Help me chose a second ball...

[jbultman]

I just am getting into bowling, got all my stuff before Christmas. Currently am bowling 9 games a week, a handicap league with some adult friends, a fun league with my kids and a practice session somewhere in there all with ths patterns.

I am a righty two hander, bowling with a Columbia 300 Nitrous pin just above my ring finger. I'm looking to get another ball. I'm tossing back and forth either getting a stronger ball or a plastic spare ball. I have trouble picking up the 6 pin and or 10 pin spares because of my hook. I've been putting my thumb in and try to roll a bit straighter and that has helped a little bit. And who doesn't want a stronger ball?

Suggestions? Help! Currently I stand 10 boards left of center and hit the 3rd arrow to strike. Average is 165-170.

Thanks

[Hot_pocket]

plastic is the answer unless you figure out how to flatten your hand completely on release. Going stronger will cause more hook which doesn't help you any. Something preferably with a pancake core, so it won't want to hook on you at all, especially being a 2 hander you might have a high rev rate.

[KYDave]

Just like hot pocket said, plastic would be my next ball if you are having trouble with spares.
I know that isn't very exciting, but open frames will kill a good score. I don't use a spare ball, I throw flat at almost all spares. Not sure how in the world you would do that 2 handed haha.

You can always pick up a stronger ball later down the road. Not sure of the conditions you throw on, but be careful getting something too strong as it will burn up and just lay down in the back, or can't keep it on the right side of the headpin.
I love my RG DareDevil, but it is very skid/flip kind of reaction if I put much hand in it. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing if you need/want that look. I threw the new Motiv Chronic Paranoia at a demo, and liked that ball a lot. Very similar reaction to the DD, but much smoother on the backend.

Good luck!

[J Anderson]

I just am getting into bowling, got all my stuff before Christmas. Currently am bowling 9 games a week, a handicap league with some adult friends, a fun league with my kids and a practice session somewhere in there all with ths patterns.

I am a righty two hander, bowling with a Columbia 300 Nitrous pin just above my ring finger. I'm looking to get another ball. I'm tossing back and forth either getting a stronger ball or a plastic spare ball. I have trouble picking up the 6 pin and or 10 pin spares because of my hook. I've been putting my thumb in and try to roll a bit straighter and that has helped a little bit. And who doesn't want a stronger ball?

Suggestions? Help! Currently I stand 10 boards left of center and hit the 3rd arrow to strike. Average is 165-170.

Thanks

I concur with Hot_Pocket and KYDave. As a youth coach what I see kids, especially Belmo & Oscu wanna-bes, struggle the most with is making corner pin spares after stepping up a ball that hooks.

According to gold level coach Ron Hatfield, every serious bowler should have a polyester coverstock ball with a pancake core to use shooting spares. Even when coaching teams at events where competitors are limited to a certain number of balls, he insists that everyone brings a spare ball.

[jbultman]

I concur with Hot_Pocket and KYDave. As a youth coach what I see kids, especially Belmo & Oscu wanna-bes, struggle the most with is making corner pin spares after stepping up a ball that hooks.

According to gold level coach Ron Hatfield, every serious bowler should have a polyester coverstock ball with a pancake core to use shooting spares. Even when coaching teams at events where competitors are limited to a certain number of balls, he insists that everyone brings a spare ball.

I am certainly not a Belmonte/ Osku want to be. I can bowl with my thumb in, and suck avg 120 at most. However I am just more consistent two handed, it feels more natural to me and I don't have to worry about getting my thumb stuck.

I do think that the spare ball is the way to go after reading comments, and talking to my pro shop. Any suggestions for which one? Or is a plastic ball a plastic ball? How should I have it drilled?

[KYDave]

Plastic is plastic pretty much. But not all spare balls are spare balls. Some of them are urethane and can be used for both spare and dry conditions such as the Motiv Arctic Sniper. Of course the plastic is going to be the cheapest route.

As far as layout, I saved a clip from Mo Pinel who said this:

"The standard spare ball (least hooking) layout is to drill the ball with 1/2 oz. negative side on the label. If you want to be anal (like me), drill the ball with the pin 6 3/4" from the PAP on the midline and put the balance hole on the negative axis point to make the side weight legal, if necessary. That's actually the way to make it go the straightest."

