hammer plague, storm prodigy, columbia cool noize

[johnny]

please rank and tell me which ball should i get? my ball speed is is 16.7mph. i do not know my rev rate. the lanes that i usually bowl on are medium oiled. if none are these balls are good please suggest others. thanks for the help.

[Strike Domination]

A little more info would be useful since you don't know your rev rate. What ball do you use now, and where on the lane do you generally play?

I'm pretty sure you would do well with the Prodigy or Plague if it really is medium oil. That is assuming your rev rate is not too high. The Cool Noize is weaker than those two but not by a whole lot. I think the Plague and Prodigy are actually very similar in both hook shape and overall hook with the Plague maybe being a little earlier, so I would say it's your preference really.

[johnny]

thank you very much for the info. i dont think my rev rate is very high but just good enough. currently i am using a scout reactive and i stand 3 boards from the right and aim 1 board to the right. i dont need to find a ball to fit my style of bowling. i dont mind having to adjust to the ball. im a feel type of bowler if you know what i mean. in my opinion i dont think the scout has enough backend hook for me. so i think i will use the scout as my spare ball. do you suggest any other kind of ball? i was also thinking about the hammer jigsaw. any opinions are appreciated.

[crzysnake137]

id stay away from hammer products, except the plague, that ball is good anything else i havent had any luck with and havent been pleased with the results they have provided, other wise i have a prodigy, but i might suggest either a invasion, mutant cell pearl, virtual energy, or even a new 2 fast or 2 furious

[Strike Domination]

If not the Prodigy, I think you should give some consideration to the Tropical Heat Hybrid, Hy-Road, or even the Columbia Burst. All good balls. The Tropical Heat is a little weaker but it still packs some serious punch for the price. Compared to the scout you will be getting a lot more performance out of any of these. If you think you'd want more snap I say go for the Hy-Road since to me that has the best ability to do that when drilled correctly. The rest roll a little more and the Prodigy is the strongest overall.

So to recap, if you want a good snap on the backend, Hy-Road. If you want a strong ball(probably not the best option considering what you're moving up from), Prodigy or maybe Burst. If you want something a little tamer and controllable, Tropical Heat Hybrid.

[johnny]

thank you for the response guys. you've all helped me narrow my choices down to the prodigy and the plague. now my other question is what pound should i get it in. i've heard you should get a ball 10% of your weight. i weigh 163lb on a good day, but i thinking strategically and i dont think i can throw a 16lb ball for 3 straight games in league play. my scout reactive is 13lb. people who play league suggest 14lb or more or else dont play in league. i laughed at their remark because i dont believe what they say. also what do you guys think about the columbia freeze, storm reign of fire, hammer fast, or hammer furious (not the version 2)? are these balls any good? also i have a question on symmetric core and asymmetric cores. which is better? which gives a better angle towards the pocket? i'm asking because the prodigy has a symmetric core. thanks for all the responses. very much appreciated.

[Strike Domination]

FYI, the Fast/Furious are Storm balls. Now,out of the balls you just asked about, the Freeze and Fast are angular. he rest hook earlier and are more even rolling compared to those. But, the Fast and Freeze are also weaker than the others. The best angle to the pocket, no one knows that until you throw a ball because it depends on the lanes. My opinion is, especially if it's pretty wet/dry side to side, a ball that reads the lane well without sacrificing much recovery. That's the Prodigy. The only problem I think you'll have with that ball(or the Plague) is when the lanes get pretty dry.

As for the weight, I would say 15 is good. You could probably handle 16, but unless you were throwing a 15 too fast I wouldn't recommend it. People say there's a significant difference in carry between 15/16 and 14, so if you have no strength or physical problems and can handle it, start with 15 is what I would suggest.

[Chris2game]

For symmetrical and asymmetrical bowling balls, symmetrical tend to be smoother if the rest of the numbers are the same. Asymmetrical has a mass bias which helps make the ball flip creating angle. With that being said, I current have a Prodigy which hooks as much as any mass bias ball. I went with it over the plague since I prefer the reaction type of symmetrical over asymmetrical.

If you need more angle you need a ball that gets down lane (has a high RG value, somewhere around 2.55) and has a strong mass bias (a high differential, around .54). I have a table on my website that lists all these value and can be sorted depending on what you are looking for. The address is http://bowlingballdb.com/BallCompare.html

The lower the RG, the sooner the ball will hook. This will give you a smoother reaction overall.

For bowling ball weight I would suggest 15 lbs. You can go to 16 lbs if you really want to, but 15 lbs is what most people throw. Its heavy enough to not deflect bad, but not too heavy that it tires you out really fast.

The reign of fire hooks the most out of the 4 you have listed and is fairly smooth. Next would be the Furious and it is also fairly smooth. Then the Fast is slightly less then the Furious and is more angular due to the polished finish. Finally, the Freeze is a fairly weak ball and hooks the least of the 4.

Hope this helps!
-Chris
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