Hammer Obsession Tour Ball Review by Jeff Ussery

Layout: 60 degrees x 5 1/2" x 40 degrees

RG: 2.48"

Differential: .034"

M/B: .013"

Surface: 1000 grit sanded

Core shape: Asymmetric

Hammer's new Obsession series balls create a dual launch using two different core designs for the high-performance cateogry. The Obsession Tour will create a unique reaction that will allow many players to stand closer to the dry and be great for higher rev players. It uses an updated version of the Tour cover found on the Web Tour balls. Obsession Tour features DOT technology, which allows you to drill anywhere making this ball more durable than anything on the market.

I drilled this Obsession Tour with my standard pin up drilling and no real expectations on ball motions. I did think I would like this one better than the Obsession with the stronger core shape. I tend to like some of these lower mass bias, lower differential balls at times. After two poor games to start my sport league session last week, I went to the car to grab anything I hadn't thrown yet. I found three balls sitting in the car with zero shots on them and happened to take this one in. Back to the lanes and a pure guess on what to do, I was actually able to shoot my first sanctioned sport shot 300 game with this new ball - first 12 shots out of the box!

Obsession Tour is a very, very fast revving but slow responding type of ball. Heavy handed players are going to love this option when playing closer to the wet/dry line on standard house shots and some sport shots. It's also extremely predictable on tricky sport shots due to it's slow response time off of the friction. Obsession Tour is one that we'll definitely be recommending to our two-hand/no-thumb players as well. It's not often that they get a low rg option that doesn't go sideways off of the backend. Obsession Tour is the perfect blend of hook/predictable motion/strength for medium to high revolution players. It won't be often that we'll recommend this one to our lesser revolution players. They'll prefer the other Obsession that's available from Hammer.

I haven't touched the cover on this ball for obvious reasons. With the Obsession Tour using a version of the original Tour cover from the Web series, you will need a bit of oil in the front of the lane to get this one to the breakpoint. But once it clears the front, you'll know exactly where it's heading. There's just no surprises in ball motion to the Obsession Tour. That's much of what customers loved about the Web Tour that was out a couple of years ago.

Hammer's new Obsession Tour is available at Total Bowling Gear now!