Will there be a gap in my arsenal?

[Ball99999]

And where should I fill it?

Storm Vivid
DV8 Misfit
Brunswick Tzone

I notice the Misfit, after about an hour and a half of bowling by myself (and possibly after other people) was hooking to the left too much/reading too early actually. Does that mean I need a dry ball?

Does it seem like I would naturally transition from Vivid on fresh oil, starting on the right and moving left, then moving to the Misfit and starting on the right and moving left?

[Josch]

If I were you I'd pick either an entry level reactive or urethane ball to fill that gap. You need something for drier lanes. Almost all brands make some sort of entry level reactive ball.

[Ball99999]

So am I right in thinking the DV8 is a medium oil ball? That's how it seemed to me as I had to play way left with it.

But urethane, yes! Going off bowlingball.com perfect scale it seems like that would be right where I need it. And for some reason I love the idea of using an 80s ball.

[Josch]

I know of 2 companies that currently sell urethane balls. There's the Hammer Blue Hammer (http://www.bowlingball.com/products/bowling-balls/Hammer/9485/Blue-Hammer.html) and the Coulmbia300 U2 (http://www.bowlingball.com/products/bowling-balls/Columbia300/10364/The-Classic-U2.html). There might be more these are just the ones I know of. I've never thrown a urethane but I have considered getting one. When it's really dry my Ebonite Cyclone can be to aggressive and I have to use my spare ball for strike shots.

If you end up not getting a urethane then at least get a weak reactive. If your using the perfect scale I would recommend around 150 max. Possibly one of the Hammer Vibe's. The new Cobalt Vibe (http://www.bowlingball.com/products/bowling-balls/Hammer/10368/Cobalt-Vibe.html) is very similar in specs to the Blue Hammer. The only big difference is the coverstock, it's a reactive ball. They have almost identical cores. They're almost identical when it comes to the perfect scale. The difference is the Blue Hammer will be a smooth arc while the Cobalt Vibe will have an aggressive move later down lane.

[Ball99999]

I'd like a urethane, I'm learning that I need weaker balls for how/where I play.
Should I get urethane or weak reactive?
I'd like to play on the right side of the lane more often.

[Josch]

Do you like to play straight up the gutter or more over the second arrow and then out towards the gutter?

[Ball99999]

I try to stay as right as possible. Norm Duke fan..
so straight up the gutter between 2nd and 1st arrow.

Also, between Vivid and Misfit, for when oil is heavy but the Vivid is too strong (since I have slow ball speed) is there a good Storm ball in between those two?

Perhaps Misfit is medium-light oil ball and my local alley was just REALLY light.

[Josch]

If that's your preferred line I believe the urethane would be a better choice for you. I think a reactive on light oil on that line would hook to early and go past the pocket.

[Ball99999]

When does one change targets Ie 2nd to 3rd arrow as opposed to moving left?

[Josch]

I usually change targets when I want to try a completely different line than what I was playing.

[Stormed1]

Brunswick also has the Karma urethane. Roto Grip has 2 new releases that are below the Rising Star, The scream and Shout

[dgz924s]

You could alter the finish on the ball. My Vivid had way too many teeth so I polished it and helped considerably. If polish does not get the desired result you can go up to a 4000 grit surface. Moral here is you can alter a ball surface to obtain a desired reaction and far less expensive than buy a ball made specifically for a lane condition. Even the lane specific ball may not produce the reaction desired.

I too have a rather slow speed and roll straight up lane from the 10 board out, usually target the 7 board.

[Ball99999]

I might wait on drilling the Vivid until I can nail down a really good form.
Assuming I didn't have a Vivid, on a freshly laid THS, what would be a good Storm ball for 4-5 games with other people?

[billf]

Storm Natural Pearl is a great urethane ball. I use mine a lot. There are a lot of balls by Storm that fit between the Vivid and the Misfit. Look on bowlingball.com and use their perfect scale to select one that seems to call your name.
*The Misfit is a medium-light oil ball.

[Ball99999]

What confuses me is that they'll have balls in the medium-heavy category that are still 220 in the perfect scale. I wonder if that means they'd still be too strong for me?

What's the difference between natural and natural pearl?

[billf]

The Natural is able to handle a tad bit more oil. It has a straight up urethane cover stock while the Pearl has a pearlized urethane cover stock. The pearl additive takes a bit more bite out of the hook potential hence the lower scale rating more than makes up for it with how it drives through the pins. I get more dead wood flying out onto the lane with this ball than any of my others but some of that is due to the pins tendency to fly up rather than staying low.

[Ball99999]

My end of day thoughts right now are to eventually have something like:

High end heavy oil ball for competition/fresh sports patterns - Vivid
High end medium-to-heavy ball for something I can use for most games - ?????
A ball for medium-to-dry lanes for maybe for lanes that have lots of games on them - Crossroad
A ball for really dry - Natural
plastic - Tzone

I don't want to waste money with too much overlap/redundancy though.

[billf]

???? get the Hy-Road or Fire Road.