Does bowling ball brand really matter?

[NewToBowling]

Good to know

[RobLV1]

The biggest difference between different manufacturer's balls is the cover material. At the higher levels in terms of average and performance, bowlers definitely gravitate towards products from one manufacturer or another because of the way they play the lanes. At the ends of the spectrum are Storm which manufacturers balls that are very reactive to friction, and Brunswick which manufacturers balls that read the oil very well. Most refer to Storm balls as "skid-flippy" and Brunswick balls as "rolly." So, yes, it does make a difference what company manufactures the balls you use.

[PauL757]

Overall I don't think that any one brand is better than another. There are some characteristics that differ between the brands, but I feel that now most brands are starting to close the gap on those differences. I feel even the smaller companies a just as good as the more well known ones.

[Aslan]

I've noticed Storm balls tend to be more reactive OTB...but tend to die sooner and many people have said they had cracking issues with Storm balls after a shorter amount of time than other brands...which I also noticed. Rotogrip seems to off similar performance with less of the negatives.

Columbia, Ebonite, Track, 900Global don't seem to be lighting the world on fire in terms of product offerings. Brunswick and Hammer I think fall in the middle of those brands and Storm/Rotogrip. DV8 a little closer to a Storm ball...but still very "Brunswick". And Radical has gotten a lot of attention and has interesting technology and offerings...but they also have the reputation for being more random and hard to control consistently.

If there are balls that are "different"; it would be Motiv. They have a different coverstock and different ways they put graphics on the balls...more technologically "advanced". But also difficult balls to control with an inconsistent release.

My feeling is that the ball does matter...but nearly as much as most bowlers think. Storm/Rotogrip and Motiv seem to be winning the PR/advertising wars and it's not even close really. Ebonite International seems like a sailboat in a windless lake. They ride the Hammer name as much as they can...but losing Chris Barnes to 900Global kinda hurt Columbia which was already struggling to regain it's former glory. Brunswick thought it's saving grace would be DV8 and Radical...but Radical hasn't totally caught on yet. DV8 has a lot of brand loyalty out there...but Brunswick's sale of bowling related products and all that uncertainty has hurt them quite a bit. Innovation is out there...cores, coverstocks, etc... But you'll still go to most alleys and find people bowling 300-games with old Hammer VIBEs and stuff like that...so it's not the ball, it's the bowler.