I have my Special Agent that I will hit with a 500 abralon pad and my Paradigm and X-Factor to bounce off of the dry for Singles and Doubles.

I think I'm going to pick up a Resurgence and a Cell about a month before we head out there, to give me some time to get used to them.

Probably only bring those two, and possibly my Paradigm along with my spare ball.

Slimmy:

What else do you have? They use a lot of oil but you would be surprised how quickly you can used polished equipment.

CoachJim, I'll probably only bowl the Bowlers Journal event, any advice on that pattern?

Here is a link to the lane graph for the Journal:
http://www.bowl.com/Downloads/pdf/tournaments/OpenChamps/08bjoil.pdf

It is 43ft long but looks to be less oil by close to 1/2 the volume from the national shot. You will blow holes in this patten quickly if you use a strong ball, you will then need to switch to a shiny aggressive pearl to take advantage of the dry boards. A ball like the Total NV or NVS or twisted Fury might be a good all around ball for this shot. The break point should be in around 12, but as light as the oil is you might be able to open up something from the outside.

Right now my arsenal is a Storm Paradigm and a Storm Pyro, and my White Dot for spares.

The Paradigm is dulled up and typically grabs very early on my THS. The Pyro is drilled weak and doesn't do very well in any oil.

Plus with my speed fluctuating between 17-18.5 I don't seem to do too well with polished stuff.

However, based on last night, I need a ball that will go long and come back hard. My teammate recommended I pick up a Black Widow pearl.

Last year in Reno I struggled to get any real hook out of my balls, so that's why I'm leaning towards some very aggressive balls this year.

Granted, I'm a much better bowler now than I was then, however I still have issues with controlling my speed.

Slimmy:

Where were you aiming at and what was your break point? I know that a lot of people had problems getting the ball to hook during team. During Doubles then Singles, the lanes opened up a lot.

Well, to be honest I really wasn't hooking the ball much back then to begin with.

I believe I mostly played straight up the right side, probably about 8-10 trying to reach a breakpoint at the dark board on 10 that's 40 feet down. That seemed to be where everyone was crossing that was striking and where my teammates recommended we try to cross.

However, I am probably generating a lot more revs now and likely not going to be able to play that line this year.

In the rare occasions that I do encounter fresh oil, I generally can play up the right side for a game or so, bu then I tend to struggle as I have to move inside, as my speed and lack of revs tends to make my ball just skid to the right.

So I guess I'm looking for something that will either allow me to continue playing up the right side, or a ball that will carry through the front ends but come back hard on the dry boards to allow me to move deeper inside.

That is what I have struggled with the past 3 league nights where I've gone downhill after the first game.

I have good buddy of mine who is at Nationals right now bowling. He is going to give me a full report when he gets back to town. He will give me his line and then the line that everyone else is playing. He is a VERY high rev bowler. He gets a lot on the ball due to his span (around 6"). He normally has to play a lot deeper than most people.