Absolutely, smart man!!! When you have little personal knowledge about a product do not buy it sight unseen. I would never buy car parts or golf equipment over the internet. I just don't have enough knowledge to keep from getting ripped off. That's not to say that in 6 mo or so you might buy a ball off the internet. Even when you have the knowledge, you can still get ripped off. I did and from one of the main internet sellers too.

Erin

Michelle is my coach. She is fantastic, and I'm fortunate to have her in my area. She is a bit of a drive away for me, but well worth it.

If I could give any advice, it is this. Buy something reasonable (equipment wise), get a coach, have fun, and don't be too hard on yourself. Lastly, get to know your equipment.

Welcome to the forum and ask questions, we are all here to help in any way we can.

One thing I've noticed is that alot of Pro Shop owners will haggle with you a bit. Three balls, two bags, and two pairs of shoes, and I've not paid asking price for any of them. All i have to do is ask what the best price they can give me on it is, and they'll usually go lower.

Ball, Drill, and inserts for my Playmaker was about 15% less than the ball and drill alone were listed for. Which came to $8 more than it would have cost me to buy the ball online and have it fit and drilled.

And I got the ball in a half hour instead of 6-8 business days.

my Pro Shop usually gives discounts to league bowlers and repeat customers, and fortunately i am both, so therefore i can usually get a nice discount without having to haggle at all.

on top of that, the owner offers free drilling and inserts with the purchase of the ball. i noted that his prices are higher in shop than listed on his website, but that is probably the reason, so i guess it's not really "free." but whatever.

Well since any of the points I would have made have been made, I'll just say welcome to the site J82bowl, and welcome to this sport that all of us on here seem to be addicted to.

Wow, what an intro to this forum! I think the biggest help to you would be to invest in a few lessons with a pro and let them decide which route you should take with the level of ball you should buy. While I do agree buy from a Pro Shop, I have bought some nice equipment off the net. Best of luck and welcome to the site!

Mark

Good info and much appreciated! Thanks to all!

Roto-Grip Pluto sells for $130 drilled from my Pro Shop. I'd get something along those lines. High end balls are 200-240 drilled. Plastics are 65-70 drilled. So you're right there in the middle, but yet good enough equipment to bowl some decent stuff if you stick with it.

Next stop is shoe shopping. they start at $30 and go from there. Something is better then house shoes.

hi! for a beginner/novice id check out the mid to high performance balls. You can get a good deal sometimes buying blemish balls, they usually have something wrong with the color but the performance is not affected. Get something in the price range your looking for and just try it out and have fun.