Hi! I'm brand new to the board and I appologize up front if this question has been asked before, but there's 125 pages here in the newbies forum to go through and figured it would be easier just to ask.

Anyway, my wife and I went to a Crazy Bowl this past Saturday night for a benefit for a friend's daughter. We attended it last year as well, but this year I had a better time and actually got hooked on bowling, since after the crazy bowl was over we were able to bowl a real game. I only scored a 71 but still enjoyed playing. My wife bowls on a league on Wednesday nights but isn't real serious about the game, but it's a chance for her to get out and get together with her girlfriends and have a good time.

Yesterday I spent time on the internet going through numerous websites on bowling, learning about the various types of balls and other equipment, as well as rules of the game. All interesting stuff. Today I bought a book on the basics of bowling and began reading it. I learned that in order to bowl a better game you're better off buying your own ball, as the house balls, like the ones I used Saturday night, are generic and usually have several scratches and dings (more like chunks!) on them.

My wife uses a Columbia WD 300 ball. I was looking at a ball on the 'net, made by Brunswick, called the Power Groove. It's a mid-range ball and not made of plastic, which I read is a better-type ball versus plastic.

So, any suggestions on which ball/brand/model I should invest in? I would rather spend a little bit more money for a decent ball, but under $100.00. Thanks for any suggestions!

Also, I would like to subscribe to 'Bowling This Month' magazine but it says it's for high average players. Can a newbie like me still get something out of it by reading it or is it really more reserved for the better players?

A plastic ball is always a good start, something like your wife's White Dot, it also doubles as an excellent spare ball and you should get one of those or a Blue Dot regarless.

If you were looking for something more along the lines of reactive balls, I know of 6 that under 100 dollars over the web. The Hammer Rayzr and Vibe balls are pretty good. I don't know much about the Vibes, but the Rayzr has a flat pancake block in it with a reactive cover. There is also the Scout Reactive by Columbia that has a similar design, but I think a different finish and coverstock.

If you want a little more ummph, then I would suggest checking out the Roto-Grip Mercury, Saturn, and SuperSonic. They are all under 100 dollars and would make good entry level balls. You could also try the Storm Street Rod line of balls. They are pretty good as well.

You should definately go with a fingertip grip as well. It will help you out a lot.

And yes you can learn a great deal from BTM magazine. And if you don't understand soemthing you can always ask about it here on the forum, chances are someone on here will be able to answer your question.

I can't say for sure about the Bowling This Month magazine but I can help you out with a good starter bowling ball. A Columbia 300 Scout Reactive or Jazz, Roto-Grip Pluto, Brunswick Power Groove, Storm Tropical Storm, Ebonite Tornado. All of these would be good beginner balls. I'd also suggest to get the ball drilled finger tip so you can learn how to throw a hook. If you want to get a conventional drilling you can do so but you could also get it plugged and re drilled later down the road.

OK, so we know now that a ball drilled for you would be best. Of those you have some options.

Plastic.......drilled for you, no core (engine), plastic coverstock (tires) that nearly guarantees NO hook (traction). So you might ask, what's the importance of hook? Well you need entry angle into the 1,3 pocket (for righties) to have the best opportunity to strike. A ball with no core has no drive and basically plows through the pins rather then hooking through them that will then kick them around in all directions. I don't have to tell you the advantage of that.

There is basic reactive balls that have minor cores and minor coverstocks. They are true beginner balls. They are made to minimally hook if at all.

Mid range reactive balls have the potential to hook when delivered with some skill. They tend to hook more even if you do not have some skill, thus allowing the unskilled bowler to get some pocket entry angle (see above as to its importance).

There's a intermediate level and then an advanced level of reactive balls. And as you would guess the more you spend the more hook potential.

In today's game, its all about hook and then catch up with the fundamentals later. You can shoose the other way around, but if you stick with bowling it will end up costing you more balls as you will grow out of the progression quite rapidly.

One word of caution. If you buy the top of the line the ball will hook. And it will hook when you least expect it and when you do expect it. Sometimes more sometimes less. In otherwords, an advanced level ball, is harder to control. But it will hook.

So something along the lines of a Hammer Vibe, Ebonite Bash or Clash would not be out of the ordinary for a beginner. The problem with getting something less then that is that if you do stick with bowling, you will grow out of it very quickly and be looking to buy a new ball sooner rather then later.

More important then you think is ball weight. A normally healthy male should be able to throw 15 and a female 14. Most females underestimate the weight they can throw, usually due to lack of effort and not wanting to break their nails. Use a 10lb ball and its going to be tough to knock down 10 4lb pins, no matter what the ball is made of.

Your $100 estimate for a ball drilled and ready to go very low for something that is going to be even remotely dynamic enough to start scoring for you. $100 will barely get you into a plastic ball.

Erin

If I were you, I would look at the Roto-Grip brand. The Planet series offers a lot of bang for the buck.

As Erin said, $100 or less for a ball will be just for the ball, unless it's a plastic ball. To put holes into it will cost you another $40-70 depending on the Pro Shop and most of the time they charge for grips and thumb slug on top of that.