Hope this helps

[Blacksox1]

Get a Pyramid Path from Bowlingball.com

[jbultman]

Plastic is plastic pretty much. But not all spare balls are spare balls. Some of them are urethane and can be used for both spare and dry conditions such as the Motiv Arctic Sniper. Of course the plastic is going to be the cheapest route.

As far as layout, I saved a clip from Mo Pinel who said this:

"The standard spare ball (least hooking) layout is to drill the ball with 1/2 oz. negative side on the label. If you want to be anal (like me), drill the ball with the pin 6 3/4" from the PAP on the midline and put the balance hole on the negative axis point to make the side weight legal, if necessary. That's actually the way to make it go the straightest."

Hope this helps

Going with only a 2 ball "arsenal" would you go with urethane or platlstic?

I think I'll just have my pro shop look at my throw and drill it to go straight. let them do all the work.

[J Anderson]

I am certainly not a Belmonte/ Osku want to be. I can bowl with my thumb in, and suck avg 120 at most. However I am just more consistent two handed, it feels more natural to me and I don't have to worry about getting my thumb stuck.

I do think that the spare ball is the way to go after reading comments, and talking to my pro shop. Any suggestions for which one? Or is a plastic ball a plastic ball? How should I have it drilled?

90% of the spare balls I see being used are either Columbia 300 White Dots or Brunswick T-Zones. There is also the Ice by Storm, the Ebonite Maxim, and the DV8 Polyester which would all work as well. The Hammer Widow spare, while polyester, has a dynamic core which really makes it a strike ball for really dry lanes instead of being a true spare ball.

[KYDave]

That's a tough decision. As John said, the widow spare may be a good choice since it has a dual function. Otherwise a Tzone or the like is always going to be just a spare ball. I think that if you got a widow spare, then later got a stronger ball like you had mentioned before that might make a good 3 ball combo. Strong for a little heavier conditions, widow spare for dry/spare and the Nitrous for inbetween.

My only concern is if you truly want a ball to throw straight at the pins a pure poly would be the best choice. Otherwise you may be in the same boat with a more dynamic core hooking away at the last minute.

[J Anderson]

That's a tough decision. As John said, the widow spare may be a good choice since it has a dual function. Otherwise a Tzone or the like is always going to be just a spare ball. I think that if you got a widow spare, then later got a stronger ball like you had mentioned before that might make a good 3 ball combo. Strong for a little heavier conditions, widow spare for dry/spare and the Nitrous for inbetween.

My only concern is if you truly want a ball to throw straight at the pins a pure poly would be the best choice. Otherwise you may be in the same boat with a more dynamic core hooking away at the last minute.

I did not explicitly say that the Hammer Widow spare would be a good choice and did not mean to imply that it would be one. The whole point of having a spare ball is to have one that goes straight.

While I like having tools that can do more than one thing and can appreciate that one might be tempted to to get a spare ball that would double as a strike ball on very dry lanes, guess what? If the lanes are dry enough to need this ball as a strike ball, they are probably too dry for this ball to work as a spare ball!

[KYDave]

Understood John. I know you were just putting info out there. I was the one who implied that might be a good choice, or rather a considered option. Having a very limited arsenal I would like to have something I could possibly use as a different function as well.
But also mentioned that it may still hook away from the pins having a dynamic core, such as you brought up.
Sorry for any confusion, I wasn't trying to refute or imply anything you said. I was just trying to explore pros and cons of the different types of "spare" balls.
Sometimes this stuff is easier in person vs online haha.

[J Anderson]

Understood John. I know you were just putting info out there. I was the one who implied that might be a good choice, or rather a considered option. Having a very limited arsenal I would like to have something I could possibly use as a different function as well.
But also mentioned that it may still hook away from the pins having a dynamic core, such as you brought up.
Sorry for any confusion, I wasn't trying to refute or imply anything you said. I was just trying to explore pros and cons of the different types of "spare" balls.
Sometimes this stuff is easier in person vs online haha.

No problems.
I really do prefer to talk to people face to face, and even then some times the brain spits out something quite snarky before the polite conversation filter can catch it.