Reply With QuoteI bought one last week from my local pro shop and Ive had success with it. It truly is a hidden gem. Agressive when it needs to be and you can its easy for those pesky ten pins! Ill be throwing a tournament with it thursday so Ill see how it does!
Yes, a few
No, not any
Vital Sign
The Vital Sign seems to be an undiscovered, underrated gem when it comes to League Bowling. Hits hard, sinks right in. Good in heavy oil. Good in medium oil. Just fine in the light stuff, too. Can't practice on a THS lane condition? No worries.
No need for the typical "arsenal", nor for the confusion of "best pick". This ball will do what you tell it to. Rolls straight or hooks with the best of them. This ball will allow you to work on you, a ball you can learn with and stay with as your game develops into the 200's.
Nail those lone 7s and 10s with little frustration.
The only problem with this ball is Ebonite's lack of marketing . . . in my area, anyway.
Won't say it's perfect, because no such ball exists. Probably would have been just as enthusiastic about many others. But I will say that I'm very happy with the Vital Sign!
Would I recommend it to a friend? Don't have to. They're looking at my improvements and bumped-up scoring. What more needs saying?
I bought one last week from my local pro shop and Ive had success with it. It truly is a hidden gem. Agressive when it needs to be and you can its easy for those pesky ten pins! Ill be throwing a tournament with it thursday so Ill see how it does!
HunterRunsIt —
Well, how'd you do?
Since my first Vital Sign posting, I switched to a Motiv QZ1-Red for League. No matter what I did to it's cover, the VS didn't seem to be cooperating — too much ball, despite my previous post. As a result, the VS has been in the closet, so to speak. Throughout the 2011 summer leagues I used the QZ1-R, which I'm still using in the 2011/2012 winter leagues as my 3-game ball.
But a few weeks ago I brought the VS for some after-league games on the same lane we'd played on — 3-games of 8-players. And what happened? After substantial changes in my starting and targeting positions, the VS gave me a 45-pin better game than my night's average!
Since then, I've used the VS in league but still prefer my QZ1-R.
Apparently, I goofed with the VS's cover to the extent that it's now not so good on fresh lanes. I should add that it's layout is not as aggressive as the QZ1-R's.
I've only been bowling for 20-mo now. I was first described as a Stroker. Now I'm described as more of a cranker. Because of my developing style, and the differences in layouts, I really can't say that one ball is better than the other.
But I will say that Ebonite has been very good about making suggestions as to cover changes and layouts that may help me! I can't say enough about how terrific they've been. I haven't gone to Motiv, only because that ball's layout was more suitable to my style in the first place.
I'm going to make a layout change on the VS and start over on it's cover.
I did pretty bad actually, I later found out that the guy that drilled my ball isnt very experienced and It goes straight in oil. Im probably going to switch the Virtual Gravity Nano Pearl and my spare/ Low oil ball the Storm Demesion.
Apparently you had the same experience I did . . . terrific first impressions, then disappointment. But, according to the BowlingThisMonth Vital Sign review (which I use for baseline ball comparisons), its asymmetrical core and "very versatile" factory-finished coverstock are best suited for long, well oiled lanes.
So what gives here? I seriously doubt it's actually the ball, but a combination of other factors.
The bowler is supposed to be at the top of the culprit-list, considering all the factors of a consistent delivery style, target accuracy, and rolling the ball in its preferred path for the given lane conditions. However, all else accounted for, it's very difficult for a top-notch bowler to overcome a ball that's drilled with the wrong layout for a given lane condition. This points the finger at inexperienced, poorly trained ball drillers — a hornets-nest of basic problems, especially for the inexperienced bowler with a developing delivery style (speaking of myself).
There are 10 pro-shops within 18 miles of me. Before I bought my first ball I visited every one of them. Not knowing what ball or layout was best for me, I asked for advice and listened to their answers. Of these, I trusted only 4. And of them, in my opinion, only 2 have truly competent drillers.
