Trying to Setup Bowling Arsenal, but all the balls react the same.

[bobforsaken]

Thanks! I feel better about this now. I guess I thought getting different coverstock and differentials with the same layout would make the balls somehow just work better in a certain area of the lane. Like the Fusion works well standing 16-22 throwing towards the 9-12 boards and another ball's wheel house (with the way I throw it) would be starting at the 12 board for a target up to maybe the 15 board. (adjusting feet to get to the same breakpoint roughly) I'm thinking I was wrong and really won't be able so simulate how the ball will help me on a fresh (not broken down) THS. Maybe I'll see more differences as the lanes do break down and the track gets burnt up that the optimus' hockey stick really does shine playing deeper and bouncing it off the burned up track where the fusion would read too early and go Brooklyn. Thanks again for your help!

[JJKinGA]

I love the cyclone for a house shot! I recently got an optimus to give the same shape and look as the cyclone but handle the fresher oil better. Totally worth it. I play to optimus until I start seeing it use too much energy. then switch to the cyclone.

With your speed dominant style and a house shot you won't see a large difference between balls. You'll probably see a few feet difference in where it starts to move.

[bobforsaken]

I love the cyclone for a house shot! I recently got an optimus to give the same shape and look as the cyclone but handle the fresher oil better. Totally worth it. I play to optimus until I start seeing it use too much energy. then switch to the cyclone.

With your speed dominant style and a house shot you won't see a large difference between balls. You'll probably see a few feet difference in where it starts to move.

Thanks... is your Cyclone OOB finish? How do you tell when your optimus starts using too much energy. Is it more tangible like a particular pin leave or subtle like noticing a slow move off the breakpoint (something that may be hard to explain to a novice like myself)

[Amyers]

I think sometimes with all the marketing we expect more differences in balls than there really are. Some will be earlier than others some will be different shapes on the hook but at the end of the day mostly they are going to end up in the same spot. The ball helps control when it hooks and your entry angle most everything else is how you throw it.

[bobforsaken]

So would there be a more appropriate ball choice than another for a particular angle being played. Say I wanted to play straight up the boards in the dry area around the 5 board. My choices were a High flare Hyroad Pearl which, for the sake of argument, gets to the pocket with a sharp back end hockey stick type move. Vs a Pitch Black or Tropical breeze with a slow arc to the pocket playing the same line? My intuition would say the hockey stick would be too sharp an entry angle leaving to a lot of wrap 10's and the arc would work better... but of course I'm a newbie and don't know what the hell I'm talking about.. LOL.

[Amyers]

Well I will warn you I have my opinions (I spend way too much time watching people bowl and figuring out what works for me) but sometimes others have a different take than I do. With your question you asked it depends on style and the lane conditions you bowl on. I have a team mate that bowls with the Hyroad Pearl starts it off around 15 at the laydown goes out to about 5 at the break point and roars back to the pocket with a lot of success its his favorite ball. We bowl on a heavier oiled surface than most lanes offer on their THS (took me a long time to figure this out as a lot of the advice I got didn't work well and I couldn't figure out why). So your experiences maybe different.

One type of movement is not necessarily better than another both work. Try to figure out in practice which is working better that day for you. Lanes are always different. I know in my leagues generally where I'm going to start looking at each time but I may be playing lines that are 5 boards different with my feet and an arrow different with my target from week to week. Humidity, temperature, and for me some weeks I just throw a little different so what's working for me changes.

In my opinion if your just league bowling you have a nice three ball setup between the Cyclone, Fusion and Optimus. Worry more about expanding your abilities to throw different lines and move with the feet than adding another ball other than a spare ball. If you can get to where you can throw the ball anywhere from the third board to the middle arrow and still put it in the pocket you will have opened up more area to bowl in than you will ever need in a three game set.

If you start bowling in tournaments or sport conditions more balls may become necessary to handle the different oil patterns. Save your money until your facing something you know you need something different to handle. Then you will be able to explain to your pro shop what you are facing and what you are looking for and they can come up with something that is suited to that particular look you need.

If you have to have something else with the balls mentioned above the tropical breeze is stronger than you think and will be similar to the cyclone, I'm not sure why a speed dominate bowler would need urethane I haven't really seen anybody using one of these so I can't comment beyond that urethane from my understanding is more for rev dominate types on more burnt conditions, the Hyroad pearl is a great ball but at best its just going to be a few boards more than the cyclone a few less than the Optimus at worst its going to look just about the same as the others. I really suggest at this point working to expand your lines and worry less about your arsenal until you really figure out I need this and why. Never buy a ball unless you can honestly say I don't have something that will do this on this condition and this is why I need to do it. Otherwise it just becomes an expensive addiction looking for that next ball that will fix whatever problems you have. I would rather have two balls that I understand exactaly how they work on different conditions and can switch to seamlessly than I would six that I don't know and understand as well.

