NEED a new ball syndrome?

[billf]

Geez bill, You didn't have to call me out that bad!!!

We've all been there. Well, at least I use to be there. I still chuckle when I ball down by two and cover more boards.

[GoodGravy]

So, if you were not suppose to get a new ball every other month, they would quit making so many right????

[got_a_300]

I used to have the need a new ball syndrome very bad
back in the late 80's early 90's but back then I was out
every weekend bowling in some kind of tournament and
out bowling in PBA regional events when I could.

I kept the credit card(s) company('s) happy back then and
I always got a good price on any bowling equipment that
I bought.

The shop that I bought from back then said since I bought
so much equipment and I drove 80+ miles just to get there
that I would get it at 2% over cost and bowling balls wasn't
all that expensive back then either.

Well now days since I came back to bowling in the fall of 2011
I've only bought 6 new balls and 1 used ball. I used to buy that
many in a month or so back then so I guess that I do not have the
need a new ball syndrome that bad any more.

[Gunz1911]

6 Bowling balls a month.... Damn. I have been bowling since Jan. and I am on the fence about getting a 2nd and 3rd ball.

[got_a_300]

6 Bowling balls a month.... Damn. I have been bowling since Jan. and I am on the fence about getting a 2nd and 3rd ball.

This was back in the good old days of wood lanes that had a
bad tendency of chewing up bowling balls in a hurry causing
large chips and a lot of scratch marks in the track area.

I never tried refinishing the balls I'd just give them to people
that wanted to mess with them and try to get them fixed. I've
still got about 10 or so of them left that wasn't all that badly
messed up but some still have some deep cuts in them just
not in the center of the track area.

The only bad thing is some of them have cracked into around
the center of the ball and you can actually see the core and
some of the others the core has come loose and rattles around
inside the ball from setting around all of those years exposed
to hot and cold weather while in storage.

[Stormed1]

I have it but it's more because I throw brands that not everyone throws. As a result I want to be able to tell customers that this is what ball a does. Not This is what company a says it does. Also as i bowl on 3 different surfaces which vart a great amoubt in friction i need equipment for each center. I also bowl a sport shot league in the summer and King of the hills on sport shoys so i have some that only bget use on them. However if i only bowled in one center i cold do wrth a 2-3 ball arsenal plus spare ball

[swingset]

I would love to buy new all the time just because having new equipment is neat and I love experimenting...but I don't have the funds for it nor do I have the time. So, I buy a new ball every year or so, maybe, but I win some and I buy used a lot and I have a great arsenal without spending much at all.

I don't believe "new" = better. In fact, some of the best balls in my arsenal are old....but they still perform perfectly on the right conditions. I have some balls I was given, or bought for $10, that account for my most consistent and hardest hitting weapons.

No need to buy new all the time, but if you enjoy doing it and can afford it, I won't knock ya!

[CeKnauss]

Nobody needs any more than two bowling balls. That would be a spare ball and a strike ball.

Nothing personal, but when people tell me this, I am a bit hurt. I bowl leagues at several different houses in a single season and while I could get away with taking only a single strike ball with me to each league with a house shot, there are several other considerations. Humidity, temperature, number of people bowling on the pair, amount of oil, consistency of the oil week to week, etc. I also was bowling and had a ball come back down the return cracked in half, so I needed another ball to use...

On another note, I do believe certain balls match up to certain people's styles and expectations better than others. Last night's sport league is an example I wish to use, where most of the people around me were having difficulty hitting the pocket the correct way. I saw a lot of funky splits and leaves, but I was fortunate to be much better lined up than I was expecting. I was using a MOtion Hole drilled Radical Yeti, playing about 17 at the arrows and 5 at the breakpoint on a 33ft pattern and was drilling the pocket like it was a house shot. I did pull a few inside and missed right on some others, but when I hit that mark (which seemed easy for me last night), I left nothing standing. I had 4 other reactive balls with me and none of them read the pattern like the Yeti (for my style), but I could have fought with them and found something that worked.

