Laybzz74:
Thank you SO much for those links. I printed out those webpages and am still reading through the material now. This stuff is better than Shakespeare!
Bowlingnut:
Thanks for the ball recommendations. I did some research on the Vapor Zone you recommended and it seems to be a bit more versatile and more forgiving for about the same price. I'm going to order the balls today, so I'm going to get the Columbia Blue Dot for spares and the Brunswick Vapor Zone to use as my primary ball. If this ball doesn't work, I'll be knocking on your door!
Shelley:
Glad you agree with the Blue Dot recommendation. Silver is fine with me. I actually like the drab colors (black, gray, silver) more than the flashy ones (red, orange, yellow). I was going to buy a WHITE Dot at first, but it seemed that the BLUE Dot was of a higher quality. I anticipate using this Blue Dot for a very long time for spares.
Noy: Would you consider the Vapor Zone to be a "mild reactive" ball? Having a ball that does something because I make it do it sounds better for me than having the ball do all the work at this point because I have so many bad habits.
JohnP: I agree with you. I guess the only good thing about being a beginner is being able to know that you are progressing. I used to average about 110-120 until I started bowling much more regularly and bought my own equipment last spring. My average has gone up about 25 pins since then. 170 and 180 games used to be an ultra-rarity, but now they are creeping up a little more often. There are a lot of guys at the local house who commonly bowl 220 games and whatnot. I cannot believe it when they tell me they have 200 averages. I've only broken 200 four times and wonder if I'll ever be able to say the same thing someday.
Thank you so much for your replies everyone. I am in total awe of your technical knowledge. I was reading some of the posts on this site to my wife last night and both of us just scratched our heads. Someday I'll be able to speak the lingo too!
Anyways, I hope this Vapor Zone and Blue Dot work! I won't be able to use them until April, however. (I live in Japan now and am packing up to go back to the US in two months. So it makes no sense to have those new balls sent here.) I'll keep checking the site anyway and will let you know how things go. In the meantime, I'll keep using my Lane Catcher EX. (Does anyone know anything about this ball? It's from Columbia, but I can't find any information about it here or on any other bowling site.)
