In Late March 2024, Motiv introduced one of the most intriguing bowling balls in 2024 - the Motiv Hyper Venom. This bowling ball has been making waves on and off the lanes (basically because of it's pink color), and now we're finally here to delve deep into Motiv Hyper Venom features, performance, and overall impact on your game.
In this Motiv Hyper Venom bowling ball review, we will explore its strengths and weaknesses to find out whether it has the potential to stand out as one of the best bowling balls in 2024.
Motiv Hyper Venom Rating
At BowlingLife, we take pride in precisely evaluating every bowling ball across four critical dimensions: versatility, hook potential, price, and aesthetics. Using our unique 5-pin rating system, we measure each ball's performance on a scale from 0 (the lowest) to 5 (the highest) pins in each category. After thorough testing and analysis, the Motiv Hyper Venom has secured an overall rating of 3.5 pins out of 5. Read further for an inside look at how we arrived at our assessment!
Versatility - 2/5
While the Motiv Hyper Venom excels on medium-dry oil conditions, it does have some limitations in terms of versatility. Its performance on heavy oil patterns is less impressive, as the ball struggles to maintain a consistent reaction without surface adjustments. However, for dry and medium-dry oil patterns, the Hyper Venom proves to be a reliable and effective choice. Its ability to deliver controlled motion with a powerful backend reaction makes it a valuable asset for bowlers facing lighter oil conditions. Despite its constraints on heavier oil, the Hyper Venom remains a strong contender for those who primarily encounter medium to dry lanes.
Hook Potential - 3/5
The Motiv Hyper Venom offers a hook potential rating of three out of five, primarily due to its tendency to struggle in the midlane hooking phase. This ball is designed to provide a sharper breakpoint and significant backend motion, making it effective for creating a strong angle towards the pins. On fresh oil conditions, bowlers may need to adjust to straighter angles to fully capitalize on its backend potential. While its midlane hooking capability may be limited, the Hyper Venom compensates with a powerful backend reaction, making it a suitable choice for bowlers seeking a strong finish down the lane.
Pricing - 4/5
The Motiv Hyper Venom is available on Amazon with prices ranging from $162.95 to $170.79, depending on the weight of the ball. Considering the ball's popularity and outstanding performance on various lane conditions, this price range is fairly competitive. With its exceptional power, control, and eye-catching design, the Motiv Hyper Venom offers great value for bowlers looking to enhance their game without breaking the bank.
Aesthetics - 5/5
The Motiv Hyper Venom earns a perfect five out of five rating from BowlingLife for its striking aesthetics. The bold, bright pink color of the ball immediately commands attention on the lanes, ensuring that it stands out in any bowling alley. The addition of the famous Motiv's Venom snake further enhances its visual appeal, adding a touch of aggression and style to its overall design. Beyond its performance, the Hyper Venom's eye-catching appearance makes it a favorite among bowlers who appreciate both looks and function.
Final Motiv Hyper Venom Rating - 3.5
This Motiv Hyper Venom bowling ball evaluation comes from our fellow testers, but whether this ball can be a valuable addition to your bowling ball arsenal is totally up to you! That's why we invite you to continue reading this article, where we'll explore the ball's specifications in greater detail.
Key Specifications
Coverstock Type: Reactive Pearl
Coverstock Name: Propulsion MXR
Core Type: Symmetrical
Core Name: Gear
Box Finnish: 5500 Grit LSP
Best For: Medium-Dry oil
RG: 2.48
Total Diff: 0.034
Intermediate Diff: 0.000
Definitions
Asymmetrical core - Asymmetric bowling ball deliver sharper, more angular motion when meeting friction.
Symmetrical core - Symmetric bowling balls produce a soft, controllable motion.
Radius of gyration (RG) - The higher RG, the more back-end motion a bowling ball will produce, as high RG ball skids more and tends to conserve more power for the further part of the lane.
Total Diff - the difference between low RG (X axis) and high RG (Y axis).
Intermediate Diff - only found in asymmetrical balls, as it is the difference between the high RG (Y axis) and intermediate RG (Z axis).
First impression
The Motiv Hyper Venom commands attention from the moment you lay eyes on it. The first thing you'll notice about the Motiv Hyper Venom is its bold pink color. But there's more to it than just looks. With its special core and cover, this ball is built to perform like a champ on the lanes. The Gear core and Propulsion MXR Pearl Reactive coverstock work in perfect harmony to deliver unparalleled power and control on medium and dry oil conditions.
Lane Performance
We provided the Motiv Hyper Venom to two of our testers – a speed-dominant one-hander and a rev-dominant two-hander. The objective was to give the ball the opportunity to showcase its strengths across different lane conditions. Thus, we conducted tests on heavy, medium, and dry sport oil patterns, in addition to a typical house shot pattern (THS).
A speed-dominant one-hander particularly enjoyed Motiv Hyper Venom bowling ball on fresh medium oil pattern. The Motiv Hyper Venom enabled the tester to play more straight, even though Hyper Venom was created for more aggressive backend motion, maintaining a controlled motion towards the pocket consistently, without the need for additional surface adjustments on the bowling ball. The Motiv Hyper Venom bowling ball was quite forgiving once the ball exited the oil further right the target, making impressive recovery back to the pocket. Our speed-dominant one-hander tester absolutely loved the Motiv Hyper Venom when the transition happened. It had everything you'd want in a bowling ball – a great hold in midlane, and a powerful backend motion that hits the pins with no mercy.
On heavy oil, our tester removed the polish and added more grit to the surface (2000 Abralon). This allowed him to play with a straighter angles, ensuring more consistent ball reaction down the lane, as the Motiv Hyper Venom was too weak with box finnish. There are definitely better bowling ball options for heavier oil on the market (such as Hammer Black Widow 3.0 or Storm Phaze II), as Motiv Hyper Venom was simply created to excell on oil patterns with less oil. Still, even with more aggressive grit, Motiv Hyper Venom maintained quite impressive backend motion, entering the pins strongly with the right angle, and creating good pin carry that migh impose for some bowlers.
The Motiv Hyper Venom really clicked for our rev-dominant two-hander when tackling a dry oil lane with the out-of-the-box finish. It provided an easy length in the midlane and unleashed a powerful backend motion towards the pins. Our two-hander could even switch things up by moving a bit to the left, slowing down the ball a tad, and gaining extra space to take on those pins.
The Motiv Hyper Venom performed well on a THS as well, although the polish seemed a bit excessive. The rev-dominant two-hander tester wanted some more midlane read and more vcontrollable reaction in the end, so he added 4000 grit to the surface, enabling the ball to glide more smoothly, covering more distance, and maintaining the desired controllable backend motion.
Overall impression
the Motiv Hyper Venom is a game-changer. The Gear core and Propulsion MXR Pearl Reactive coverstock duo worked out great in creating a versatile bowling ball for medium-dry oil, when you're in need for maximum length and big recovery down the lane. Although it is usually not about the looks but about the performance, this time we must noticle that Motiv Hyper Venom is without doubt the best-looking bowling ball of the year so far.
Motiv Hyper Venom Review
In conclusion, the Motiv Hyper Venom earns high marks for its exceptional performance, versatility, and overall value. Even though it was created to excel on medium-dry oil conditions, our testing showed that the Hyper Venom delivers on all fronts. Its combination of the Gear core and Propulsion MXR Pearl Reactive coverstock provides the perfect blend of power and control, making it a top choice for bowlers seeking for a versatile bowling ball when the lanes break down. If you're in the market for a bowling ball that can handle dry parts on the lanes with ease, look no further than the Motiv Hyper Venom.
