Author Topic: The Vibes (Read 3294 times)

chitown · « **on:** March 12, 2008, 03:35:26 AM »

I think many don't really understand the VIBES. Both the Blue and Cherry are very good light oil balls at their box surface. On light oil/short patterns a bowlers break point is usually closer to the outside of the lane. On a condition like this you need a ball that can recover from far out. Both the Blue and Cherry are able to recover because they have very big backend moves.

I have read many times that these balls can't be used for dry conditions. If the conditions are so dry that my Blue Vibe is over hooking to the point it's hard to control, then there's no reactive cover ball that's going to work very well. The only balls that work well on totally scorched lanes are Urethane and Plastic. If the lanes are too fried even urethane will be too much and plastic is the way to go at that point.

It's rare for me to see a pattern that's so dry urethane won't work. I do feel that Hammer should make a urethane ball with a high end core like Lane 1 has done.

I think many have a misconception of what the Vibes are for. I have read that these balls are not light oil condition balls. I do agree there a little stronger than I thought they would be but are very useable on light oil.

Matt Fortney · « **Reply #1 on:** March 12, 2008, 01:15:47 PM »

I agree. Both my Blue and Cherry are useable on light oil, I just have to play further left on it than I thought I would. You're not going to be able to go right up ten on light oil. But swing it a little and it's actually got the recovery/backend neccessary to carry. Two GREAT pieces. The Blue is one of my favorite balls of all time.

Matt
--------------------
Hammer Pride Staff Member

http://www.hammerbowling.com
http://www.hammerstuff.com

"Nothing Hits Like A Hammer"

KDawg77 · « **Reply #2 on:** March 12, 2008, 01:17:23 PM »

Agreed ten fold! Minus my middle game when I failed to adjust a board, I killed it last night with the Blue 247-180-246 (had the front seven)
--------------------
Ken
Sometimes you are the cheetah and sometimes you are the stick...
Videos at http://www.putfile.come/k-dawg77
http://www.myspace.com/lefthandedhammerpride
http://khlthe2nd.bowlspace.com
http://members.bowl.com/FindAMember/memberView.aspx?mp=418&ms=2006&s=2006-2007

dechrist · « **Reply #3 on:** March 12, 2008, 01:21:51 PM »

quote:
Agreed ten fold! Minus my middle game when I failed to adjust a board, I killed it last night with the Blue 247-180-246 (had the front seven)
--------------------
Ken
Sometimes you are the cheetah and sometimes you are the stick...
Videos at http://www.putfile.come/k-dawg77
http://www.myspace.com/lefthandedhammerpride
http://khlthe2nd.bowlspace.com
http://members.bowl.com/FindAMember/memberView.aspx?mp=418&ms=2006&s=2006-2007

Nice shootin' tex!
--------------------
Dale

My 2007-2008 arsenal is here.

Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity.
-- General George S. Patton

chitown · « **Reply #4 on:** March 12, 2008, 02:09:14 PM »

quote:
chitown.. I don't think you bowl enough tournaments then.. and if you do their all on synthetic and oil!

Chris, I understand your points. I do bowl in tourney's but not as many as I would like. However, I bowl in a big money league that puts out very difficult patterns weekly, no walled up house patterns in this league! Your correct that most of my bowling is done on synthetic lanes and 75 percent of the time it's on longer patterns.

quote:
For one, my Avalanche Pearl is an arrow weaker than me Blue Vibe, and it has a stronger pin placement.

Secondly, unless you have 250rpm or less, the Cherry and Blue vibe hook ALOT. Especially the Cherry on the backend.. the Blue vibe is more a midline smooth ball.

I don't know much about the Avalanche pearl so I can't really comment on that.

I never said the VIBES didn't hook a lot! I have 2 Blue Vibes and both are strong! Yes the Cherry Vibe is very strong on the backend but so is the Blue Vibe even though it's more of a hard arc as opposed to flip. Both of the Vibes cover a ton of boards on the backend on the correct patterns. Like I said before, the Vibes are strong and hook a lot. One of my Blue Vibes is dulled to 1000 grit and handles heavier long patterns with ease!

