I just did an adult/junior tournement with my son. They put down a flood, laneman said it was the scratch league shot. I had to stand on 25 and throw over 15 with my oil ball! It was crazy! Well the first two games were great, the last game wasnt. Should I have used my bigtime on the same line for the third game? Is this what you call opening up a lane? The bigtime wouldnt move in practice so I guess when switching balls you use the same line that you opened up with. Is this right? Thanks, Triumph ps: that was my first tournement, and it was a blast!

Thursday night was like that for me...big hook ball the first game, lanes started drying out, went to a lesser hook ball the second game, still drying out, ended up throwing my least hooking ball (Columbia 300 Messenger Titanium) the entire third game.

So I know what you are saying and can totally relate to your experience. The only advice I can offer is to be flexible and not afraid to make a move on the lanes or with a different ball.

I had to learn to read the lanes and what the ball was doing most of the night in order to make the right changes. I even had to move to the left or right, depending on the conditions, as the individual games progressed.

I'm no pro...more like a student of the game...and it's taken me a long time to figure this out. I guess I'm a slow learner. <G>

That allways the trick for me when to make a ball cahnge and when to not and just move. I made a ball change last week in league on thrusday cause i couldnt get it to carry a strike and ended up opening the last four frames. So i just changed back to same balla nd moved the last game and shot a 205 versus the second game i shota 149.

Triumph, it didn't happen all at once. A switch didn't turn off. Either your ball slid out, or you were not coming up at the right angle or you were leaving unusual spare pins. These were reads that you could have made, and been able to switch balls, rather than fight a ball that was over for the day.

In terms of what line to play, it depends on what you switched to. If you know your equipment, you know what each ball will do on various conditions, whether it will be a better finish or longer carry or more arc. You will have to match what you see on the lane to what you can do with the ball you switch to.

Different ball on the same line isn't always the answer.

Yup...ya gotta know when to move and when to change balls. I tend to exhaust the move possibilities BEFORE I change balls unless I see something in how the ball is reading the lanes that tells me there's no way any amount of movement, speed change or rotation change will achieve a solid move to the pocket.

I've seen folks move to a different ball way too soon and become totally bamboozled. I used to do that...er, I still sometimes do that.

I gotta get that in my head to move first then if all fails change balls. I guess i'm too quick on the draw to change balls sometimes.

Changing balls has always been a problem for me. When do you do it? Why do you do it? I never seem to change at the right time. I adjust and adjust with the ball that I am throwing until it is too late to change balls.

I feel for ya (as I am right there with ya)!

My rule of thumb is this: If I can move right or left then I usually don't change yet. If I started out well and the only problem is carry and I haven't exhausted my moves or adjustments yet, then I stay with the same ball. I don't give away the pocket. I try every line. Usually I change balls when I run into the ball return. Then I shell down. I usually start with a a ball that I have room to adjust by moving to my left. That way, I can stay with the same ball all three games.

I was pretty much "old school", and would change my position, my target, my grip, my release and who knows what else, to get my ball to do something. Then, I realized after posting this question last Summer, that my ball was telling me just what I was supposed to do. I learned to read what the ball was telling me. And, there are occasions when my ball tells me to change. You have to know your ball and what it is saying. I have practiced with a ball that didn't match lane conditions, just to learn how to read what it is saying. As an example. My TS&A that I use on heavy oil will tell me 5-10 feet ahead of the pins that it cannot finish through the pocket by the angle it takes in that space. There is probably carrydown, and the ball flattens its arc in that spot. It used up its energy getting there. TIME TO CHANGE. My SI will take a radical left turn too short of the pin deck because it is too dry now. TIME TO CHANGE. My WC will carry too long if the oil is on the outside and snap late. TIME TO CHANGE.

I use to take many frames adjusting and adjusting. Now, I change after 2 shots. I make one adjustment to what I think I should do. If the ball reacts the same, and tells me it can't do it. I change.

Last Monday, I changed to a Warp Zone, a ball I use on dryer lanes, but this was fresh oil. Why? Because I noticed that with my injury, I slowed down quite a bit. And in practice, 1 ball with my TA&A, and 1 with my SI told me I was too slow to use them by the way they finished.

A 750 series with a limp and slow speed, 140 pins over average, this was the right move.

A spare leave tells me when to adjust. The first ball lane reaction tells me when to change.

I guess part of my problem is that I don't have enough equipment to switch around. I have an el nino Gold and Sonic Boom for my strike balls and a spare ball. That is all I use.

I also don't get enough time to practice anymore. I am going through a divorce and have both kids at home and money is really tight (I can pay for my leagues, but that is about it). I do need to get out and practice with my equipment to get a feel for what it is doing now that may be different than what it was doing before so that I can make adjustments faster.

I have been doing better during the last couple of years with trusting that I am throwing the ball correctly (I have gotten more consistent). This helps to know that when it is me and when it is the lane condition dictating a move. Yet, even with this, I still am too stubborn most of the time to move, much less change balls.

This is my downfall right now. I have averaged over 200 for over 10 years (210 last year), but in order to increase that I am going to have to learn when to change balls, and maybe get more equipment so that I have more options available.

Mike