Don't always rely on a company write up on a ball, the vibe as a lot of people found out was advertised as a much weaker ball than it really is in actuality. The first time I threw that ball I said to myself "that's weak"? because it seemed pretty [censored] strong to me using it on the lane condition I had it drilled for which was Light -Med oil drill # 2 Length with less Total hook of course with the pin placed specifically for my style of bowling and I needed it drilled that way because im a high rev bowler. On Med to dry that thing moves. Of course the results will change dramatically depending on Lane condition and amount of Revs put on the ball and the way it is drilled. For example Lets say your a Low rev bowler and you had the vibe drilled the way I have it. Even on a med oil condition, with low revs, and that drill the ball isn't going to wanna hook very much at all. Same thing applies with lane condition, Even If I threw the ball on a Heavy oil pattern same speed same High rev rate it still isn't going to hook a lot. To give you a better example,(and I have a post of this already) my first vibe my Pro Shop drilled for me was done # 1 Length with Aggressive backend. I went to 3 different houses with that ball and had a problem at 2 out of the 3 houses (house shot) with the Ball tracking Directly over the middle of the thumb hole. The reason this happened is because most house shots around me are on the Dry/Med side and the ball was drilled for Med-Heavy. Now with the correct drill for those specific conditions at the worst the Track will just barely touch the edge of the thumb which is acceptable. I usually don't pay attention to those company diagrams u see that shows the path the ball plays because they all pretty much look the same for every ball. The one thing I do pay attention to when im going to buy a ball for a specific lane condition and the path I want to play is the RG DIFF which reflects on the shape of the core. Im not an expert on this and there are other things to factor in but to put it in simple terms if you take 3 balls and compare the Numbers it will give you a better idea on what your actually getting. Perfect example lets take the DOOM, the NO Mercy and the Widow pearl, For the Mercy RG Diff is 2.50 .050 Now Compare that to the DOOM which is 2.52 .047 and the Widow which is 2.51 .049 since both numbers for all 3 balls are close together, this tells me that there all meant to have a High hook rating if it was drilled for Heavy Oil. Now what factors into that is the Core's shape and the Coverstock. Since the Widow Pearl and Doom both have pearl coverstocks, out of the box they would be better for a skid/flip type player with a lot of rev's but because the Widow Pearl Has a overall higher RG Diff (because it's an asymmetrical flip block core and the Doom isn't) It will be a little bit stronger than the doom on the backend. The No Mercy on the other hand(also asymmetrical) is a duller 4000grit finish that would need to Roll more(not skid) on the lane to produce a strong backend but will hook the most overall out of all 3 balls. BUT!!! In the wondefull world of proshops we can make surface adjustments to tune our balls just the way we need it. Another words I've heard of ppl taking the Widow Pearl and Dulling the surface of the ball and it would hook more than the Black widow BITE which has identical RG DIff Specs to its brother. It all depends on how u bowl, your house's condition and what line you want to play. The times and equipment has drastically changed over the years my friend. Now a days when someone says a ball is weak that means they can't make it hook 15 boards which in reality is [censored] ridiculous. My no mercy was my first NEW ball in over 5 years and I wasn't ready for how insanely to strong it was for the normal house shots I bowl at, only then did I understand why it was wearing the hannibal mask in the picture. But you know ur house better than I do and if there is alot of oil out there I think you will be perfectly satisfied with any of the 4 balls I mentioned, and if you needed to just adjust the surface until it fits your game. Or just go with a ball with a dull coverstock right out of the box. Even with the dull ones like the no mercy I've heard of people taking it down even more to 2000 to get a stronger backend for those super heavy oiled shots. Well hopefully you have a better understanding of things. Good Luck with which ever ball you do decide on getting. If all else fails you can always throw a few shots and have your Pro Shop guy or girl watch how you bowl and have them recommend something. Just make sure you specify what condition your looking to use it on so it's drilled up right so what happened to me doesn't happen to you.

