Soul is the most readable bowling ball that I have thrown in years. The layout that I used was 60 X 5 ½ X 70 or pin under the fingers with mass bias in the strong position roughly 1 ½ from the center line with no hole. My axis point is 5 5/8 over and ¾ up with not a lot of axis tilt and my ball speed is around 15 mph. The Defiant Soul’s arching nature will come in play on the short to medium and tough/flatter sports patterns for me where readability is key. The first pattern that I threw the Defiant Soul on was a typical house pattern with low volume and about 36 feet in length. The Defiant Soul gave me the best reaction on the fresh than any other ball that I have thrown before. The over/under that I usually have was gone! I know that house patterns are easier but for me being a tweener the first game is usually adventure! The Defiant Soul is a readable bowling ball but has enough guts to throw pins around. The next pattern that I used the Defiant Soul on the Viper pattern because it blended out the over under at the break point on the fresh. The Defiant Soul is smooth enough to blend the wet/dry but is strong enough to move left and follow the breakdown and will get through some of the carry down. I started the day playing around ten with modest angles through the front to the last game (game 8) playing between 20 and 15 with confidence. For me, the Defiant Soul is not a send the ball right and watch it turn sideways type of ball. Out of the box the Defiant Soul will go longer than the Disturbed but not as long as a Shatter. The Disturbed and Shatter are more violent at the break point while the Defiant Soul is more readable. The defiant Soul is my benchmark ball and will be in my bag whenever I bowl. Dan Schaden Jr Storm/Roto Grip Pro Shop Staff Vise Grip Staff

Hand: Left Ball Speed: 16-17mph Ball Weight: 15lbs PAP: 5 left 7/16 up Degrees of Tilt: 17 Layout: 4.5 x 4.5 x 3.5 The Defiant Soul is my favorite out of the 3 Defiants. With the surface at 4000 polish on a typical league night the Defiant Soul gives me that in between look of the Defiant and Defiant Edge to where it is just even enough to control like the Defiant but have the strong down lane motion of the Defiant Edge. I drilled both the Defiant and Defiant Soul the same with the pin in the ring finger and mass bias about a 1 ½ inches away from my thumb. The Defiant Soul gives me about a 5 board stronger difference from the Defiant which was surprising! When I used the Defiant Soul on our kegel sport league which at the time was 41 feet I did not get a good read with it at 4000 out of the box finish so I changed it to 2000 abralon and the ball came to life on the long pattern. I was able to play more up the boards; around the 10 board and watch the ball move to the pocket with an even reaction. If you are a fan of the Defiant series this is a MUST to have in your bag! If you have any questions about the Defiant Edge email me at garrett.richardson@pinolebowlerssupply.com Garrett Richardson Storm/Roto Grip Amateur Staff Vise Inserts Amateur Staff Pinole Bowler’s Supply www.facebook.com/grstorm www.facebook.com/pinolebowlerssupply www.stormbowling.com www.rotogrip.com www.viseinserts.com

WRECKER I took on a fresh 41' house shot. My game is that I'm a tweener with about 300rpm and 15.5 mph ball speed. When I tried to throw this ball around the 10th board out to the 5th board with my lack of ball speed, the Wrecker went sideways and finished high or through the nose. So I thought about a surface change. I took a 4000 pad and hand sanded the Wrecker to dull it down a little. After sanding it, I played the lanes 10 to 5 and the ball was a little earlier but the backend motion was a lot smoother. So I then moved left to about 13 to 5 and the extra head oil helped me get the extra length I needed with a strong but continuous backend. These latest balls from Roto Grip are going to be great additions to the best ball line on the planet. Great job Utah!!!! For me this ball REALLY came to life after the surface change. Never be scared to change the surface of any bowling ball to get a different reaction for your game.

DISTURBED WOW!!!! I know this isn't a good review but WOW... Well let me get started, I took this ball to bowl on a 39' house shot. When I tested this ball, I had six other people on this pair because I wanted the lanes to get dried up faster so I could see how long I could use it. I used this ball for about six games before it got to be too early. I'm a tweener around 300 rpm with about 15.5 mph ball speed. For a dull box finish ball, this Disturbed is not disturbing. It'll make your competition Disturbed. This ball doesn't read early but it never seems to lose any energy from the end of the pattern to the pins. I kept this ball in the oil around the fifteenth board and went out to the fifth board and it was so strong when it got to the backends. On the 40' sport pattern, I really liked what this ball had to offer...clean through the fronts and a strong backend motion. I generated more room with the Disturbed than I could with most of my other Roto Grip equipment. Then going back to the house shot after a small surface change with just a little Reacta Clean, the ball started going a little longer with the same strong backend movement. I feel like with the backend movement of the Disturbed it'll be a great ball for any heavier house shots and most all of the heavier sport patterns.

DEFIANT SOUL I took my Defiant Soul out for the real test today. I bowled on a 39' house shot. I'm a tweener rev rate around 300, ball speed 15 mph. I first took my Defiant and played 12 to 5 and it looked very good with a strong arc to the pocket. So I then took my Defiant Soul and played the lanes in the same area. Super clean through the fronts with a great big move to the pocket. Talk about hit, this ball will slap pins all over the place. I'm really impressed with this ball. I kept on moving left and never lost my backend motion. The longer I kept it in the oil, the stronger and more angular the backend reaction was. As always, Roto Grip equipment is so easy and acceptable to surface changes. I used some Reacta Clean and Reacta Shine on this ball and it just made it cleaner with more backend motion. It just got stronger and stronger. This ball made me look like I had a lot more hand. I also used it on a 39' sport pattern and took it back down to the box finish. I threw it around 9 out to 6, 7 and the ball didn't disappoint. Clean through the front and strong backend. I can see this ball traveling a lot with me to tournaments. But I don't think you could go wrong with the Defiant Soul for almost all house patterns.