DV8 Misfit vs DV8 Hell Raiser

[nork]

My first post here, so first off, hello everyone.

I know these are two different balls, but I need some advice on picking either up.

My bowling background, I've never bowled for a league, I've never owned a ball, I use house balls and shoes, I know little terminology, so be patient with me when I refer to things as "dots" and "points". Despite describing your typical twice-a-year bowler, I find myself scoring fairly well (after my first "practice" game) and averaging about 180 per game. Not a score that's going to change the world by any means, I know, but better than a lot of other casual players.

My best friend from high school owns an alley and our friends and I used to spend quite a bit of time up there on the weekends drinking and playing a few friendly games. He used to (maybe still does) bowl semi-pro (for lack of a better term) and has told me numerous times that I should invest some time into practicing as well as my own ball(s) and shoes. My dad has bowled for leagues as far back as I can remember. I'm 29, he's 55 now and I remember being a kid and playing Galaga in the bowling alley arcade while him and my mom bowled for league night. Any way, on Christmas evening he took my brothers, my wife, our 5 year old daughter, and myself bowling for a few hours. After we were finished he told me the same thing my friend said -- that I should consider picking up my owl ball, shoes, and getting some real practice in. He said I have control and accuracy and though I have plenty of room for improvement, he said I have a good foundation to become a much better bowler.

So, I've been window shopping online looking at different balls and for my first purchase I want a quality ball for the money, but I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on something that may not work for me. Going from that, it seems that the DV8 Misfit is a great beginner ball. There may be better out there and I'm totally up for suggestions, but if I were to purchase without asking for help, it's come down to this or the Hell Raiser. The Hell Raiser seems to be catered more towards advanced bowlers and some might say it's too much ball for a beginner like me, and you may absolutely be right, but the reason I'm considering it is because of the ball key on DV8's website.

For the Misfit, it has a hook potential rating of 110 (out of 175) where the Hell Raiser has 165. Using their graphic as an example, the Hell Raiser (shown below as the red line) follows the same exact path I use to throw the house balls, where the Misfit (shown as the yellow line) is more like how my father bowls.



Here's where I start to sound dumb. I'm right-handed and when I'm setting up, I place the ball of my right foot on the left-most dot. I take 3 steps starting with my left foot (I've tried 4 starting with my right , but it just doesn't feel natural to me) and for the first throw I aim in between the middle lane arrow pointy thing (I could Google the terms in an attempt to sound smart and fit in, but meh) and the one to the right of it, closer to the one to the right, in hopes of getting in the 1-3 pocket. The way I hold the ball is weird to almost everyone that watches me bowl, as I don't use my thumb and after I've inserted my fingertips, I twist the ball counter-clockwise until my middle and ring finger line up perfectly down the middle of the lane (think of front and rear rifle sights, if you're a firearm shooter). I don't necessarily think this helps with my aim, but it does help me get more spin on the ball. Of course with more formal practice, I may pick up a completely different technique which will require a completely different ball, but for now this is how I feel comfortable bowling. I'll admit I feel like the Forrest Gump of the bowling alley. I don't understand half of what's going on as far as technique, terms, forms, etc, all I know how to do is keep score and knock down pins. I don't always get strikes, but I rarely setup splits and I'm fairly decent at picking up spares.

So in a nutshell, I have a lower ball speed, 12-14 mph I'd say, but I rely on a heavy hook. The lanes closest to me that I would be using are very nicely kept, but I have no way of telling you guys if they're dry, medium, or heavy-oiled. I also typically bowl with 10 or 11 lb balls. Since my back swing is no more than parallel to the ground, I use a lighter ball to gain a bit more speed.

So, if I were to pick between the Hell Raiser or the Misfit, which should I consider most? Are there other balls you guys would suggest? I'd prefer not to spend over $150 (I find the Hell Raiser for about $140) and would actually like to keep it closer to $100 (Misfit I see at $80).