I have somewhere in the mid 30s of bowling balls, and while some of them work well for me, others don't. I've thrown various manufacturers and in the end, none of them really offer anything the others don't. If you know the general shape a ball is designed to make, you can make it work (generally). A quick example is the Brunswick Revolver, a ball I wanted to love but after my 3rd one (that I couldn't get to roll well for my game), I gave up on it. I have 2 of the Lethal Revolver and they both roll great for me (different surface prep and layout for different conditions).

Like anyone who loves to collect things and/or try new things, I too have this so-called syndrome. Some may see it as a waste, but I am merely collecting things for which I enjoy. If everyone were offered only one type of strike ball, bowling would not have a broad appeal. Telling people they may only use plastic equipment would put people off. People like having a choice, not being told what to choose. Even back in the day there was at least the option between hard rubber and plastic (and later urethane, and, for those followers of Don McCune, "The Soaker").

[classygranny]

I must not be as avid bowler as most on here.

I really don't like getting new equipment. It always feels so different, so much work to figure out what it's going to do. As most of you know, I just recently built a 3-ball arsenal, including a spare ball. I've only got two drilled so far. So far, I have been ok with getting used to them. But I'm in no hurry to go out and buy more.

And besides, where in the heck do you keep all those balls? I feel like I am sometimes overrun when I open the spare bedroom closet as it is.

Also, as soon as I am comfy with the new ones, I was going to trash my old Revolver. But someone said I should just take it to the bowling alley and leave it and someone will pick it up. Maybe I will do that - as I sure don't want it hanging around the house taking space and collecting dust.

[aussiedave]

Have you been effected by it ?

I think most of us have, who can resist the urge try the latest and greatest ball on the market with the hopes of them being able to bowl 20+ pins higher with this new magical sphere.

How much has balling ball technology changed the past 6 years? How much does it help your typical league bowler?
How much of it is just marketing?

New colors,smells, cores, coverstocks.
The important parts (core and coverstock) don't really seem to have changed much. The marketing on the other hand, full blown.

While i do enjoy watching ball reaction videos, i believe there is a lot of fluff with all the tech jargin 'we've incresead the RG .08 this year and added 5 gamma molecules to our patentent hyper resin 2.0 forumla and expereinced the best reaction we've ever seen !'

I've been somewhat dissaponted with the past couple balls of gotten, while they are 'good' i don't see what makes them beter than my 7yr old columbia hyde that i just rolled a 831 with. It's been resurfaced once.

I got a track 811 about year and a half ago , had my hyde refinished and had some finger grips put in at the same time.
No spectacular games with that ball, My Hyde became the go-to ball once again.

Janurary this year i got the dv8 nightmare 'most hookingest ball ever on the market'
Eh not so much if playing a inside line a little bit more but outside not even close, my Hyde still hooks more and still remains the goto.

When i first started out a older lady helped me and a friend with a little advice here and there.
She was always into buying new bowling balls. Sometimes 3-5 a year. Took some lessons here and there but hasn't really improved.

She has the syndrome... BAD

We even bowled on a league with her one summer. ONE.
Such a negative attitude ' oh i'm horrible' 'i can't bowl'

In closing, how important is having the latest greatest bowling ball to you ?

I can fully understand the faster bowlers needing a ball with plenty of reaction, but for those ordinary mortals among us who only bowl in the 10 - 14 mph range the lesser reacting balls are almost a necessity - I find too much hook makes for more to go wrong.
I have recently switched back to my old faithful blue hammer with about 200 games on it and have seen my game become so much easier. Just last night bowled a career high with it - 172 - 277 - 246 = 695. Last week was a 607 with two weeks in the 480's before that!
It is so much easier to throw than my Ebonite Cyclone - I love the pin action I get with it but I have to throw it as hard as I can to get any sort of consistency and when you bowl on the edge like that, many little things can go wrong. The urethane hammer is just a nice smooth pendulum swing and good follow through and hey presto!
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