Selecting a Ball to Suit New Lanes

[HeroesFall]

Hello all, my first post to this forum. For a bit of background before the main breadth of the post, I'm still young in my bowling "career" which is of an extracurricular nature. Currently acting as a sub on one of my company's bowling league teams. Was told they want to recruit me however once a spot opens up. Learned to bowl from my father, who throws a rather large hook. Reason being, he (and I) throw with only two fingers in the ball - thumbless. I know this is sacrilege to the truly dedicated bowler, and that as a thumbless bowler we are analytically less consistent, but its a style we both enjoy, and hasn't limited my father's average when he bowls consistently (185'ish not bad for normal league play). This "style" however is probably the primary cause for my opportunity (see positive spin on issue). I have 0 idea if I'm a cranker, tweener, or the third one (sorry), but self-evaluation has me more towards cranker. I keep a short backswing, but drive through on the follow through / forward swing of my delivery. Not a particularly fast approach, and I typically bowl from the left gutter pitching over the middle or third from the right arrow.

On to the crux of my message. I bought a Roto Grip Disturbed (designed for medium-heavy oil) a couple years back after researching many balls on bowlingball.com. It had a reaction I really enjoyed. Went and had it drilled at my local pro shop. I spent some time overseas which prevented my being able to consistently bowl, and haven't really picked it up prior to this past weekend. League bowling this past week, I found that the ball was hooking WAY too early for the lanes - which supposedly are a heavy oil house pattern - per all the consistent league bowlers in comparison to surrounding areas. Adjusting my approach speed, moving closer to start from, right on the lanes, etc. still yielded a similar result. Essentially, I would have had to muscle the ball down the lane to push it far enough to actually hook close to its target (still off). I swapped to a house ball - a Brunswick Strike Zone - and my scores sky-rocketed, gaining 60 pins between game 1 and 2, and another 25 from game 2 to 3. The result was consistent strikes, pin action on the lane, and really just a need to re-work my spare ball with a plastic (also was told I'm the most entertaining bowler to watch in the league, heh). My take-away, the Disturbed is just too aggressive for these lanes, even though its designed for medium - heavy, perhaps my stronger hook, creates an additional "dynamic" making it insufficient for these lanes. My conclusion, I need a new ball for these lanes.

I spent some hours trying to research the Strike Zone to find that it was released in 2005 and is now obselete. Here is the spec sheet from Brunswick:
http://www.bowlwithbrunswick.com/dow...trike-Zone.pdf

My next step was, well, lets check out some comparison's on bowlingball.com and see what is similar. My Disturbed's specs just for reference:
Disturbed Specs
Product ID 10676 Brand Roto Grip
Perfect Scale 196.9 RG 2.50
Finish Sanded Lane Condition Medium-Heavy
Coverstock Reactive Resin Ball Mfg Part # RDI
Ball Quality First Quality Factory Finish 2000-Grit Abralon
Coverstock Name 66MH Solid Reactive Core Name Middle Roll 70
Differential 0.043 Durometer 73-75 on D-Scale
Flare Potential 6+" (Medium-High) Core Type Symmetric
Performance High Performance[8] Roto Grip Product Line HP3
Release Date 01/08/2013

Biggest difference is the Strike Zone is Asymmetric, the differential, and the finish (potentially, I know there's a spread sheet trying to compare them all here, but I would love an industry standard like I operate in during my day-to-day work). So off to asymmetric balls I go. I looked at a couple - though I'd like to stay with Roto Grip. No other reason than I'm a bit OCD and would like to be consistent with my branding. I'm open to good options though.

Hyper Cell Skid:
http://www.bowlingball.com/products/...cell-skid.html
Seems like a possibility. In a review, even stated as a "more mild" ball for when the others in your bag hook too soon.

Mastermind Intellect:
http://www.bowlwithbrunswick.com/bal...ind-intellect/
Very similar stats to the Strike Zone. Outside of "my" branding, but I can make an exception if it gives me the ball I need to fit my style and the lanes. Core looks similar to Strike Zone.

Storm Crux Pearl:
http://www.bowlingball.com/products/...rux-pearl.html
Root beer scented.. confusing to me, but hey, who doesn't like Root beet?? I imagine a polished ball will "break" later and have a smaller hook than a reactive ball. Maybe a polished ball is what I need? Specs again are similar for Differential, RG, and asymmetry.



