Summer is coming and I just bowled in my first amateur tournament. The conditions made something frighfully obvious while I was sparing and everyone else was striking, I need to add a couple of balls for different conditions. I'm a tweener and I only have one strike ball. The tournament conditions made it very difficult for me to get to the pocket strong with my R43. Its a medium hook potential ball drilled right over the label. I like being able to "make" shots in league. But those conditions were far from league.
I want to continue bowling tournaments and want to add a couple of balls to my toolbox over the summer.
I was looking for a medium/heavy oil ball and a heavy oil ball.
I was looking at the Ultimate inferno for medium-heavy and would love some ideas about that ball in those conditions about heavy oil options.
A friend of mine who drills balls suggested the Paradigm but I have seen alot of mixed reviews about that ball.
thanks for the help

You are looking in the right direction in checking out the Ultimate Inferno. I love Brunswick's ball line, however, I personally found this ball pretty weak for some reason. I had it drilled for a decent hook, but I got nothing out of it. I remember one day I was so frustrated with it that I came home from league and bowled it right into the dumpster-seriously. But, that was my experience with it, and someone else may love theirs.

I have had a lot of nice looks with the Scorchin' Inferno, and if it is a little too much ball for you, you can always have it polished a little...I have heard really great things about it even when polished up. I love my Scorchin and gets use on heavy-oil and tournament shots.

A particle ball might also be a possible consideration for you as well, so check those out too.

I'm sure others will have good advice for you too.

Best of luck!

I bought the Paradigm about 6 weeks ago. All I can say about the ball is wow. The ball moves well, hits like a truck, and rolls through the pit. I have also heard good things about the Paradigm Passion. That is basically the dull version. Now, there are also guys I bowl with who use The One. They have all been happy with it. After a bit of use, they do need to be cleaned well though. One of the message boards on here suggested soaking to help.

So to make the best recommendation we'd probably all like to know your stats as far as speed, revs, PAP and surface you bowl on, etc. The One is a great ball as well as the Big One. Storm is the ball of choice where I live, but not for me. A lot of paradigms and passions now. Passions are really agressive and tend to roll out from what I see on the house here. What ever you get you will want the ball drilled for control on heavy oil. No matter what you won't get the ball to snap on heavy patterns. I love my The One, but I'm currently loving MoRich's awesome flip. It has just as much hook as The One and is the hardest rolling ball I have ever thrown... Ball choices are abundant. Make sure you choose one for the surface you are bowling on as well as oil!

I think you are being TOTALLY misguided. Just because you couldn't carry in your first tournament, doesn't mean that its the ball's fault. Nor does it mean that if given a "magic pill" of a ball, you would have carried.

You said yourself that the conditions were far from league conditions. Well!!....that means you need to learn more versatility in your game. More about lane transitions. Not that you need a new ball. A new ball isn't going to get you the versatility you needed at that tournament. Only experience and coaching will help you adjust to a variety of lane conditions.

Sure a variety of equipment means that you "may" be able to go to a better carrying ball. ONLY, if you understand why you need to go from ball to ball, line to line on the lanes. Most times too many choices in equipment just makes the decision harder.

You got a wake up call. That's all. Every body does. You now know that there are conditions where you are not playing to your strengths. The solution is not in equipment. Its in you.

Erin

i agree with erin, but on the other hand i could imagine playing on soup with a medium hooking ball and see the frustration. so, no, a ball isn't going to be a magic pill. but on the other hand, when you play on something so heavy that you have to point your ball in off the corner and get no entry angle while watching everyone else throw strikes, you should give yourself another option or two. i personally love my w.m.b. by MoRich, although they have some newer oilers out. the seek and destroy is their newest one. they claim that it's a particle ball with angularity. Ebonite's xxxcel is their big oiler. alot of people will say that the big one is their new oil ball, but in the o.o.b. finish i find it's best for me on med/heavy to med. every ball, depending on it's drill is going to have the "perfect shot" to play it on. as it is now, i'm lucky that when my w.m.b. starts to over react, i can pull out the big one and have it's perfect line to throw usually. so, given my experience, those would be my recommendations.

and erin, i think you are way over-critical here. sounds to me like he recognized his problem quite well.

I don't disagree that one needs to have versatility to their game. However, I also feel that having several ball options is just as good.

With consistency of good shot making being the key, I will always choose to try different balls rather than change my game. Whenever I bowl I always try to start off playing the same line I always do (unless I know the pattern ahead of time will not allow it). If one ball doesn't work on the line I like to play, I will gladly change balls before changing my line. Perhaps it is just me, but I stay more consistant if I can change balls and play my 'regular' line as opposed to changing my line 1st.

Now, I am not saying a ball will be THE solution, and in fact, there are times where I may go through all the balls I have with me and still have to change my line.

I basically have enough balls that cross-function. In other words, one group of balls I have is drilled to match coverstock-the polished/weaker surfaces are drilled with weak layouts and the heavy-oil balls have max hook layouts, then I have the same set of balls the opposite, where the polished/weak coverstock balls are drilled with max hook and the heavy-oil balls are drilled with weak layouts. This gives me a lot of options before I change my game.

