How often are changing balls in league?

[Timmyb]

I take two and a spare with for league, three and a spare for tournaments. The league I'm in, it's far easier to adjust than to switch lumber. Most nights, the biggest move I make is 3-4 boards. My benchmark isn't a terribly strong ball (IQ Nano), so it stays pretty steady. The SureLock is fun, but boy it can get out of control in a hurry.

[Blomer]

When I change balls that much, im struggling. When I can stay with one ball, besides spare ball, I’m in good shape. With that said, I’ve been using many balls lately.

[got_a_300]

I went thru 6 balls tonight on league the lanes were awful I finally
settled on using plastic so I could keep it on the right side of the
pocket the lanes hadn't been oiled in 2 days.

[fordman1]

What kind of a dump do you bowl in? I hope you are talking about open bowling. If it was league you should have the league refuse to bowl on that kind of lanes.

[JasonNJ]

I went thru 6 balls tonight on league the lanes were awful I finally
settled on using plastic so I could keep it on the right side of the
pocket the lanes hadn't been oiled in 2 days.

This same thing happened to me 2 weeks ago on my Weds Mixed league. Everyone on my pair was about 30-40 pins under average. They did oil before my league but I think the machine was not stripping the oil off properly and just laid down the house shot on the existing oil. The problem is the Tuesday league is a sports shot so no one could find a line and I finally ended up throwing plastic which ended up giving me my best look.

[got_a_300]

What kind of a dump do you bowl in? I hope you are talking about open bowling. If it was league you should have the league refuse to bowl on that kind of lanes.

Yes it was our Thursday night league last week the machine was not
stripping the lanes and it was oiling all the way down to the head pin
no one could hook the ball more than 2 boards. I seen our big crankers
couldn't even hook the ball and there were so many of the bowlers going
to the owner and complaining about the oil on the lanes last week that they
just decided to oil them on Tuesday morning and let them ride the rest of the
week or until someone showed up to fix the machine which I don't think has
happened yet.

[actonyourown]

I take 3 balls plus a spare with me to a rec league but want to get into a more serious league soon. I start with my Halo if I can (I'm most comfortable with it) and do not change until my adjustments are too large for me to expect to stay consistent. I only move 2-3 boards but I'm still improving my consistency and accuracy. The lanes are sometimes medium oil or dry, so I need options to throw my line.

[six6guy]

I tend to start with a pretty aggressive ball and make small moves every half game or so (chasing the oil). It's more likely I use only one strike ball but I do sometimes change to a different or lesser ball. If I have several bowlers using my same line I move quicker or change ball to get a line not being used. If the oil pattern is extra light then sometimes I switch balls after 1st game. If oil is a short pattern then I switch just a few frames into the 1st game or during warmup. I have one league that is a sport league and the pattern changes every week. I also have a couple normal leagues they don't seem to change their oil patterns very often but they do use a different oil in winter vs summer. The alleys do keep a moderatly cool temp but the humidity is wild and that also effects oil conditions.

[Aslan]

I bring 4 plus a spare ball. I usually only use 1-2...once in awhile I'll get to the 3rd...but the 4th is really only for tournament type scenarios where the lanes are just burnt beyond belief.

My strategy is to move left as the lanes transition until I get to the point where I'm leaving flat 10s or the like. At that point, I know it's time to make a ball change. Sometimes I stay on the same line, sometimes I adjust the line slightly to compensate for the difference between ball #1 and ball #2. I then continue the same strategy...moving left...if I leave flat 10s or the like...time for ball #3.

The problem with this strategy is it works great if you always throw good shots with a good release and good speed control. If any of that varies...then you don't "really" know whether you should change balls or just throw a better shot next time. So, sometimes I change too early when really it was just a bad shot...sometimes I try to make slight changes to my release/laydown point...when I probably should have just changed balls.

[Ryster]

I carry 4 balls with me [3 "performance" balls plus a plastic ball]. I rarely change balls once I decide during warm-up what to throw. If the shot totally goes away I may switch, but that usually doesn't happen until end of the 2nd game or beginning of the 3rd game. It is much easier to stay with the same ball and try to move with the transition than flat-out switching. The funny thing is I currently have a brand new ball in my bag that I have *never* thrown, ever. I had it drilled, put it in my bag 5 weeks ago, and it has been with me ever since but has literally never seen a lane. It is a strong ball with some surface on it, but would be too much for anything I currently bowl on.