There are other balls as well obviously that are asymmetrical and similar in stats. My problems are as follows:
1. I have no way of trying all of these balls out to see how they will fit my style, and if they'll be what I need.
2. The Strike Zone I bowled with that was a house ball, is NOT a Strike Zone out of the box. I doubt its ever been cleaned, and has had years of oil absoption. Essentially, its not the same ball. So what ball do I actually need to conquer these lanes?
3. I could "alter" my Disturbed on finish, hole pattern, etc. but to me, I would rather have a ball to suit the situation, than force a situation upon a ball. It can be done, but that's not the "spirit" of the ball.

So my idea is to talk to a pro shop guy, see if he can give me input based on what I provide him, but I figured this forum has plenty of pro shop'ers, experienced bowlers, and "been there done that'ers". I will admit I don't know 100% of the bowling terminology, I'm still learning. My goals honestly are to be around a 180 - 190 average bowler eventually. Right now though, I just want to locate a ball that will allow me to connect with the pins in a similar manner to what I did in my final game Wednesday night. After that, its all about hitting my mark, making my spares, and better learning my style.


Thanks for the time, hopefully the long read is at least broken down in a clean / concise manner. Hopefully, I can get some help with a ball choice. I'll be bowling again tomorrow (different lanes) for more practice. Its a great past time and something my entire family enjoys.

[Bradski9]

After skimming the post, the first thing I would do is go to my pro shop and ask for the disturbed to be polished/ask them What they can do to either reduce hook or delay it. since this option is cheaper than getting a new ball.

[Amyers]

I realize the ball you were having some success with was asymmetrical but all of the balls you have listed here will hook as much or more than your disturbed

I have some friends who are thumbless bowlers and super strong equipment just doesn't fit thier game I would suggest looking at hysteria, uproar, or outcry if you want a new ball

You could also try changing the surface of your disturbed to 4000 would make it go a little longer. The disturbed is a pretty strong ball and dosent clear the heads real easy at it out of the box surface

[HeroesFall]

Hello, thank you both for responding. So polishing the ball is what will delay or lessen the hook and my suspicions that the years of oil absorption of the house ball is what gave me that lesser hook, not the design of the ball itself.

Would the Disturbed essentially be a useless ball for me because of its strong reaction?

Are the balls mentioned - hysteria, uproar, and outcry all less pronounced hooking balls?

I assume the 4000 sanding would essentially polish it. Would that be sufficient and would it ruin the ball? I assume you can always revert back to a previous finish.

Thanks again and it's the weekend, cause for celebration.

[Amyers]

Well here is where things get complex. Adding polish or putting a higher grit surface on your ball will make it hook more just later down the lane but often that's what you actually need. It will also keep the ball from hooking in the head of the lane as much which the Disturbed can do.

The hysteria is a polished high Rg solid it will go much deeper on the lane than the disturbed before hooking and I mean a lot deeper. Total opposite shot shape. I would say total hook wise they are similar. The hysteria is made for medium oil.

The uproar will hook slightly less than the hysteria will also be much deeper on the lane before it hooks. It is made for medium medium-light oil

The outcry is more similar to the disturbed than the other two balls it will be deeper than the disturbed but not as deep as the hysteria or the uproar. It is also more of a medium medium-light oil ball

I'm not a big believer that balls themselves hook a lot more or less than another it's more of where they hook. I'm not saying there aren't diffrences just that they are smaller than most bowlers think. The amount of hook you have is as much a matter of ball speed, revs, and where you are playing on the lanes as it is the ball.

[HeroesFall]

Hello Amyers, thank you again for responding. I went quiet for a while as I wanted to do some research on the balls you mentioned and make a decision.

I ordered the Hysteria last night (as well as a spare ball). Hopefully it will be a great complement to my Disturbed for when the ball starts to hook too early.


As far as drilling the ball... I know this can have as much impact on the ball's motion as the design itself. The pro shop guy who drilled my Disturbed will be the same one drilling these 2 new balls. Do I just describe to him what I'm looking for, just have him drill it the same as my Disturned and "let the ball do the work"? Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks again! Pretty excited and hope the ball works out for me.

[Amyers]

Best advice on layouts is talk to the PSO about what you want the ball to do. Hope it works out great for you from what I have seen it will be a great combination.

[HeroesFall]

Thanks! I'll be sure to provide the update as soon as I throw a series on my league lanes. One for closeout on the topic and two, never know it may my help someone else.

[larry mc]

go with something weaker , like a brunswick lt48

[RobLV1]

go with something weaker , like a brunswick lt48

Perfect timing! Sean Rash just shot 300 on TV using the LT 48. It is obviously not a "weak" ball. I does get further down the lane, retaining energy to demolish the pins. If we could just get away from the "weak" or "strong" terminology and simply refer to early roll or late roll, I think that a whole lot of bowlers would actually end up with the right ball in their hands rather than the "strong" ball which is often the wrong ball.