When building an arsenal, you should take into account a few variables. The most important is bowling style. Second is purpose for the balls. Do you plan on bowling in leagues or tourny's also? How many balls are you willing to carry? What is your current skill level?

For a bowler below 200 average, 2 balls are probably enough. When you pass a 200 average, 3 balls are plenty. If you plan on bowling in tourny's and/or tougher conditions, then 4-6 balls would cover the anything. For league, I travel with 3 balls into the center. One ball is my spare ball, so I only have 2 strike balls. For most tourny's, I walk into the center with 4 balls. I always have at least one ball in the car.

For league, if you only bowl in one house, you won't need a bunch of bowling balls. Most houses have the outside boards quite dry, and the middle boards very wet. This funnels the ball towards the pocket and increases scores. I see bowlers use heavy oil balls for league and I wonder why. Some bowlers need heavy oil balls for league, but most do not.

For league, two balls and a spare is more than enough.
medium/heavy
light/medium
dry/spare

A matte ball for medium/heavy, and a pearl for light/medium. Adjust according to rev rate and ball speed.

I usually carry four balls to an alley that I don't know and to any tournament that I attend. I can carry just two to the house that I throw at regularly because I know the layout of the lanes before I get there.

I'm willing to carry whatever it takes to win. I think I put to much thought into my heavy oil ball. I'm probably struggling on heavier oil because I'm just not use to the heavier oil patterns being laid down now and my equipment is not up to par. The polished ball will probably give me all the reaction that I need and allow me to stay in that area for a longer time.

Heavy oil is all relative to the bowler also. Your release and ball speed determine what is heavy oil more than the pattern. For me, I have only run into heavy oil a handful of times. That's why I don't use my dull balls much. I'm most comfortable with a more average ball speed and a few more revs. When I have to use more ball speed, I am using my B game. So, I usually excel on heavier oil. When others are complaining about heavy oil, I'm jumping for joy.

For heavy oil, you need to stay behind the ball a little bit more. This gets the ball into an earlier roll. When you come around the ball too much, you push the ball reaction further down the lane. You want a midlane reaction out of the ball. I would work on your release. Make sure your wrist is stiff and firm. Make sure the ball is rolling off of your fingertips. The weight should be transfered to the fingers. Lower the pushaway if need be. Don't loft the ball. Search for the dry boards. On some lanes the dry boards may be outside of 5.

That's the way that I usually bowl. I search for a dry area that I can play with but when the lanes are heavy my ball will just skid through and never make a good move towards the pins. I've got no problem playing outside of 5. Not exactly where I'm comfortable with but I can definitely do it.

Revs are usually not a problem for me. I usually try to change my ball speed to accomodate the lane conditions but I really struggle when the conditions get heavy enough to where I have to really slow my speed down.

Well, I picked up a Black Widow Pearl last week and I love the ball so far. He did move the pin about an inche above my fingers. The ball does seem to want to wait forever to come back and then makes a very sharp break towards the pocket. I'm not for sure if I like the breakpoint but the ball only has 7 games on it so I'll update once I get some more practice time.

I really don't care for the ball going long and then snapping hard. My one teammate has his Black Widow Pearl drilled like that and it will either leave 10 pins, or a lot of 9 pins. I like the strong controlled arc better because well it is easy to control. I have the Cell and it works just fine for me. I would've gone with the Columbia Momentuim or the Roto-Grip Mystic. I'm looking at the Mystic and the Wrath Dead Flush to complete my arsenal.

I'll be getting a Wrath Dead Flush in a week or so. My Rampage cracked. lol

ChvyKC,

So, it was your Pro Shop that recommended a PEARL ball to be your heavy oiler?

Strange.

I have to double Jock on this one. Even the Hammer data sheet calls this ball for medium to light lanes. This is a questionable call.

Specifications:
Line Black Widow
Color Red/Black
Coverstock Reactive Pearl
Core 2-piece Asymmetrical
RG 2.50
Differential 0.060
Factory finish Polished
Weights 12 thru 16lbs
Lane Conditions Medium-Light Oil