4-ball arsenal

[rhaith85]

So i have a 4 ball roller bag... I would like your opinions as to which ball i should take to my leagues. I bowl in two different leagues, same alley... but difference is that Thursday league we bowl after a league, so i would say oil on the lanes are not as fresh. Sunday league, the oil is fresh. I believe its a regular typical house shot. here's what i have as far as my weapons of pin destruction.
Roto Grip Hypercell
Roto Grip Hypercell Skid
Roto Grip Wrecker
DV8 Thug
DV8 Thug Unruly (can't use right now, must redrill)
DV8 Diva Divine
Storm Zero Gravity

Anyone would like to give me ideas as to which ones i should carry? Please and thank you!

[LyalC52]

IMO get another bag and take them all

[John Anderson]

IMO get another bag and take them all

I don't think it's worth it if you know the conditions you will be bowling on in advance. Honestly, I don't know the DV8s well enough to tell you what you should bring of those. I'd take the zero gravity just because it's nice strong ball and should allow you to play a nice line for the first game and probably the second as well. The Hyper Cell Skid should work to play a little more outside if the zero gravity is too strong. After that, you need a spare ball and ball for lighter oil, so the Wrecker would fit in nicely.

[RobLV1]

I don't think it's worth it if you know the conditions you will be bowling on in advance. Honestly, I don't know the DV8s well enough to tell you what you should bring of those. I'd take the zero gravity just because it's nice strong ball and should allow you to play a nice line for the first game and probably the second as well. The Hyper Cell Skid should work to play a little more outside if the zero gravity is too strong. After that, you need a spare ball and ball for lighter oil, so the Wrecker would fit in nicely.

John: I hate to disagree, but it seems that you are looking purely at the cover and totally ignoring the core. The Hyper Cell Skid has an RG of 2.52, and a Diff. of .056. The Zero Gravity has an RG of 2.55 and a Diff. of 0.035. With the same surface, the Hyper Cell rolls earlier and flares less than the Zero Gravity. Surfaces can be changed, cores cannot. While I have not thrown the Hyper Cell, I have thrown the Zero Gravity, and it goes long, and, for a ball that is slightly asymmetrical, is surprisingly smooth at the breakpoint. With a light polish, it works very well on lanes that are beginning to break down.

[dnhoffman]

I'd take the zero gravity, the wrecker, a spare ball, and fill the last slot with tastes snacks... You won't need much else.

[Amyers]

John: I hate to disagree, but it seems that you are looking purely at the cover and totally ignoring the core. The Hyper Cell Skid has an RG of 2.52, and a Diff. of .056. The Zero Gravity has an RG of 2.55 and a Diff. of 0.035. With the same surface, the Hyper Cell rolls earlier and flares less than the Zero Gravity. Surfaces can be changed, cores cannot. While I have not thrown the Hyper Cell, I have thrown the Zero Gravity, and it goes long, and, for a ball that is slightly asymmetrical, is surprisingly smooth at the breakpoint. With a light polish, it works very well on lanes that are beginning to break down.

Actually Rob he said the Hyper Cell Skid which is longer than the Zero Gravity as long as both are OOB. The Zero Gravity is longer and smoother than I think people expected but it's a better ball than given credit for and makes a good bench mark ball.

I can't imagine needing to throw a Hyper Cell on THS so I would go the following

Benchmark Zero Gravity
Hyper Cell Skid if I want to move in and wheel it
Thug if I want to keep a similar line to the Hyper Cell Skid and step down
Wrecker for transition/lighter oil

I'm not a huge fan of buying the same ball with different surfaces (Hyper Cell/Hyper Cell Skid and Thug/Thug Unruly). To be totally honest you really need a step down from the zero gravity but I don't really see that ball here. The Zero Gravity, Diva Divine, and Thug Unruly are too close together.

[Mike White]

John: I hate to disagree, but it seems that you are looking purely at the cover and totally ignoring the core. The Hyper Cell Skid has an RG of 2.52, and a Diff. of .056. The Zero Gravity has an RG of 2.55 and a Diff. of 0.035. With the same surface, the Hyper Cell rolls earlier and flares less than the Zero Gravity. Surfaces can be changed, cores cannot. While I have not thrown the Hyper Cell, I have thrown the Zero Gravity, and it goes long, and, for a ball that is slightly asymmetrical, is surprisingly smooth at the breakpoint. With a light polish, it works very well on lanes that are beginning to break down.

Changing the core is exactly what happens during the drilling.

