Note: One very important thing to remember in my ball reviews is that I use 14-pound balls, and sometimes that means huge differences in certain numbers. For example, with the HY-ROAD line, the RG is 0.058 for 16s, 0.046 for 15s, and 0.037 for 14s. That may produce a significantly different motion than those who throw 15s and 16s experience.

---

As I have written many times, the HY-ROAD series of balls has been a mixed bag for me, as I did not like the original HY-ROAD that seemingly everyone adores, but have loved several others in the line, including the HY-ROAD PEARL, HY-ROAD NANO and HY-ROAD X.

The ALL-ROAD features the NRG hybrid over the legendary Inverted Fe2 core, which years ago probably would have been an awesome combination for me.

However, as I have gotten older and my speed has decreased more than my revs, the powerful NRG coverstock that I have loved in some balls has been less effective for me.

The one exception is the PHYSIX, which I absolutely love on tougher shots, and which has performed awesomely for me many times.

But the ALL-ROAD has more motion than the PHYSIX and that seemingly makes me get more left and go more right and leads to the flat 10/weak mixer 7 kind of hit that I see way more often in my older years.

I chose my standard strong pin-up drilling that I have enjoyed in all of the HY-ROAD line balls that I have had success with. With my PAP of 4 7/8 over and 5/8 up, the numbers for the ball area 5 pin-PAP, 3 3/4 MB-PAP, 4 1/4 pin buffer. It has no weight hole as I am trying balls without a weight hole under the new USBC option, then adding a weight hole later if needed to change reaction.

I keep using the ALL-ROAD thinking it is going to work, and it keeps delivering the same result.

Perhaps it will work with some shine, and I may try that. But with surface, it just doesn’t strike enough for me.

The good thing the ALL-ROAD delivers for me is a controllable reaction on tougher patterns. However, it doesn’t do it as well as the PHYSIX, so it generally sits in my bag when I am using the PHYSIX.

All of this does NOT mean I don’t think this couldn’t be a great ball for many bowlers, particularly those with high ball speed who need the kind of earlier roll the NRG cover material delivers.

I think the ALL-ROAD could be an absolute favorite for a lot of bowlers — mostly those a lot younger and stronger and more flexible than me.