Sorry if I should have put this in the Pro Shop forum...

So, I have my first reactive ball, a Columbia Jazz...now I'm a ways away from this point I'm sure, since I still can't hook the ball much, but...how will I know when I need a BETTER ball? Is it based on average, how much I'm hooking, "feel", or just when my Jazz wears out?

L2H

In my opinion, the main reason to have more than one ball is if you're bowling on multiple conditions, like if you do tournaments or bowl in more than one center. After having a decent sense of fundamentals and you are getting decent rotation on the ball, two balls are usually good if you're only bowling in one center. That way you have a ball for fresh oil and possibly the transition.

I kind of agree with Amateur. For a while I was bringing two balls - mild and full hooking action. That way I could choose which to use after the practice frames. Beyond that is overkill. Now I'm down to one ball - Brunswick Monster - for the next 6 months. You can definitely make one ball work on any THS lane condition.

I have 8 balls at home because I bought them all used, and had no clue as to what each one would do.

I find it fun to own more, but if you find it a burden, as your signature implies, then just be very sure that the two balls you own (plus a spare ball) are the ones you feel most comfortable with.

Your Jazz should last 400 games, at least. Check out threads here on rejuvenating, baking, etc.

Another dumb question...what should my average be before I even THINK about doing a tournament?

L2H

That depends on the type of tournament

handicap tournaments are open to anyone and anyone can have a chance to win unless you don't get much handicap in which case you have to bowl near perfect to keep up with handicap bowlers.

scratch tournaments are sometimes divided up into average groups like 150 and under 151 to 175 and 176 and over

For scratch competition you should be averaging over 200

For regional competition you should be averaging over 220 before deciding to commit to joining the pba