Hellllooo! Storm Lucid or ELITE red alien? FIRST BALL!

[Express]

As the title states i'm looking for a long term investment in a highly aggressive hook ball!:eek:

I know both balls require heavy oil for maximum performance but if they still perform well on medium oil lane conditions thats fine..

Pros and cons of both? Insight is much appreciated! I'm getting tired of using the chipped house balls!


How strong is the scent emanating from Storm balls?

Should i get the ball drilled for fingertip? I want the most hook i can get!





edit:oops i think i posted in the wrong section


Thanks Bowlingboards!

[e-tank]

I would stick with an entry level ball for your first ball. Even an entry level ball is a long term investment. You want to get finger tip drilling but just know that big hook doesnt equal big scores. Are you in leagues or are you just an open bowler?

Most entry level balls recommended around here are:

DV8 Misfit

Brunswick Slingshot

Storm Tropical Heat

[eugene02]

Hi, welcome! if your looking for first ball, i wouldn't say not go for an aggressive ball.. because my first ball was an expensive one too.. but now, slowly i've been buying balls that are relatively lower grade because of how they roll.. example, my first ball was an heavy oil ball. now i'm getting a medium oil ball.. yup.. so...
for the 2 balls you have chose, i've never seen any Elite in my area before.. maybe because i'm from Singapore... Lucid rolls pretty well.. don't buy a ball because of it's smell.. but because of the potential in it.. i would also say to get maybe.. a lower range ball to start with.. because seldom oils in the lanes are heavy unless the are oiled for special reasons.. maybe you can start with if lets say storm.. The Hy-road, Crossroad, Fire road series.. because they all seems pretty alright..

[Express]

I would stick with an entry level ball for your first ball. Even an entry level ball is a long term investment. You want to get finger tip drilling but just know that big hook doesnt equal big scores. Are you in leagues or are you just an open bowler?

Most entry level balls recommended around here are:

DV8 Misfit

Brunswick Slingshot

Storm Tropical HeatThanks for your ball recommendations! I'm seeking something quality!!! Seen a dv8 in action last night, was nice! I've heard endless amounts of good things about the tropical storm also.


Hi, welcome! if your looking for first ball, i wouldn't say not go for an aggressive ball.. because my first ball was an expensive one too.. but now, slowly i've been buying balls that are relatively lower grade because of how they roll.. example, my first ball was an heavy oil ball. now i'm getting a medium oil ball.. yup.. so...
for the 2 balls you have chose, i've never seen any Elite in my area before.. maybe because i'm from Singapore... Lucid rolls pretty well.. don't buy a ball because of it's smell.. but because of the potential in it.. i would also say to get maybe.. a lower range ball to start with.. because seldom oils in the lanes are heavy unless the are oiled for special reasons.. maybe you can start with if lets say storm.. The Hy-road, Crossroad, Fire road series.. because they all seems pretty alright..Why do you buy lower grade balls now? Oil condition on the lanes in your area?


Any drilling instructions if i want mid lane hook?

[GeoLes]

I have used my Storm Lucid on wheekend practice bowls, when lanes are not well maintained and have always found it a challenger to stay right side of the head pin. So it does not do as well on medium to dry conditions. I work around it by learning to adapt Play inner line where there is more oil. Less hook, more speed, loft, etc. It becomes an adjustment training session.

For League on medum oil you might do okay inside line but ouside line and dryier conditions, go with a polished ball.

[Express]

For League on medum oil you might do okay inside line but ouside line and dryier conditions, go with a polished ball.

Yeah you're right...i'm thinking a bit ahead of myself. How about a dv8 misfit? I really want the brutal/nightmare for the hook!

[ecub]

How long have you been bowling? League or practice? Do you use a house ball or borrow one?

I'd go with a least aggressive ball as a first ball as well.

[Greenday]

How strong is the scent emanating from Storm balls?

Should i get the ball drilled for fingertip? I want the most hook i can get!

