ROTO GRIP - Rising Star Review

[John Brodersen]

Ball specs – 15 lbs 2 oz, 2.78 top weight, and a 3-inch pin.

The Rising Star was drilled with a 4.75-inch pin distance, a 60-degree drill angle and a 30-degree VAL angle. This put the pin above and to the right of the ring finger with the CG bumped to the right about 1.5 inches of the grip centerline. Using Storm’s layout methodology the layout is 4.75 X 4.75 X 2. An extra hole was drilled at the P2.5 location. The cover stock was left OOB.

I initially threw the Rising Star against the Dark Star for comparison sake. The condition was a broken down 42 foot sports pattern. The Rising Star surprised me on the first couple of shots with how strong the mid-lane read was. After an adjustment left (to get lined up) the Rising Star was very clean thru the heads, picked up a little later in the mids and provided a very strong predictable arc on the back end. Hitting power and carry was very good. My next outing was on the house pattern. The Rising Star was a little over/under on the fresh but once the pattern blended a little it played very easy. The Rising Star provided tremendous recovery and hit. The track flare was in the four-inch range. The Rising Star reads earlier than the Dark Star, has a little stronger move on the back end and a little more overall hook.

With the new Neutron core (lower RG, larger DIFF) and the hybrid cover stock the Rising Star provides another very good and slightly different ball motion for medium to medium-light oil patterns. The Rising Star is a great fit under the Nomads and another great “bang-for-the-buck” ball from Roto Grip.

John Brodersen