Like you, I suspect my VS was simply not drilled correctly for my desired reactions in THS conditions, and I too lost my initial enthusiasm then ultimately switched to another ball. It seems to me that I have to know exactly what my grip measurements are, clearly understand what the ball is designed to do, and what layout I want — and then go to the pro-shop. That's asking a lot, maybe too much, from a typical league bowler!
In all fairness, I don't think the Vital Sign or Ebonite products are the actual problem.
By the way, some new balls are just coming out and you might want to consider them:
Ebonite "Elevate"
Motiv "Primal Impulse"
Track "811A Special edition"
Good luck to both of us . . . and everyone else!
And may we all be able to afford these rather expensive "lessons".
Last edited by Richard McCusker; 11-12-2011 at 05:42 PM.
Man, I appreciate your great feedback. But Yeah I simply think that it's the layout just from what ive heard from people it's a phenominal product, I have someone else who is going to re-drill it for me who has much more experience and Im going to work from there. He drilled my old ball which I love, I Might go with a more agressive low rev layout,
Hopefully I find success with this ball or Ill just give it away!
Good Luck Good bowlin bud.
I have bought one here recently used out of our pro shop. its been drilled and plugged once. So far I am happy with it. I told my pro shop guy im a stroke down and in and he hooked it up. Ill be bowling tonight with it again so Ill let ya know how it goes
I started a new summer league a couple of weeks ago. It's a relaxed group — no $$$ involved and not sanctioned — but still competitive. My plan is to just experiment with hand and speed variations rotating to a different ball every 2 weeks. Choices are: QZ-1 Red, 718-A, Slant Hybrid, Versa Max, and the Vital Sign. I could yak about experiences with each, the Versa Max being my current favorite, but I started out with the VS.
Since my previous postings on the VS, its coverstock has been taken to 4000-Abra. This has made a big difference. It's now more suitable for my preferred speed / hand positions and the lane conditions I usually bowl on.
What I found is that the VS is just as I initially described it, but I was failing to maintain consistent deliveries. So my "disappointments" weren't justified. I would now say that the VS is a powerful ball that will react precisely to a bowler's speed and hand changes, even slight ones.
In other words, for my level of experience and abilities, the VS was too much ball — far more responsive than I realized. But this is a good thing, because it's now teaching me, if you know what I mean. It's demanding far more consistent control than I've grown used to. As long as I give it that, it will do its job. Overall, this should make me a better bowler with a higher average.
How are you doing so far?
Last edited by Richard McCusker; 05-11-2012 at 10:15 AM. Reason: spelling error
Its a little more ball than what I am used to but not doing terrible with it. With my finger being messed up and me being hard headed and stubborn still bowled last night lol... I think I shot a 160 something 150 and 170 something... after that it all went down but my finger was starting to kill me. I am going to have to let it heal some and then ill be back on the lanes with that and a mission 2.0
What the heck happened to your finger?
Whatever, you do need to let it heal.
Sometimes I get impatient/hard-headed, too — but no longer when it comes to bowling injuries!
Had a 'little" problem with my thumb last summer, ignored it for a couple of weeks, and it ended up taking over 2 months to heal.
That was a lesson learned.
Looking at the Bowling This Month review (Nov. 2010), the Mission 2.0 looks to have nearly the same stats as the Vital Sign (July 2010). It also appears to be similar to the original Mission, released earlier that same year.
Three similar balls released the same year by the same company doesn't make sense. I should read the full review comments, but what differences are you experiencing between the VS and M2.0?
Side note: I bought a Hardcore Hammer Brawl and loved it. The only problem was weight — 15-lbs is too much because of an old elbow injury. I tried to get past the pain, but months later started looking for a 14-lbs ball. By then, I couldn't find one — ball was out of production. Real bummer! Took a long time finding/deciding on a replacement, even though many other balls have similar specs. I finally ended up getting the new Versa Max, and I really like it!
Balls may have similar specs, but that doesn't always hold up once they're in your hand and on the lane.
p.s. Maybe you should try altering the VS's coverstock. That's what worked for me!
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