After all that typing, I need a drink of water for my fingers. Sorry about the novel, guys, but thanks in advance for any and all pointers!

[got_a_300]

I own a Hell raiser myself and I have to say it is a lot of ball that needs a lot of revs on it
to bring out the best in it even with my 350 - 400 RPM's on it the ball just begs for more
RPM's so if you can supply the revs and your bowling centers has enough oil on the lanes
then the Hell raiser might just be the ball for you. We have some of our league bowlers that
after watching me bowl with my Hell raiser as I was the first one in our center to buy one of
them also bought one of them and they are trying to throw their Hell raiser's with hardly any
revs and trying to use them for straight down the boards balls which just doesn't quite work
not with that ball anyway. Some of the other less RPM and straight down the boards bowlers
took my advice and bought the Misfits and they are having great success with them and some
are using the Reckless also and doing decent with them.

[nork]

Thanks. I'm not sure how to judge my RPMs, so I don't know if I have low, average, or high RPM. I'm looking for one universal ball so I can learn the personality of one before I start picking up separate strike and spare balls.

It seems that DV8 owners really like them and their reactions, but if there are even better balls for about the same price and for what I'm looking for, I'm all ears!

[littlelegs]

The info on the Hell Raiser is interesting - thanks Bill. Also expanding on Bill's post it sounds like you do have a lot of revs going on (once if a blue moon I bowl no thumb for fun and do generate an insane number of revs) and a fairly low ball speed so could maybe cope with that ball OK if Bill says it begs for heavy revs?

Calculating revs is not too difficult and a search on this board or Google will show links as to how (I'm way too lazy today to go dig them out). Basically you place a piece of tape on the ball (usually just left of the finger holes but it depends a little on your release and will be where your 'PAP' is when you see that term mentioned) then video it. The number of times the ball rotates down the lane is obviously the rev rate (after a little additional basic math). If nothing else it's a fun number to know and is sometimes useful too.

Certainly it sounds like (no way to be sure without seeing a vid clip) a heavy hooking ball may have a hard time staying right if you're managing to hook house balls that much.

[littlelegs]

Just wanted to add that a 'universal' ball may be tough to do if you're hooking hard and revving high. It can obviously be done but then you're definitely looking for a ball not too strong and will probably need a different release staying straight behind the ball to get those 10 pins. A plastic spare ball is comparatively cheap and usually well worth the investment especially for those tricksy 10 pins.

[got_a_300]

Here is a link on how to find your bowling ball RPM and here is another video that kind of gives
you an ideal on some different hand releases to achieve different RPMs on your ball. If you want
to be able to play any part of the lane on any condition and want to become a better bowler you
will need to master different hand positions and different releases.

Okay I have to say it, that 2 finger no thumb release you are using worries me on so many different
levels as I tried it back in the day and had a super amount of RPMs on the ball but could never get it
accurate enough to do any good consistently. I not only had that problem but I started to have arm /
forearm pain / problems until I went back to using my thumb in the ball.

[littlelegs]

It's knee and hip issues with me as I seem to twist a little differently. That and my fingers hate me after 5 frames or so as they take more weight than using the thumb. Accuracy though no more of an issue than my usual problems unless I'm tired then the extra effort really shows.

[got_a_300]

I know what you mean when talking about having knee problems I have developed
osteoarthritis in both of my knees so no more deep knee bending at the foul line for
me like I used to be able to do years ago. I have had to also change everything in
my approach since starting to get back into bowling this time after having a 12 year
lay off of bowling. I've had to slow down my approach and shorten my back swing and
I have a lot less knee bend at the foul line than I had before so I'm not able to get the
ball down on the lane as smoothly as I used to.

Now as for the DV8 Misfit vs DV8 Hell Raiser I would wait until after the 23rd of this month
as there will be a new Hell Raiser released on the 23rd it is called the Hell Raiser Revenge
and is supposed to be a lot more of a hooking ball than the original one is. I guess I'll have
to get one to try it out and see if it hooks more than my original one does.