With new bowling balls being announced, anyone interested in any of them?

[chip82901]

I will honestly say, I can't wait for the Hot Cell from Rotogrip! My favorite Rotogrip core (Nucleus, found in all of the cell series), wrapped in urethane! Yes please! Only thing I'm not excited about is it being in the HP4 line, and coming with the HP4 price!

[ALazySavage]

I dunno......is there anything really 'new' coming out? What is the groundbreaking gotta have that isn't a repackage of something already out there? Or is it just more marketing hype for $$$$$?

Will have to agree, I'm not really seeing anything that I feel is a must have. I'm not one to go out and get a lot of new equipment as it is, but there isn't anything here I'm very interested in. From what I have read and heard here are the general things I am taking from this:

1. 1. The bowling technology differences across companies are closing, it is becoming more of a preference rather than a necessity to follow specific brands.
2. 2. New equipment is serving more as replacements for old equipment (not creating something new except on the highest end of the bag) rather than a new look.
3. 3. The shift to urethane, while somewhat misunderstood, has momentum.
4. 4. Almost everything I read has a reviewer saying, this is moving more than I initially expected. Almost as though the focus is more on create as much hook possible at each of these points down lane rather than blending the arsenal.

[Aslan]

Until the ball manufacturers get honest with the bowling public and explain exactly what the specs do, what they are trying to do with a line, how the new releases differ from the previous releases, etc...; you might as well just look at every release as a "new color".

The ball manufacturers have designed themselves into a corner. They've maximized the reaction in their offerings to the point that higher level pros are now asking for weaker, old, urethane balls that they can control with the easier patterns and higher rev rates. Ball manufacturers NOW have to figure out a way to market to a public....that they've spent decades marketing "more power" as worth $250...now they have to find a way to market that older urethane balls are now worth $250.

The Motiv Jackal scandal, in some ways, sent a shot over the bow at the ball manufacturers; reminding them that 0.060 is a HARD ceiling limit. No more 0.057, 0.058, 0.059. 0.060 differnetials...which is limiting what the ball manufacturers can do in terms of cores. All they can do now...is play with the coverstock chemistry and keep trying to re-market older balls with different covers, names, and colors.

If the ball manufacturers were smart...which they are NOT...at least in terms of their marketing...one of them would re-invent the way they launch their new ball releases...and maybe go back to a version of what Track used to do...try to release balls as a "set" and give the bowler who buys that "set" directions on how to use those 2-6 balls to play various conditions. There is also a chance that if the USBC ever mandates patterns...the ball manufacturers could start releasing balls specifically designed to play certain patterns rather than the overly vague and ineffective "perfect for medium to heavy oil". But, that would rely on the USBC to take serious steps to reign in the BPAA...which is about as likely as Naomi Watts agreeing to go on a date with me (highly unlikely).

[JaxBowlingGuy]

We actually have a decent bit of .057 and higher cores. A few balls using .059 cores

[bowl1820]

and give the bowler who buys that "set" directions on how to use those 2-6 balls to play various conditions. There is also a chance that if the USBC ever mandates patterns...the ball manufacturers could start releasing balls specifically designed to play certain patterns rather than the overly vague and ineffective "perfect for medium to heavy oil".

That will never happen, because it wouldn't work.

Because all bowlers don't bowl exactly the same way, Even when using the same pattern, All lanes won't play exactly the same (day to day, one end of the house to the other, near the coast vs inland etc.) etc.

So the instructions that work for some bowlers won't work for the rest. Which could ultimately hurt sales.

Plus no matter how the companies present or explain the ball spec's, your not going to be able to make a ball progression chart just based on specs, that's going to consistently work (at least not the way you want it to.).

[Aslan]

We actually have a decent bit of .057 and higher cores. A few balls using .059 cores

Well, if they are new releases...the comapny (no pun intended) is being "balsy". All it takes is a box of balls sent to the USBC...what's the % of balls that have to fail the test? Like, 0.1%? I doubt the big companies will bother with smaller brands like Lane Masters, Lane #1, or Pyramid...but if a ball with a 0.059 differential starts selling like wildfire and competing with their sales...the USBC might just find another box of balls on their porch...and I doubt the smaller companies could survive a recall.

@Bowl1820
I agree it's not a perfect scenario/solution...but if the maufacturers can't explain what is different from one release to another...then why should customers consider new releases anything other than just a horse of a different color? The manufacturers can't have it both ways...they can't say, "This is new and awesome and you should invest $250 in it because it is SO great!" and then in the same breath say, "...but, we can't really explain what makes this better than the last 5 releases."

Another thing they could do...to encourage ball purchases is to have the USBC keep a database of ball sales and which balls are thrown when titles (at various levels) or honor scores are rolled. It would require the bowling companies to release more data...and they'd have to fund the process because the USBC would need additional staffing.

The data could then be made public and people could see which balls are actually getting the best results. I think most customers would be more likely to buy bowling balls with a proven track record...balls that are "winning". And, it would encourage manufacturers to TRULY make better balls....that would win more often....and thus increase sales. And, the sales data would be necessary to ensure the data was "fair". For example, if Pyramid sold 1000 Ball Xs and Storm sold 30,000 ball Ys....and the Pyramid ball had 200 honor scores...and Ball Y from Storm had 700 honor scores:

Ball X has 1 honor score for every 5 balls sold.
Ball Y has 1 honor score for every 42 balls sold.

Without the sales data...it would be too easy for the largest companies to claim their balls are better...just because the company is bigger. The sales data would create a level playing field. It would also encourage ball manufacturers to refrain from selling high performance equipment to beginners...instead encouraging beginners to buy entry-level equipment.

Obviously....I could come up with 2000 ideas...and Bowl1820 could find fault with each one...but the fact of the matter is...new releases mean nothing if the ball manufacturers use specs to convince us to buy them...yet the specs aren't explained to the customers and the specs are essentially meaningless (as Bowl1820 pointed out).

[bowl1820]

yet the specs aren't explained to the customers and the specs are essentially meaningless (as Bowl1820 pointed out).

I never said that balls spec's were meaningless.

Just that the only ball "specifications" that would ultimately really mean anything, are the ones that are actual measurements of the balls physical properties. Such as RG, Differential, Intermediate Differential, Coefficient of Friction, Coefficient of Restriction etc.

and that you can't use the ratings like Hook, Backend, Length, the Perfect Scale provided by companies to accurately compare balls, between companies. Because the companies don't use a standardized set of criteria to determine them.

[Aslan]

Sooo....they "mean" something...but you can't really "use" them.

I dunno...I guess just choose the ball that smells most like a grape or has a unique name.

[fordman1]

We need someone we can trust to start a rating service. Bowl 1820 sounds like a candidate. He could get some young guns, a couple of old timers a couple of sexy grannies etc. No one understands all that technical stuff. No one from any company allowed. Just honest opinions.

[classygranny]

We need someone we can trust to start a rating service. Bowl 1820 sounds like a candidate. He could get some young guns, a couple of old timers a couple of sexy grannies etc. No one understands all that technical stuff. No one from any company allowed. Just honest opinions.

Great idea....I would volunteer but not sure if I could qualify for the sexy granny - although the other day, I did tell my coach/PSO that if he had boobs like mine he might find it harder not to lean so far forward during the realease.