So while a ball isn't by any means the solution, it is the solution for me about 75% of the time. I was just thinking the other day about how too many people are getting caught up in having too many balls rather than just focusing on good mechanics and good adjustments, but then I think of how many times just one ball change has made the biggest difference between a bunch of spares and a bunch of strikes.

In the end you do need a good physical game and be able to play different lines, but I will try everything from a high-polished finish to a 80 grit wet sand before I change to my 'B' game.

After re-reading Erin's post, the one thing that is very important in what she said is that you have to understand when you need to change to a particular ball and why. In the beginning I had 3-4 balls and just got confused. So I think what is being said is that you do need to have a good enough game and know about your game to be able to make good decisions on ball choices as opposed to just saying "this ball won't hook, so I need another."

In the very beginning I was one of those who knew more about the balls than the lane conditions, so that left me making poor ball selections. And while I still do make the decision to change balls 1st, I do understand why I need to change to a certain ball and how it will affect my game and match-up on the condition I am on. That is the kind of understanding needed before getting into the concept of having multiple balls.

Okay, my turn. I will side with Erin on this one. The reason being that if the average in the profile is correct, then there is room for improvement. At 178, there is probably a good reason why this bowler wasn't striking. A magic ball will cover up some short-comings, but in the end good fundamentals are needed before any amount of extra balls are.

It's what we didn't hear that tells the story. Where were you playing the lanes? Exactly what was the ball doing? What kind of spares were being left? Was it a lot of single pins? Did you leave a lot of flat ten pins? Did you try moving your feet and changing targets? I would personally like to hear more about what you tried before telling you if you need another ball. You say that it wasn't a house shot, how do you know? Did you test the lanes during practice? Did you throw shots down certain boards to determine where the oil wasn't? Did you try different lines during practice to find the best one?

Pin bomber, I disagree with you on this point. I don't think one should just keep changing balls to find a shot. I have a teammate who used to think like you and it took a few years of frustration and watching me score better by not being afraid to move my feet for him to see the folly in his ways. You can waste a lot of time jumping from ball to ball experimenting. I do that when I practice. There is no need for guessing during league. I know exactly what each ball is capable of. I also know that I can use any ball to strike on almost any condition, as long as I know where the oil is and isn't. More often than not, I use only one ball during league play. I use practice to determine where the shot is and I pick a ball accordingly. Then I go from there with that ball. If I only had one medium oil ball I could still bowl very well on most shots. I would take my X Factor with me to use on most any shot and I could score. Heavy, medium, light, I have used it for each and I have scored well with it. It's just knowing how to play the lanes. PLAY THE LANES. Take whatever shot works best and run with it. Be versatile. Don't get married to one shot. And Pin Bomber, how many balls do you bring with you to league anyway?

Now if it were a PBA shot then that is different. That is a lot of oil. Then forget everything I just said.

Well, like with a PBA event, I was assuming that the original poster was either bowling on a sport shot or a really tough condition.

Now, when we are talking about an ordinary house shot, I know what balls I want. For basic leagues I take only 3 balls and one of those is a plastic one. For a tougher scratch league or sport shot I may take 4 until I figure which ones work best and then go back to taking 3 assuming the shot doesn't change. Now when I go to a PBA tournament, I cart the whole lot with me.

Let me say that when I do talk about having multiple balls for use, for the most part I am talking about using them in practice or when bowling on a condition for the 1st time to decide which one I like best. I don't do a lot of ball changing during the game unless the adjustment I need to make is a huge one. I will make minor adjustments...I don't mind moving 5 boards left or right, changing ball speed, and changing my target, but if a major change is needed I will change balls instead.

But I really am saying that if you throw your first shot in a practice/warm up and you really hate the reaction, I would go to another ball and see what works best and then play my game from there. If the original poster has been comfortable with the ball he had on several conditions and then was swamped with oil on this shot, I think trying out a new ball is not a problem-assuming he tried some multiple lines with his other ball and recognized why his ball wasn't right for the condition. I would not suggest to go out and get a new ball if you have been bowling the same way with one ball, went out on a diferent shot, bowled the same way and the ball didn't work. That would be a bowler problem, not a ball problem. But, if he tried different lines, couldn't get the ball to break the way it was desired without a major change to his game, I would see no problem in trying a ball more suited to that condition.

What part of it comes down to is preference. If I normally play the 8 board but I go to a tournament where the 8 is too slick for my league ball, I would rather try my heavy-oil ball out and see how it reacts rather then taking the weaker ball and searching for dry on the lane. If I can stay on my preferred line with a different ball rather than trying to find a line that works with the same ball, is that really all that bad? If I can't play well with anything I have on my normal line, then yes I will move/adjust/play the rail, whatever is needed.

Yes, you do have to play the condition the lanes give you, but I look at balls as lessening the amount that they can boss you around.