Wasn't a huge fan of the Melee. It just never got into a roll fast enough for how smooth it is. How did you have it drilled and what surfaces did you try with the original layout? Better question is, what in practice told you that was the ball and what made you stick with it for a full game when your blue ringer seemed to have a better look?

I do not know much about your stats, but my Melee is set up very different than yours. Playing up 8-10 though I would guess your style is like mine, stroker/tweener with higher speed.

I am one of the few that absolutely LOVE the Melee. I have mine drilled to the Brunswick Basic Symmetrical Layout 2, found on their website, with 2000 surface.

With you striking in practice and the blue ringer working I would guess there was carry down and the polished surface was working against you. First thing I would try is knock that polish off. I would try at 2000 first, then adjust from there. This ball does need to get into a roll to perform and you may not be doing that with the polish. Surface has a lot more to do with reaction than drilling.

If the 2000 surface does not please you, try something else like a 500/2000, straight 1000. I would play with the surface before plugging and re-drilling.

Good luck and I hope you find the right thing to love the Melee as much as I do mine.

I drilled with about a 2.5" pin to PAP, and used it straight up the drier boards and loved it. Great control and carry.  It would never be considered a HOOK ball for me, but it was awesome for what I needed.

Sometimes I find a ball that just wasn't a great matchup for my game.  I do believe that if someone has bad luck with a certain ball drilled pin up (with various surfaces) many times they would like that same ball drilled pin down.  Whether or not you're wiling to experiment with this one is up to you.

Dont feel bad. At the price point your expectations will never be met with this ball. I had mine drilled with a 2.5" pin to pap and xhole down my val. It was speed sensitive, oil sensitive, light sensitive, and had food allergies. Surface could not save it and my Slingshot on the same layout made the ball look even worse.

Other friends had the same comments with different layouts yielding the same results. The LT48 was everything the Melee was advertised at and for less.

The Melee Cross is a much better ball.

It was speed sensitive, oil sensitive, light sensitive, and had food allergies.

That made me laugh!