That said, chances are it will be a cheaper to buy online if you're getting a reactive ball depending on the Pro Shop's prices. I'd recommend a mid-price ball like you were thinking, something like one of the Street Rods, Avalanches, Vibes, a Jazz, or a Clash. On the internet I believe all of those would go for less than $100, and they all have a good amount of hook to start learning the game with. I also say you should get it drilled fingertip.

apologies to the OP, if i may hijack the thread, but i am asking somewhat similar question and i thought better post here rather than starting another decent ball thread...

i am also a newb, but if i can afford it, will there be an advantage if i buy high-end ball like twisted fury or Hammer venom rather than getting the mid to low end balls?

i am now using an old 2nd hand 14lb raging inferno with lots of nicks and i have been thinking of getting a 15lb brand new ball. btw, i am 5' 10" tall and weight more than 200lbs. and have been seriously bowling only for about 5 months now

The main drawback to buying a high end, high performance ball is that its hard to control. It would be like a new driver, trying to shift and drive a Ferrari. You could probably drive it, but it would be difficult to control.

All that said and done. The saying for the last dozen years or so has been "take a person off the street, put a resin bowling ball in their hands and .......INSTANT bowler".

The hook ratings on the various balls you see are "hook potentials". Because depending on how you throw the ball it may or maynot hook as much as the next person throwing the ball. However, once you get into the mid range reactive ball area, the ball WILL hook.

Now though you will see prices that appear cheaper on the internet, you still have to have the ball drilled. And all balls are not created equal. They have static weights and pin locations that may or maynot make them a lemon. But there is no lemon law in bowling. You get a lemon, you have to deal with the company you bought it from, even if its in Timbucktoo. Your local Pro Shop however, has the opportunity to look at their new stock and determine if that ball is going to be a lemon or not, and not take it or take another ball. And guess what???? Most lemons are not offered to pro shops they are dumped off on the internet to unsuspecting buyers because the distributors know their local pro shops will not take these types of balls. Another advantage of buying from your local Pro Shop is simple instant gratification. You don't have to wait for your ball to be delivered from all points in the US. You don't know when you click that "buy" button; could take a week, could take three weeks to get to you. But if you go to your local shop, they probably can get you into your new ball and out on the lanes in an hour or so depending on how busy they are. Even on the slight chance that you have an issue with a ball bought from your local Pro Shop, odds are they will replace, and or go to the ends of the earth to fix that ball for you. Internet balls......not so much.

Lets make a little analogy. You go to breakfast on Sunday morning. But you notice that it might be cheaper to bring your own eggs. I mean, going out is so expensive these days. So you take your own eggs and bring them to the restaurant. "I'll take the two eggs, bacon, hashbrowns and toast, and here's my eggs can you cook them over easy?". The restaurant takes your eggs (charge you a cooking fee), but when they crack them for cooking they smell just a bit off. Oh well, they are not responsible for the quality of those eggs and serve them up to you perfectly cooked just the way you asked. Some restaurants might come out to you and let you know that those eggs don't seem quite right, but then again, most might not. Either way, you bring your own eggs, you carry the most responsibility.

Wasn't that fun??

Erin

Thanks for the suggestions. Very much appreciated! I will check out all of the various brands of balls that have been suggested and go from there. I already had my mind made up to buy one from a Pro Shop, simply for the reason that Atochabsh suggested. There are things that I'll buy off the 'net and feel comfortable doing it, but a bowling ball isn't one of them.

BTW, the book that I bought yesterday is called 'Bowling Fundamentals' by Michelle Mullen. Excellent book for newbies. Very good read so far.

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.

Here's an example of the definition of "blem"

THIS BALL IS AN X BLEM FROM Roto-Grip. Roto-Grip RELEASES THEIR HIGH PERFORMANCE BALLS UNDER THE X-BLEM LABEL WHEN SMALL NON-PERFORMANCE ISSUES OCCUR. THE CORE AND COVERSTOCK COMBINATIONS ON THIS BALL ARE IDENTICAL TO THE FIRST LINE BALL. A BALL IS LABELED AN X-BLEM FOR ANY ONE OF THE FOLLOWING REASONS:

-COLOR PIGMENTATION
-SMALL PITTING CAUSED BY AIR BUBBLES
-UNIQUE PIN PLACEMENT, TOP WEIGHT, OR MASS BIAS LOCATIONS
-LABELS ARE ENGRAVED IN UNUSUAL PLACES
-SWIRL PATTERNS OF THE BALL ARE NOT CONSISTANT
-SMALL OR MINOR SURFACE SCRATCHES OR MARKS


THESE DIFFERENCES DO NOT EFFECT THE PERFORMANCE OF THE BALL OR THE ABILITY TO DRILL THE BALL. THEREFORE ALLOWING BOWLERS TO PURCHASE Storm'S TOP OF THE LINE EQUIPMENT AT A FRACTION OF THE COST.


Notice that they also note pin locations, top weight and mass bias locations. These issues abosolutely impact how you can drill the ball and its performance. In fact with mass bias balls you can have "left handed" and "right handed" balls. Its true that a blem might be just a color or logo error, but then again, maybe not. As usual, pro shops don't carry these types of balls, only the internet dumps them off at perceptively cheap prices. Remember, you get what you paid for. If you are just learning the game of bowling, you probably don't want a ball with built in inherent issues.

Erin

if you order online, spend the extra $15-20 and get a NON blemished ball. Your investing so much already, why cheap out for $20 and get a known bad ball......

If you know what the blem of the ball is, and know what you are looking at, getting a blem can be great. As Erin said if its just color issues, or logo error its not a big deal unless you are one of those people that want to have a "pretty" ball.