[bowl1820]

Here are two ball comparison charts:

This one gives the main specs on the 7 balls.
http://s5.postimg.org/af8c6asjn/ballcomp2a.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/af8c6asjn/)

This one compares them using just the RG and Diff.
http://s5.postimg.org/y7hnhtukj/ballcomp2b.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/y7hnhtukj/)


Okay just going by the specs you have

3 Solids, 3 Hybrids and 1 Pearl

2 Symmetricals and 5 Asymmetricals (One is borderline/weak Asymmetrical though)

The Thug and Thug Unruly are basically the same except for Coverstock & Surface, So I'd eliminate one Thug. (Most likely the Thug)

The Hypercell and Hypercell Skid are basically the same except for Coverstock & Surface, So I'd eliminate one Hypercell. (Most likely the Hypercell)

I'd keep the Diva Divine in the rotation.

Now as for the Wreaker and Zero Gravity, Hmm the Z.G. is the more popular one I believe. I might would go with the Wreaker though.



THat gives us the:
Thug Unruly- Solid, Asymmetrical
Diva Divine- Hybrid, Symmetrical
Hypercell Skid- Pearl, Asymmetrical
Wreaker- Hybrid, Symmetrical

So that's
2 Asym, 2 Sym.
1 Solid, 2 Hybrids and 1 Pearl

With a good spread of RG's from low to high.

[John Anderson]

Changing the core is exactly what happens during the drilling.

This is technically true, but Rob wasn't referring to drilling changes. He means that you can't take an asymmetric ball and make it the same as a symmetric ball nor can you make two other fairly different asymmetric cores act the same. Surface preps can be exactly matched in terms of polish or sanding using a spinner.

@Rob, I welcome disagreement anytime. I'm no expert by any means. I am always willing to hear different opinions.

[RobLV1]

Thanks John. Of course drilling changes the core specs, but it's pretty tough to change the drilling on the fly, while you can change the surface right up until the end of practice.

Upon further reflection, it occurs to me that bowlers who don't want to take the time to learn about cores revert to the old, "well, surface is 75% of ball reaction" crap that just chooses to ignore the other 25% (or more). Ball drillers want us to believe that they can turn any ball into any other ball by how they drill it. I will restate what I've been stating for years: learn to understand the core numbers, stick to two or a maximum of three layouts, and adjust your surfaces to match up to particular lane conditions. It's not rocket science, it's just common sense!

[bobforsaken]

I bought a ball spinner and have been trying to figure out what I should bring to have a well rounded arsenal, too. My current is
Hyroad Pearl (oob)
Hyroad (4000)
Marvel Pearl (oob) or Fusion (4000)
Thug Unruly (2000) or Optimus (2000)

With the Marvel, Fusion, and Optimus being so similar in RG and all being Medium/Heavy rated coverstocks (and the Hyroad too for that matter) I've found only a slight difference. For example, The Marvel and Fusion can play the exact same line at the same time but the fusion checks up earlier and may be a half board higher into the pocket because of the 4000 surface. The Hyroad is great to blend out the pattern but its a very slight "step down" from the Marvel Pearl. Maybe a 1 and 1 at most. The Optimus and Marvel were Identical in terms of boards covered but the Marvel seemed to skid further before picking up the midlane but was a smoother transition which I liked for reading the lanes. I changed the Optimus surface to 4000 and didn't see much difference. Finally a move to 2000 gave me a slight increase in boards covered and now fits more closely to the Thug Unruly with a much less angular shape.

for me from top to bottom I have less then a 3 board difference in all these balls. Going from low RG to higher RG.. or 1500Polish to 2000grit. From Solid to Pearl. The most tangible differences are in the shape of the shot and energy preservation.

If I start going over under with my Marvel Pearl, they hyroad blends it out nicely and keeps me in the pocket.
If I'm playing a deeper line with the marvel but it seems to have no energy left at the pins or can't seem to turn the corner, the energy retention and midlane read of the Thug Unruly is great.
If I'm blowing through the rack leaving greek churches or 9 pins with the Marvel, the Optimus helps burn up some of that energy and hit at less of an angle.
If the lanes are so chewed up that I can't seem to retain energy or keep it to the right of the head pin the Hyroad pearl allows me to play for a little bit longer in that area and still retains good energy.

Its my long winded way of saying, I don't think anyone could just look at the specs of the ball and give you good advice. It ultimately comes down to how you roll it and what situations in which those balls excel..If two balls are doing the same thing, then your only choice is to make surface changes to try and separate them. You obviously need something for Dry dry lanes.. and you need something for fresh of flooded lanes.. so those two are easy. For the remaining two I would look at them more from the difference in angularity or speed of transition than through RG numbers or Surface numbers.