- White Hot Badger

First Impressions
The 900Global White Hot Badger, released in January 2019, has big shoes to fill: it is the direct successor to the legendary "Honey Badger," which achieved cult status. Visually the ball is an absolute highlight and perhaps one of the most eye-catching balls of the year: a brilliant, pure "White Pearl" that stands out on the ball return and on the lane. The surface is finished with a 1500-grit polish, which maximizes the pearl character. Inside works the Lacerate Core. This symmetrical core has an extremely specific design: at 15 lbs it carries a very high 2.57 RG and a medium 0.041 differential. Unlike the Grapnel Core of the original Honey Badger, the Lacerate Core is a two-piece construction (similar to older Quantum balls), which improves energy transfer (COR) to the pins. The cover is the proven S71 Pearl Reactive coverstock. The combination of a high-RG core and a polished pearl cover practically screams: "length, length and more length," followed by an extreme change of direction.
Comparison
Compared directly to the original 900Global Honey Badger (Gold), the White Hot Badger behaves very similarly, but the core modification gives it a somewhat sharper reaction at the breakpoint. While many balls run a rounded arc, the White Hot Badger is the definition of a "skid-flip" ball or "hockey stick." It skids farther than almost any other reactive ball on the market. Compared to a Storm Hy-Road (also high RG), the White Hot Badger is considerably more aggressive and snappier in the backend. The Hy-Road is smoother and more controllable, the Badger is more explosive. Against a 900Global Flux (solid, for oil), which came out in the same period, the Badger is the exact opposite: the Flux is for the start, the Badger for the end of the night. It offers more "pop" in the backend than a typical entry-level pearl like the Brunswick Rhino, but is harder to control than a Roto Grip Hustle.
On the Lanes
The 900Global White Hot Badger is a specialty weapon for medium to dry lanes and especially for burned-up heads. It is the ultimate ball when you feel that every other ball starts hooking too early or loses energy. Thanks to the extremely high 2.57 RG, it ignores the first 45 feet of the lane almost completely. That makes it perfect if you want to play deep angles and need to trust that the ball will "come back" at the end. Its reaction to dry is abrupt and violent. However, it is completely unusable on fresh, heavy oil or very long sport patterns ("long oil"), because it would never start to roll there (it would "skate"). For tournament bowlers it is the "late shift" savior, when the lanes get confusing and all you need is length.