Do you own more than 6 balls?

[Tony]

Not to put words in Aslan's mouth but we've talked about this enough I feel I can comment for him. He purchased these balls early on buying balls that were discontinued that he was getting at reduced prices which he felt made them a good deal. Unfortunately he went crazy with it making multiple arsenals in two different weights to experiment and without any clear plan on how the balls would fit together. It's a very hard way of making an arsenal as I think he would admit. it's much easier to have one ball you like and go in and say I want something more/less aggressive, more/less angular, or handles more/less oil and build that way or walk in and have a PSO help you pick out 4-5 balls that work together than it is to bring a rag tag collection balls in that have mostly been purchase at random and tell him to make it work.

I will say the economics of his ball purchasing is different than mine. I can purchase most balls fully drilled and slugged for less than $150 and can get anything for $175 complete. In Aslan's So. Cal. form what he has said those prices are more like $200-300. Which might make me think differently too. At this point in my opinion he would be best off to take a couple of those that makes sense for his next arsenal and keep them sell the rest on ebay or racks on bowling facebook and take what he makes to get balls that actually complement each other but to each their own.

I can see how one might get to that point of having all these balls, via the it's a deal so buy it method. It would be / is very hard for me to put together a good working complementary ball arsenal and using random ball purchases it would be even harder. Most of what I have learned about different balls and building a arsenal of balls to gain optimal results has been learned here and with the assistance of a couple of different PSO's. I certainly have a long way to go with gaining knowledge in this area and can appreciate that the vast quantity of balls is more of a collection with selected ones being used in an arsenal. I can see where weeding out the balls that don't make sense and are different weights would be a good plan, I still have 2 balls from my 15lb days, one has some value since it's a popular model and just came out a year ago and the other I will give away when I come across someone just starting out and it will make a cheap starter ball for them.

[Tony]

And from what I gather Aslan mostly bowls on house patterns with a few weekend tournaments on sport. For house I can safely say two strike balls max with a spare thrown in the mix. Once you start gravitating towards more advanced sport patterns I can see a need for 3-6 balls. "Most" house patterns have so much hold area you really don't need a full arsenal.

Overthinking can definitely mess you up. Sometimes the reason why one roll reacted different than another may have to do with your release, approach, speed, hand variations, target, lay down point than anything to do with the ball and/or oil transition.

I think I will end up with 3 or 4 strike balls, not because I need them but because I want to have them, too many different ball choices can certainly mess me up and I realize my primary strike ball a Hy road is adaptable to many different conditions. I am certainly a victim of overthinking at times, most of the time when I am having trouble it can be traced back to issues with me rather than the ball.

[Aslan]

There are a couple points here:

1) Online vs PSO.
2) Why keep balls undrilled?

As to #1, most pro shops can sell you a CURRENT model ball for slightly more than you'd pay online and then charge you $55-$70 to drill it...OR...they can charge you $225 for a CURRENT model ball and tell you it includes drilling, fitting, etc...

If I were buying a CURRENT model ball at market price...I would buy from a PSO to support my local pro shop and because at the end of the day the price is usually about a wash. I end up with a $179 ball drilled out the door for $229 and I can feel good about supporting my local pro shop.

However...if you're NOT that interested in CURRENT balls and would like DISCOUNTED balls (still first quality, but older models)...those can be had for $69-$109...almost HALF the price of a comparable new ball in a pro shop. By the time you add $55 for drilling (still supporting my local PSO)...it's roughly $135 out the door per ball....less than you'd pay for most balls in a pro shop even without drilling.

2) Why keep balls undrilled?

#1 A drilled ball will likely crack within 1-5 years even if you don't throw it. I believe that drilling the ball makes it more likely to crack over time. I've had two balls purchased in 2013 that both cracked in 1.5-2 years. More of a problem in the cheaper balls...but still.

#2 Once they are drilled, they lose 2/3 of their value even if you haven't thrown it on a lane. There are sites on the internet selling used bowling balls and it's absurd from a price standpoint. They get the balls for lets say $15...they pay $25 to ship them. So they got $40 invested. So now they gotta sell it at a mark-up to make money...and then $25 on top of that to cover the shipping. So you end up paying $75-$125 for a used ball when most modern balls only last 100-400 games before "ball death". So you're paying nearly 73% what a new ball costs (if the new ball has free shipping) when a ball with just 75 games has roughly 25-325 games left on it...and you still need to pay to have it drilled for your hand. You just paid $155 for a used ball (after drilling). If your local pro shop is overpriced...that may only be 55% of a new ball cost. But for MOST PSOs with reasonable prices...you've paid closer to 75% of what you'd get with a new ball.

