900 Global Zen Bowing Ball vs Storm Phaze - The Classroom Extra: A Lesson In Perspective

In this video, I'm going to take a look at the Zen vs the Phaze and examine why the Zen has been the hottest ball on the planet for a solid year while the Phaze was widely disliked just 6 short years ago despite the two being remarkably similar.

Hey everybody, welcome to a completely self serving and mostly useless video that’s just here to prove a point, it’s a comparison of the 900 Global Zen Bowling Ball to the original run Phaze. Storm, Turbo, BowlersMart , Coolwick, Storm Roto Grip Bowling Balls for Sale and Royal Crest Lanes in Lawrence make my videos possible. Follow my links at the end of the video or in the description to Bowler’s Mart for your bowling needs, and don’t forget my code Rosdahl10 for 10% off any order at Coolwick. SRGBBFS on Facebook is also the premiere destination for all things SPI, specializing on used, rare, and overseas equipment.

The Unpopular Original Storm Phaze Bowling Ball

In 2015 we got the Phaze, a really polarizing pearl ball that didn’t fit the mold of what everyone expected from a pearl, or what they thought a pearl was or should be, and it was widely disliked and panned as a flop after a lot of promotion and fanfare. The reaction to the Phaze nearly derailed the Phaze 2, which was not popular early in its life due to the Phaze 1’s reception, and was nearly discontinued before it started to gain traction quite literally in tournament bags. Late last year we got the Zen, a quite strong, rolly, and smooth ball that felt oddly familiar, and which singlehandedly backed up production for months due to the insane popularity. It’s easy to see why, it’s not a case of hype or marketing or promotion that’s driving it, it’s use from the bowlers, it’s success with the ball. Being a 900 Global release before the official merger with Storm and Roto at the beginning of the year, all it had to really work with was a sharp look and a cool name that got it into enough hands to get the ball rolling like my puns so far. Despite Utah cranking them out literally as fast as possible, it was Impossible for several months early in 2021 to keep up with demand, despite some areas still being shut down for bowling due to covid. It’s been so popular and so successful that it’s not even hip or trendy to bash it or try to downplay or hate it, it’s like hating on the Purple Hammer, it just makes you sound like an idiot or a hipster.

The Storm Phaze Bowling Ball Had High Expectations

Enter the Phaze, when it released, it was probably overhyped if we’re being honest, it was a shiny pearl that wasn’t the typical pearl at the time. Even just 6 short years ago, pearls were virtually all medium strength covers and really flippy, other times they’d tried stronger pearls just rarely worked out because the Virtual Gravity Nano Pearl wasn’t that popular or successful, stronger slash smoother pearls all got mediocre or just bad reception because they weren’t boomerangs. This is the original AX-16 cover, not R2S Pearl from the later batches slash overseas release, and it got its name because this new cover formula phased pretty heavily, that’s what they call it when the colors get white or you see those white streaks or swirls in the ball. What really pisses me off is that it didn’t get hated because it’s a bad ball, just like the Pro Motion, it was disliked because it’s not what people were expecting, which is fair to a certain degree. What’s really wild though is that we virtually had the Zen 6 years ago, it was very unpopular, now they basically release the same ball with new colors and a new name and after a year are just finally being able to keep up with demand. This core is obviously a winner, the Phaze 2 just turned 5 after nearly being discontinued the same year it was released, and I wish I could say I wasn’t surprised this one wasn’t popular.

Pay Attentions to Bowling Ball Motions

The bottom line is to pay more attention, learn more about ball reaction and ball tech, it’s not just pearl vs solid vs hybrid and symmetric vs asym, it’s a whole lot more involved and a whole lot deeper than that. Having been a big fan of the Phaze and now the Pro Motion that got axed because of sheer ignorance, it bothers me on several levels because we then end up missing out on getting looks and reactions like this because they aren’t popular. If something isn’t popular, they aren’t going to make it. Yeah they build reactions but they’re still a business, and if people don’t like certain reactions, it’s halfway between a business decision and a practical one, if a reaction isn’t that popular, it stands to reason that’s because it’s not good. However, we’ve gotten a lot of good reactions that we’ve ended up losing because people just don’t give anything a chance anymore. I highly doubt we’ll ever see the SPEC cover again, the Crux Prime was amazing and the Pro Motion was even better, something that people are now finally realizing, but very few took the time to understand the cover and use it properly. It’s very worthwhile and will teach you an incredible amount if you take time to work with and understand the balls you buy, even if you don’t really match up with them or don’t think you match up with them. Rant off, thanks for watching and may the strikes be with you.

900 global zen bowling ball

The S77 Response™ Pearl Coverstock was the obvious choice to follow up on the success of the S77 Response™ Solid coverstock. The Pearl version of this cover will provide the most skid/flip reaction we have ever put in the 800 Series. The Zen™ will be a great ball to open up your angles with on medium-heavy patterns.

The Meditate™ Core is the biggest core we have ever put into a bowling ball!! A bigger core means more hitting power combined with a more consistent reaction. Throughout testing the Meditate™ Core provided that wide “footprint on the lane that all bowlers love to see. The Zen™ pushes the limits of core dynamics.

900 Global Zen Bowling Ball

$159.95

Coverstock: S77R™ Pearl
Weight Block: Meditate™ Symmetric
Factory Finish: 1500 Polish
Flare Potential: 4-5″
Radius of Gyration (RG): 15lbs – 2.49
Differential (Diff): 15lbs – .051
Intermediate Differential (Diff): 15lbs – N/A