Depends on the ball. I've never thrown a Lucid so I don't know which scent it is or how strong it is. My Frantic's scent is barely noticeable. Sometimes I can faintly smell it, other times I can't. My Tropical Breeze Black/Cherry is extremely strong scented. The smell of cherry candy is VERY powerful and sweet. My Invasion has a moderate smell but not noticeable unless I try to smell the ball. The Sync isn't a very strong smell either but still smellable.

If you want to be hooking, I'd suggest finger tips.

Honestly though, I wouldn't try learning how to hook a ball with a heavy oil ball. You probably don't bowl on heavy oil enough to warrant it.

[noeymc]

i wouldn't jump into a heavy oil ball start med to light oil thats going to be the best for you learning and yes go finger tips

[e-tank]

Yeah you're right...i'm thinking a bit ahead of myself. How about a dv8 misfit? I really want the brutal/nightmare for the hook!

misfit is good if you want entry. Its the stronger of the entry ball class

and about the storm ball scent, its really not that bad. My friend has a lucid and it smells like fruit loops. Its not an over powering scent though. My crossroad is caramel fragrance and you have to be within about a foot of it to smell it.

[Tampabaybob]

If you're just getting into the game an overly aggressive ball will get you very frustrated if you're not bowling on heavy oil. Some of the balls mentioned above are good starters.

I'm going to attempt to add a PDF chart for you to look at from "Bowling This Month" magazine. This isn't even out yet, it's from their digital editions. The chart will show the aggressiveness of each ball and the manufacturer. Hope it helps. The page you want is 24 & 25.

http://d27vj430nutdmd.cloudfront.net/6909/145490/145490.1.pdf

Good luck and let us know which way you decide to go.


[mxjosh]

Ok I think theres a misconception here. An entry level ball isn't a beginner ball because its lower quality. That term entry level isn't a good thing to call it. most of the balls in a manufacturer's lineup are QUALITY balls that will last awhile if you take care of them. The line up of balls are for different LANE CONDITIONS. I have the entire range from dry to heavy. It is much more important to match the ball with lane condition than it is to have a ball that hooks a lot on paper.

The more expensive balls are usually the most aggressive as they are designed to read the dry parts of the lane quickly. When theres lots of oil on the lane, the ball will want to slide further down the lane. And aggressive ball will soak up more oil and flare more (a new part of the ball touches the lane each spin) to achieve this hook. A lot are designed to turn asap on any friction. You use that ball on the wrong condition and 1 of 3 things can happen. The ball will hook too much and be hard to control. 2, you will get an over/under reaction where sometimes the ball will hook a lot and other times not at all or lastly, the ball will have read too much of the lane and lost its spin hitting the pins weakly.

A DV8 misfit pearl (dry lanes) used on the condition it was made for will hook just as much as a DV8 Nightmare (heavy oil). I'd suggest speaking with your pro shop and letting them match you up with something that will work at that particular bowling alley.

But don't let the classifications trick u into thinking a ball is less quality because it says entry level. The less aggressive balls will probably last longer as they don't soak up as much oil.

[75lockwood]

Like everyone else has already said a lot, getting a weaker ball is a good idea for your first ball, but i'm going to go at this a bit differently:

with your first ball, because you don't have a properly fitted ball for the pro shop to see you throw, your going to have the ball drilled with a generic pap, now it may be fine and end up being very similar or even dead on to what your actual pap will be, but if it isn't, would you rather have to go buy another entry level ball for $100 or a heavy oil pro performance ball that would cost upwards of $175-$200+

That, and what has already been said, with a weak ball you can always move left or right if the conditions are to heavy or to dry, but with a heavy oil ball, you can only move so far left and the further you do, the harder striking gets for the inexperienced bowler.

[Tampabaybob]

Express.... Lockwood's right. The Roto Grip Shatter is a mid-priced ball (about 90.00 on Bowlingball.com) it gives me a ton of hook and I just shot a 300 with it. Highly recommended, have them drill it so it goes long and it'll be easier to control. Make sure you get it drilled finger-tip.

[75lockwood]

http://d27vj430nutdmd.cloudfront.net/6909/145490/145490.1.pdf

Bob, that link of yours seems to update every month with the new issue, how did you manage to find it?