#3- What if you want to change your thumb pitch? What if you decide you'd prefer a ball to be pin up versus pin down? Plug and re-drill at $15-$25 per ball?? Why not wait till you have a better idea what kinda layout you might want before just drilling for the sake of drilling and risk another $150-$200 to "fix" all of them?

Think of it like a new car. If your buddy has 10 new cars on his lot and offers you all 10 for 55% cost and you buy them.
1) You can't drive more than one at a time.
2) Once you drive them, they've lost 10% of their value (at least).
3) If you plan on driving them, you need to insure them differently ($$).

I have undrilled bowling balls...because I have no present need for them. I assume, at a later date, I will have a need for them. Until then, I'm not in any hurry to spend $550 to drill bowling balls.

Is it harder to create an arsenal this way? Depends.

It would probably be easier and perhaps more cost effective to each year construct a "perfect arsenal" and just take the $800 hit each year. Had I done that, I'd have had a better couple arsenals...but I wouldn't have any extras laying around. It all depends how much faith you have in bowling ball companies being honest about their technological advancements. If you truly believe...that the Deadly Aim or Optimus or Crux or Guru is just so technologically superior that you'd only be hurting yourself throwing anything else...then you know the path to take. If you feel that the difference every 6 months is minimal...you can wait 1.5 years and get a Guru or Deadly Aim for $79....brand NIB undrilled. Granted, it won't be as "cool" then. Because by then the new 2017 Guru Suprme Mighty Brawny Master will probably be released...which is guaranteed to go long and snap harder than anything the world has ever or will ever know....but I'll take my chances that said ball/hype is FOS.

[taxexpert2]

I tend to get a new ball about every two years - so old ones build up. Not addicted to buying new ones, just when it feels like the right thing to do. What do you do with the old ones? Most of the time I have taken my son's discarded balls as mine and had them redrilled for myself. However, this year I bought my own brand new ball. It has been a satisfactory investment. It suits me - Roto Grip Unhinged 15 lbs. What do you do with the old ones? I bowl with them occasionally, but not often.

[Aslan]

My old ones sit on my bowling ball rack that I constructed in early 2014.



See thread about specifications here.

However, once I run out of room on the display, I'll probably just bring some to league some night and ask if anyone wants them. Fortunately/Unfortunately, about 2-4 crack each year so my arsenal retirement is only a faster pace than ball destruction.

Not sure if I'll keep the Rhythm or not though. It was my only 300-game (non-sanctioned) so I might keep it for sentimental reasons.

[Perrin]

My old ones sit on my bowling ball rack that I constructed in early 2014.



See thread about specifications here.

However, once I run out of room on the display, I'll probably just bring some to league some night and ask if anyone wants them. Fortunately/Unfortunately, about 2-4 crack each year so my arsenal retirement is only a faster pace than ball destruction.

Not sure if I'll keep the Rhythm or not though. It was my only 300-game (non-sanctioned) so I might keep it for sentimental reasons.

Consider finding a local youth league to donate the balls to? In this area the pro-shop will plug and re-drill donated balls for youth bowlers at a very reasonable price.
since most of the kids over 13-14 throw 14 or 15 lb there is a pretty large demand

[Aslan]

Consider finding a local youth league to donate the balls to? since most of the kids over 13-14 throw 14 or 15 lb there is a pretty large demand

The first batch of "giveaways" will be 16lbs. Not a huge demand for 16lbs among adults much less youth.

[Perrin]

The first batch of "giveaways" will be 16lbs. Not a huge demand for 16lbs among adults much less youth.

you never know... at least here in the Midwest there is a contingent that still thinks it more 'Manly' to throw the heaviest ball allowed

[Aslan]

you never know... at least here in the Midwest there is a contingent that still thinks it more 'Manly' to throw the heaviest ball allowed

Being from the Midwest originally; I agree with that statement.

[Ptnomore]

For your cracked ones, or others that you want to discard, make your wife happy and paint them to look like Christmas ornaments, or give them to someone else that can/will. Throw them outside on the lawn for a few weeks out of the year, then back to the corner of the garage.