[bobforsaken]

Thanks. I think that is sound advice and normally I wouldn't have even gotten the optimus yet.. My Wife, Son, and I are doing our second "Have a Ball" league. (Bought the Fusion for myself last time) The Bowling center gives us a Spare ball with the league dues OR sells us a Ball at their cost with a $40 Dollar discount. So I got the Optimus for about $80 drilling included. My son doesn't need another ball yet (he's 6) so I'm going to take his ball and apply it towards the most expensive ball I'll want in the future to get the best discount. All three of the balls I have now work great for my comfort zone but if I had to play straighter or in burned out conditions, I'm really stuck. Likewise if I were to play a true heavy oil condition I'd be stuck. I may not run into that condition for another couple of years after lots of practice, but I won't be buying any bowling balls between now an then. (At least I don't think so.. Maybe I'll do another Ball League in the summer... )


I agree I need to expand my skills, but I'm trying to understand what I may need in the future, before I'm ready to actually take advantage of it, if that makes sense.

[Amyers]

I understand and couldn't pass on a Optimus at that price either. Remember you can always adjust your surface you could add a little surface to the fusion and it will work in heavier conditions also and your Optimus will handle quite a bit of oil also. As a speed dominate guy I can't really see you needing anything lighter than the cyclone I'm more rev dominate than you and I can play my Seismic Euphoria on some pretty dry conditions and I think its stronger than the Cyclone. I think with your current lineup I would look at a heavier oil solid if I had to add another ball. The new Crux, Zero Gravity, Marvel-S would all be ones I would consider if you want to stay with Storm.

[RobLV1]

Let me give you a quick rundown on what makes balls do what they do. There are four elements that contribute to how a ball reacts: the core, the layout, the cover material, and the surface. All balls hook the same amount in terms of the angle of direction change, but some hook earlier and some hook later. In terms of the core, there are three key factors; symmetry, the low rg (radius of gyration), and the differential (the difference between the low rg and the high rg). The lower the rg measurement is (it's actually a measurement in inches), the sooner the ball is designed to roll. Right now, you have two very early rolling balls in terms of rg, the Optimus at 2.48, and the Fusion at 2.49. The differential in the Optimus is quite high, while the differential in the Fusion is quite low. This would make a big difference to a high rev player, but not too much to the rest of us. The Cyclone is in the mid-range in terms of rg at 2.53. The second element, the layout, does nothing other than to change the actual rg and differential numbers, by positioning the core within the ball. Ball drillers want you to believe that there is something magic about layouts. There isn't. The third element is the cover material. There are three types of cover materials solids, pearls, and hybrids (a combination of solid and pearl materials). Your Optimus is a pearl, and your Fusion is a hybrid. You don't indicate which Cyclone you have, so I don't know the specific material. It's difficult to determine the actual aggressiveness of cover materials, but usually price point is a good place to start. Both the Optimus and the Fusion are from Storm's highest priced line of symmetrically cored balls. This would be an indication that both covers are pretty aggressive. The Cyclone is from Ebonite's lowest priced line of reactive balls that would indicate that it has a less aggressive cover material. The one factor that can be readily changed is the surface, but you need to make surface changes to compliment the other elements in the bowling ball. For this reason, adding more surface to the Cyclone which is the least aggressive ball you have in terms of both core and cover material makes no sense. It's kind of like trying to put snow tires on a race car; it just doesn't work. I would suggest making your next ball a solid in the mid/high rg range. I think that the Storm Zero Gravity would be a good choice for you. It will give you good length, and the strong cover and asymmetrical core will give you a different look in terms of motion down the lane.

[bobforsaken]

Thanks.. I really appreciate you taking the time to help me. I think going heavy oil solid is what I'll do after a month or so of experimenting with my current lineup (if it still makes sense at that time). I may also resurface the Fusion to original OOB (its been about 150 games) so I can get a better understanding of the relation to the Optimus.. Then decide on resurfacing the Fusion to 2000 if there is a big gap between the future Heavy oil solid and Optimus. Also I'll polish up the Cyclone and see what that gives me.

As you said, in a 3 game set I'm not likely to really "NEED" a ball change. I normally get away with one or two 2 and 1 adjustments left as the games roll on. The league I'm doing (adult/youth) also has a lot of plastic balls being used so my challenges may be unique and I may need to make my judgments of appropriate ball changes after long practice sessions, more than during league play due to the unusual amount of carry down.