Getting back into bowling

[tom65special]

I grew up working in a bowling alley. As a High Schooler, I bowled in the mens league, averaged around 170ish. Fast forward about 15 years, after the military, starting a career and a family, and I want to start bowling again. I currently have the same gear I had way back when. I have an AMF Sumo, and a Columbia 300 white dot. A young bowler I know says I need to upgrade my gear and my game will improve. I have bowled about 6 games in the last week. I started out with a 137 and worked up to a 186 with a couple 170's games. My young friend has suggested a Storm Frantic and/or a Roto Grip Defiant. I throw a hook, but I am definitely not a cranker. Both of my balls are 16 lbs, and I have been told that 15lbs is more common now. I am looking for any suggestions you may have. I do plan on going to the pro shop at my local alley. Any help is appreciated.

[striker12]

yeah you should go with a 15lb ball there much easy to controll and they hit the pins just as hard as the 16lb balls but ifyou want to get a ball depending on oil conditions i would recomend the columbia 300 freeze it has nice carry on it and u cna drill it any way and it willdo what u want it to do but if you do want something with alittle more backend then go for a columbia 300 bench mark or outburst there both good there both dull but if you want a mid lvl performance ball that will slid down the lane get the columbia 300 eruption it ha the new era skid flip cover stock and it is a perfect ball on any oil conditon even on major heavy oil like the shark pattern i have made this thing move big with itdrilled for length with a sharp backend and i thowit from the 20 to the 10 board but thse are some good mid lvl balls if u want to go bigger like high end balls then there all kinda but i perfer columbia 300 ball cause they have a wide verity of balls that are dull and polished ith close to same reactions but its your chose to pick what ever balls you want

[bowl1820]

Hi tom65special! Welcome to the site.
A Sumo and a white dot, yeah I'd get a new one. But I'd keep those too! If the Sumo is the black one, its a urethane. It would be good for the broke down and drier conditions and the white dot is a good spare ball.

Of the balls you mentioned, I'd go with the Rotogrip Defiant (I like Roto's good bang for the buck) if you want a lot of hook. Its a good for oily conditions and with the right surface good for those fresh mediums.

The Storm Frantic has a hybrid coverstock and symmetrical core. While its not made for soup, might be a good balance between your older stuff and a powerhouse like the Defiant.

I've been using a Rotogrip Nomad Dagger which is a hybrid, which has been working good for the conditions here lately. I have the Nomad solid for the oily stuff.

My equipment is 16# except for the Dagger which is 15# . I dropped a pound on it which gave me a little more speed and a few extra revs. I think as I replace older balls Ill go with 15's, so read into that what you will.

[tom65special]

Thanks for the replies. The Sumo is purple with green graphics. The white dot is in decent shape. The Sumo is chipping around the finger holes, so I might need to get it plugged and re-drilled. Keep the suggestions coming guys, I appreciate them.

[tom65special]

Is a Hammer Swagga worth considering?

[bowl1820]

The purple sumo (AMF Purple Passion polyester Sumo) is just a polyester ball like the white dot. I dont know if I'd bother getting it plugged, it does have more of a core than the WD it will move a little if you work at and the conditions are dry enough. It came sanded back in the day ( I think about 220-320 there abouts.).

The swagga is good ball, got the gasmask core in like the black widows. If you can pick it up cheap, Good strong ball.

[tom65special]

How bout a Storm Reign?

[striker12]

i the storm reign is a ncie ball i have used one it has nice carry reads the middle part of the lane really good and has a nice smooth hookinto the pocket but if you want to know abit about lots of bowling balls go to bowlingballs.com and look up all kidnas most of them have videos soo u can see how other people form bowlingball.com throw it and see how it moves for them and they always shooton a tipical house shot (ths) lanes

[tom65special]

Can somebody explain the perfect scale that bowlingball.com uses?

[striker12]

well not really sure i think they do it on hows the core and coverstoke is but they make it perfit but not sure how they get there number but also they have been doing it for awhile soo they know alot

[chrono00]

Can somebody explain the perfect scale that bowlingball.com uses?

to keep it simple. different comanies use different scales to show they're balls hooking qualities.

the perfect scale bowlingball.com uses is basically thier attempt to make a universal scale. so you can get an idea across all brands.

for example I had a storm virtual energy. it's perfect scale was aprox... 218.00

I was looking for a second ball that I could control a little better on the backened; a bit less hook.

I wound up choosing another storm ( i am a bit partial to them) Frantic. the frantic's perfect scale is 186. and change,

i've only thrown the frantic about 4 games, but it does hook less in general for me. which is good for the dryer lanes i have to usally play

really it comes down to what you're comfortatable throwing I think.

I'm more comrtable with my VE because i'm used to it.

the frantic is drilled slightly dfferent to feel right i think. and when I hit the pocket with it, it destroys the rack.

[bowl1820]

Heres a link to the perfect scale info page.
http://www.bowlingball.com/info/perfect_scale.html

[striker12]

also they made the performance scale for beginner bowlers and people that have been bowling for awhile that are looking for a new ball and cna find the right one soo it works for everyone but another thing is if you dont understand it then go to your local proshop and just ask the pro shop person to explain about it and about different balls