- Envy Tour

First Impressions
The Hammer Envy Tour, released in February 2023, is a high-performance ball developed specifically for tournament players and demanding conditions. Visually it stays very understated, almost camouflaged, in a "Carbon" solid look. The technical heart is the asymmetric Obsidian core, which was already a favorite in the Web Tour series. With an extremely low 2.469 RG and a 0.034 differential that is unusually low for an asymmetric ball (at 15 lbs), this core is built for maximum control and early rev up without generating wild flare. The cover is the Envy Solid Reactive coverstock, the same chemical base as on its big brother the Envy, but here finished out of the box with a very coarse 500/1000 Siaair Micro Pad. The result is a ball that looks for traction immediately and rolls extremely stable.
Comparison
Compared directly to the regular **Hammer Envy**, the Envy Tour shows a completely different ball motion. Where the standard Envy (with the Launcher core) creates massive flare and a big side-to-side move across a lot of boards, the Envy Tour stays much straighter and more forward-rolling. It trades the big arc for control. Set against the legendary **Hammer Web Tour**, the Envy Tour is the modern evolution for more oil: it uses the same core character, but the Envy shell is chemically noticeably stronger ("toothier") than the old TourV1 cover, so it grabs better in deep oil. Against a **Storm IQ Tour Edition** (solid), the Envy Tour offers a similar level of control, but the asymmetry and the more aggressive finish make it look even stronger in the heads, and it drives through the pins harder.
On the Lanes
The Envy Tour is the ultimate weapon for sport patterns, flat oil distributions and fresh oil where the backend is extremely sensitive. It is built to kill the over/under reaction. It does not slide through the oil in the heads, but it also does not jump off the spot uncontrollably when it hits friction. It is ideal if you have a high rev rate and need a ball that does not cross the whole lane but instead moves into the pocket in a controlled way. It is also excellent for strokers looking for a direct line to the pocket on tough lanes. It is completely unsuited, however, if you have to open up the lane (steep angles), since it lacks the differential needed to come back sharply off the breakpoint (it would hit "flat").