A 10# ball? Do you have some physical restriction which prevents you from rolling a more normal weight for an adult? A 10# ball wil no have an internal weight that helps you hook. It is as good as a spare (straight) ball. If it is off the rack, it is probably plastic,also.

I can't even get my pinkie into any hole of the house 10# balls. Do you actually get your fingers fully into the holes? I can't see how you could roll one.

Dr. Avery, there is really nothing wrong with an existing ball. You don't have towait for the new releases.

If you are getting tapped, as you say, it is most likely because your ball is too light, and deflects as it hits the pins.

Double down on what DM said.

The lighter the ball, the more accurate you must be. Also, the straighter the shot, the more accurate it must be.

I can't overemphasize the importance of getting a couple of 30 minute lessons right now before you go any further.

I highly recommend the spinner. It's a winner.

I currently am using a 15-year-old ball because it's the one that hits the pocket on the lanes I'm using. Get a used ball for learning, have the Pro Shop drill it for control. Learn for a couple of years before investing too much in new equipment. Make sure the span is proper. If any pain, find another driller and keep looking until you find one who gives you a pain-free grip.

Most of all, as aoiten said, have fun. That's what it's all a bout. And don't over-coach your kids or your wife!

[edit] Hey! I spelled aoiten's name right without looking!!!

BTW we all post these remarks because
1 - we've all gained valuable insights from this community and we want to give back
2 - we want to help others (consequently my posts are aimed at everybody, not just the OP)
3 - in my case anyway, it's good practice for my future endeavors at writing
4 - we like you. Really!

I'm glad you got my nickname right, but I'm not sure it even makes sense. I was going for "Blue Dot" in Japanese. haha It might actually say, "Blue coloured mark."

(BTW, this is off topic, but I was just watching a spinner video from 2006. [censored] Yu Jen bowled a 267 with a little bit of a skip in his approach, like a mini Belmonte hop. (I need to try that!) His shots were pretty straight, sometimes driving through, sometimes deflecting with high effectiveness.

His opponent, Cheng Chao Sheng, lost with what looks like a 218. The interesting thing about his shots was a pronounced backup motion. I think that that video settles the question of whether a spinner always goes straight and if it could possibly backup.)

Wow - Thanks for all your replies, guys. I really appreciate it.



I actually do tend to get strikes more consistently off the west side. What's the deal with that?




Yes I do, but I'm going to end up stepping up to a 14# anyway. If it helps, think of the 10 pound ball as strength training to prepare me for a ball that's a little too heavy.



It's a reactive resin ball (hence the need to sweat out the oil). There is a Flip block, but it's not very heavy. The coverstock, however, has considerably more grip than a plastic ball - or at least it does when it's not saturated with oil.



They've got a guy in the back who will drill your ball to order It is true though. They only drill house balls for two sizes of hands:
* 6-year-old girl
* The Incredible Hulk
That's why I had to get my own ball in the first place.

Deflection power! Deflection is causing a sideways movement of the pins which then fall like dominoes, I guess. Sometimes it works better than blasting through the pins, especially when the ball is too light for blasting.



That's a big jump in weight. Maybe try rolling a 12# before jumping to a 14#.



What is the name of your ball?

Generally, only balls 12-16# have weight cores. At 10-11# it might only have a small pancake weight. At 12-13# it might have a "generic" core. At 14#-16# it should have a name-brand, fancy-pants core. haha

Anyway, something from 12 to 14# will get you a core and some extra momentum.

My wife has been shooting more 200 games recently than she used to years ago. She started with a 10#, jumped to a 14# and did well, switched to a 15# and hurt herself a bit (and had a car accident), switched back to the 14# with some discomfort, then recently made an important change. I asked her to try a 12# to give her body a rest and work on technique. It is a little light, but she can score with it. My guess is that her max is 14# but her ideal might actually be 13#. At least now.

Oh, BTW, I bought a used 12# ball as a spinner for myself, so it was already sitting around. We didn't invest much in this temporary training ball. It only needed to have the fingerholes plugged and re-drilled.

It's an Ebonite Tornado (that's a picture of it to the left). Say what you will about Ebonite, I've gotten my $80 worth out of this ball.

I'm looking at moving up to a heavier ball, probably a c-system 3.5, a mutant core, or an evil siege, though I'm open to whatever advice I get from the shop - If I can ever get those guys to actually take my money. 'Too busy to sell a bowling ball when the house is almost completely dead' seems like a bad business model, but I'm patient. End of August, the new lines come out and they'll have some stock, for a change.

Maybe the prices will go down on last year's models, too.

DuH! I didn't think to look at your avatar. heh

The Tornado has a low rating for hook potential; 68.0 at bowlingball[dot]com, and that's for a 15# version, I would think. The photo shows a "Flip puck" but that might not be present in the lower weights. I think you can hook your ball (massively?) due to it's light weight.

If the Pro Shop doesn't want to sell anything or doesn't have stock, check ebay or bowlingball[dot]com. We've been taking advantage of the Bing 8% cashback deal at ebay (until Midnight, 30 July) and bowlingball[dot]com's "2010save5" coupon code and deals through their newsletter.

Yeah, patronizing the local Pro Shop is good, but we only have so much cash. In either case, paying for drilling is almost 100% profit for the shops. They don't always have the selection of balls that I'd be interested in, and they don't offer the access to data and reviews that the Web does. What they DO offer is knowledge of how the balls might react on the local lanes and immediate availability. So, for us, the winning combination is Web+Pro Shop.

So I played the guys from work. First game I put up a 115 for second place. Second place is the first loser, but I shake it off. First game's just warmup anyway.

I missed left on the first shot of game 2. Clearly an adjustment was in order, so I moved my foot half a dot left, and changed my lateral release angle (i.e. I didn't bring my hand as far around the side of the ball). Suddenly I'm on the train to awesometown. I'm getting consecutive strikes, my spares are falling, and my open frames aren't so ugly because they're non-consecutive and scoring bonus pins.

Game 2 final score: 149 (my 10+ pin per week improvement record remains intact). it was a particularly sweet victory, because second place rolled a very good personal game and still lost.

Brilliant! \^.^/ Now people will be gunning for you. hehe