Motiv Purple Tank Bowling Ball Features:
The development process of this ball has taken years and was a pet project throughout that time. Now, three and a half years later, Motiv has a urethane that is a game changer, a urethane worth releasing because nobody else has this.
Before you ask, no, this is not Microcell. The MCP technology was a product of the development journey to the Purple Tank, but the finished product is not Microcell. While the core is the same as the Desert Tank, the Purple is a vastly different ball. The urethane shell makes the Purple earlier, slower, and more forward down lane than it’s gold cousin.
Due to the nature of this incredibly strong urethane shell and the weak Flux core, layout changes result in massive differences in ball motion. A pin down layout has very little differential and will not flare much. With this, you’ll see a cleaner, slower, weaker shape that should remind you of “old school urethane.” A pin up layout, with a higher drilled differential, will be stronger, faster, and more total hook.
The box surface on the Purple Tank is (at the shiniest) comes out of the box at 1000 grit. The Purple Tank has a great ability to hold the factory surface for long periods of time. However, a huge benefit of the Purple is that the cover is far more tunable than an ordinary urethane. Tom Smallwood used a shiny purple later in blocks because his ball hooks so much. Shinier purples will be an incredible trick for rev dominant bowlers and people bowling on high friction surfaces.
PBA superstar Tom Smallwood recently posted on social media, “MOTIV has the best purple urethane ball!!! Not sorry.” That pretty much sums it up, but let’s break down why there is so much hype over the new Purple Tank.
Urethane cover stocks have become very popular in recent years because they allow you to play a straighter line right on top of the friction created by other balls breaking down the oil pattern. This might not sound exciting to a bowler wanting to see big hook, but from a competitive perspective, it can give you the ability to play a part of the lane no one else is on.
The challenge with all urethane cover stocks is that they do not continue nearly as well as reactive resin balls, which is why reactive resin is most popular. Often, bowlers leave corner pins with typical urethane balls because the cover technology doesn’t create the same drive through the pocket.
And now we are getting to why the new Purple Tank is so special. The continuation it displays is unbelievable for a urethane ball. The MOTIV Purple Urethane borrows some tricks from Microcell Polymer technology to create aggressive traction and impressive control, then backs that up with continuation that clears the pin deck. And that’s the bottom line – strike percentage. Better continuation means fewer corner pins and more strikes.
