New to the site and new to bowling. With the intent of getting better anyway

[crashmyalley]

I started bowling 12 years ago. I liked it enough to buy a used ball that fit well. I bowled regularly for about a year I never used anything other than this ball and I was averaging about 170 - 180. After that year I stopped and bowled two games every other year maybe for the last 11 years but I still came out with 150-180 with my favorite ball. I have signed my kids up for the kids bowl free program this summer and in about 6 games I am hooked again. I want to improve in every way.

To start out with my favorite ball I have used the last 12 years broke my second game with the kids and slit my finger open. So I decided to just buy another ball from the pro shop and go from there. The guy asked what my old ball was and I had no idea, never even noticed writing on it before. So I ended up purchasing a Radical Grease Monkey and it has been horrible trying to learn with this ball. I found out my old ball was a storm El Nino I believe it says. They seem night and day the way the go down the lane. So I did some research and discovered bowling balls have a bit of science behind them and they are far from the same. So that's how I am starting out. I have been doing tons of reading on everything bowling trying to figure out how to improve my game. Unfortunately there is no one offering lessons in my area that I can find. Luckily I stumbled upon this forum and from what I have read so far seems to be a good informative forum with people willing to help when they can. Thanks for having me bowlingboards and members. Sorry for the novel

My first question will be how to start out my ball line up. I have the grease monkey and from research seems to be best for medium to medium dry lanes depending on the review. I would like to find a ball that would be very similar the the storm el nino. The guy at the pro shop says our lanes would fall into the medium heavy category. I would love some suggestions on what would be a good next ball to buy. I am open to any brand or price hopefully something good for medium heavy lanes and possibly very similar to the El nino. Thanks for any help.

[Amyers]

what problems are you having with the grease monkey?

[crashmyalley]

At first i was unable to hook useing the grease monkey. It was very effortless with the storm ball i had. I did make some progress with it today and was able to get a good hook To much in fact not sure if it is because of lane conditions or practice. Still working on control when i release the ball. I need to get my wife to take a vid of me so i can see what I am doing. So the main problem is probably just my lack of skill and understanding of how to release the ball correctly

[Amyers]

You will find the more modern covers are actually more agressive than the cover on your older ball. It takes a while to get back into form I just came back from a 20 year layoff about 2 years ago. Good luck.