Got my first plastic ball ever after 35 years of bowling...

[Hammer]

Got my first plastic ball today. The pro shop guy Dave drilled it for me and gave me a free game to make sure everything was okay. I only used the plastic to see how it would work with my release. I ended up bowling a 152 with only 2 open frames. No strikes though but I was not surprised. I was picking up spares more accurately with the plastic ball then with my Hammer urethane or my Hammer Anger ball. I had to get the plastic ball because I don't have a normal approach because of bad knees. I walk up to the foul line and set up and then swing three times and let it go. This only gives me a speed of only 9.5 mph. Way short of speed that I need for my reactive Raw hammer Anger ball. I can still control my urethane Blue hammer ball. The plastic ball is a Columbia 300 white dot. So now I will just use my Blue Hammer urethane ball and my new plastic ball. I should have got the plastic ball at the beginning of the season that just ended the beginning of May. I am going to practice with just the plastic ball so I can see how I have to set up for strikes or spares. The plastic ball is 14lbs.

[J Anderson]

Got my first plastic ball today. The pro shop guy Dave drilled it for me and gave me a free game to make sure everything was okay. I only used the plastic to see how it would work with my release. I ended up bowling a 152 with only 2 open frames. No strikes though but I was not surprised. I was picking up spares more accurately with the plastic ball then with my Hammer urethane or my Hammer Anger ball. I had to get the plastic ball because I don't have a normal approach because of bad knees. I walk up to the foul line and set up and then swing three times and let it go. This only gives me a speed of only 9.5 mph. Way short of speed that I need for my reactive Raw hammer Anger ball. I can still control my urethane Blue hammer ball. The plastic ball is a Columbia 300 white dot. So now I will just use my Blue Hammer urethane ball and my new plastic ball. I should have got the plastic ball at the beginning of the season that just ended the beginning of May. I am going to practice with just the plastic ball so I can see how I have to set up for strikes or spares. The plastic ball is 14lbs.

If you started back in ‘78 with a Yellow Dot this is your second plastic ball. The Yellow dot was just a slightly softer version of the White Dot.

Glad it’s helping on the spares.

[RobLV1]

A few years ago I wrote an article for BTM. It was called "The Spaces Between." The idea of the article is that each bowler, depending on his ball speed and rev rate, has a range of bowling balls that will work for him. Since having neck surgery about a year ago, my ball speed is only about 10 mph, but I still have a decent rev rate. The result is that I can only use balls that range from medium to very non-aggressive. The thing that jumped out at me about your post is that you weren't surprised that you didn't throw many strikes with plastic. Is it possible that your expectation affected the outcome? I think so. You may have to be more accurate with plastic, but you can throw strikes!

[ALazySavage]

Adding to Rob's point about striking with plastic. The high-level way I would describe it is that you have three types of ball (Reactive, Urethane, and Plastic) and these three types have different shape characteristics. In addition to the expectation that was set you are seeing a shot shape that you are unfamiliar with and it will take some time to (a) become comfortable with this shot shape and (b) learn how to adjust off of this new shape. When I first started throwing urethane I had a very hard time properly reading the ball because I was not used to my point of focus having to be so early. As you get comfortable with the new equipment I believe you will find that plastic is nothing more than a different shot shape that you can use to attack the lanes.

[Hammer]

A few years ago I wrote an article for BTM. It was called "The Spaces Between." The idea of the article is that each bowler, depending on his ball speed and rev rate, has a range of bowling balls that will work for him. Since having neck surgery about a year ago, my ball speed is only about 10 mph, but I still have a decent rev rate. The result is that I can only use balls that range from medium to very non-aggressive. The thing that jumped out at me about your post is that you weren't surprised that you didn't throw many strikes with plastic. Is it possible that your expectation affected the outcome? I think so. You may have to be more accurate with plastic, but you can throw strikes!

The reason I said what I did about not being surprised about not getting any strikes was because this was the first time I used a plastic in a long time so I had to get used to how the ball was going to react with the release I have. I am sure that once I practice with this plastic ball and get used to it I am sure strikes will come. The thing I did notice is that my rev rate seemed to change. I was thinking that maybe it is because it doesn't have the regular weight in it like my other balls. It just has that pancake weight in it. Well I still liked how the plastic works for me. I don't have to try and control hooks that are worse because of my lack of speed now. When I would throw my Raw Hammer Anger ball I would stand with my slide foot right by the right gutter and throw it out to boards between 5 and 10 to try and hit the pocket. It was just too big of an angle to be accurate with. So I am glad I finally went back to plastic. I made a mistake when I said this was my first plastic ball. When I first started league bowling in 1978 I had a Columbia yellow dot ball. It was my first fingertip ball also. Boy, I have been bowling a long time, 35 years actually.

[Hammer]

Adding to Rob's point about striking with plastic. The high-level way I would describe it is that you have three types of ball (Reactive, Urethane, and Plastic) and these three types have different shape characteristics. In addition to the expectation that was set you are seeing a shot shape that you are unfamiliar with and it will take some time to (a) become comfortable with this shot shape and (b) learn how to adjust off of this new shape. When I first started throwing urethane I had a very hard time properly reading the ball because I was not used to my point of focus having to be so early. As you get comfortable with the new equipment I believe you will find that plastic is nothing more than a different shot shape that you can use to attack the lanes.

I agree totally. I am going to keep practicing with just the plastic ball for the strike shot and the spares of course. I am sure once I get used to the shot shape I will get better with this ball. I am glad that I made the decision to get a plastic ball. It will be less frustrating for me to not have to fight uncontrollable hooks with my reactive ball. Now I can throw this plastic ball slow and not having it come back to me like a boomerang shot. This ball will be so much better for my 9.5 mph shot.

[RobLV1]

Make sure to avoid the pitfall of carrying preconceptions about plastic including shot shape, etc. Today I bowled in an almost scratch trios league known for it's high averages. I shot 170-171-221-215=777. By the last two games, I was sliding into the left gutter with a medium reactive ball (Roto Winner) on the left lane, and going straight up the third arrow with my plastic T-Zone on the right lane. I was the only bowler on the pair to figure out both lanes the last game. My only regret is that I didn't make the radical moves sooner.

[Hammer]

Make sure to avoid the pitfall of carrying preconceptions about plastic including shot shape, etc. Today I bowled in an almost scratch trios league known for it's high averages. I shot 170-171-221-215=777. By the last two games, I was sliding into the left gutter with a medium reactive ball (Roto Winner) on the left lane, and going straight up the third arrow with my plastic T-Zone on the right lane. I was the only bowler on the pair to figure out both lanes the last game. My only regret is that I didn't make the radical moves sooner.

I do the same thing sometimes when I should make a move and don't do it until the third game.