The point i'm making is that the Vibes can be used on lighter oil and shorter patterns. Every single short pattern i've bowled on plays better outside. I'm talking about the break point. Most of the short patterns i've bowled on usually have me swinging the ball from an inside line to a break point far outside. The VIBES work very well for those type of patterns.

quote:
And about the Urethane.. I see conditions at least once a month as to Urethane would be too much in the front of the lane.. and your better off playing 5/6th arrows with something that can recover...

And as for short patterns, why pull out something with a huge backend? With Cheetah or something along those lines, many many people I know would rather bring out something rolly (pin-palm pearl w/ surface), or go with something solid with maybe a little polish so it gets down the lane a little better.
Pearl Reactive on short oil=BAD

You can't use a normal approach on all conditions. Yes it makes sense that if the heads are gone in a particular part of the lane then a urethane ball is probably not the best approach. If you move deep on a condition like that thge urethane probably can't recover! I totally understand that. However, when i'm faced with a condition where the heads are so fried that urethane won't work, the mid are usually toast as well. If that's the case, I would rather move deeper with urethane than forcing a reactive.

Short patterns can be played with all kinds of bowling balls. There's so many factors involved to say which ball is best. However, the Vibes can be used on light oil and short patterns with success. Now on the flip side there's short patterns that all reactives will be hard to bowl with. I bowled on a 35' flat gutter to gutter pattern last week that was brutal. The pattern was very much on the dry side both in the mids and backends. I used my Scout Urethane with very good success but couldn't use my Blue Vibe because it was too strong to control.

The point of the post is exactly what I said. A lot of bowlers feel the Vibes are too strong to be a light oil ball. I totally disagree with that but can understand that many factors are in play. The Vibe is not always going to work on all light oil patterns. For the most part the Vibes will work on light oil pretty well.

quote:
Don't get me wrong, the Vibes are great pieces, but as for using them on really light conditions.. um.. they can rest in my bag for another day.

I guess it really depends on what ones definition of light oil is.

Edited on 3/12/2008 2:20 PM

Matt Fortney · « **Reply #5 on:** March 12, 2008, 03:06:43 PM »

Very well put, both the argument and the rebuttle. I too, see both sides of the argument.

As far as league conditions, which is what MOST bowlers bowl on, my opinion is that the Vibes can definitely be used on the THS once they begin to/ once they have broken down.

Matt
--------------------
Hammer Pride Staff Member

http://www.hammerbowling.com
http://www.hammerstuff.com

"Nothing Hits Like A Hammer"

baspangler152 · « **Reply #6 on:** March 12, 2008, 08:32:51 PM »

I agree with chitown. The vibes ARE great for dry. They hook a lot in dry, but it's good hook. They retain energy so well. It's hard to explain to most players that it's a dry lane ball that hooks a lot. The thing is, it doesn't hit like a pumpkin on the dry when other stuff would.

There are also plenty of medium conditions where either Vibe is useful, though. Even still, they are DRY lane balls useable on medium conditions.

I think the measure of a ball is probably how often you see it thrown on TV finals by staff guys/free agents. The lines you see thrown from Hammer are Vibes (Blue almost exclusively) and Widows (seems like all of them).

baspangler152 · « **Reply #7 on:** March 13, 2008, 08:35:28 AM »

I'm in agreement with Chris, I'm just so scared of a repeat of the purple! It was definitely great on dry lanes...for leaving corners!

chitown · « **Reply #8 on:** March 13, 2008, 09:52:26 AM »

quote:
I am really hoping for a ball like that to come out in that line.. I think it would also be disappointing to see a Solid reactive in a low line like that.. but only time will tell!

Chris, i'm not sure if there going to make a solid reactive in the Vibe series. I have two Blue Vibes and one is dulled to 1000 grit. My dull Vibe works very well on heavier long patterns so there's no need for me to buy a solid if they do make one. I just can't see them making another VIBE. What would they make that's a lot different than the Blue or Cherry? Unless they do what your talking about and just make a weaker covered VIBE that's considerably weaker then the Blue or Cherry.

KDawg77 · « **Reply #9 on:** March 13, 2008, 09:55:17 AM »

I'm pretty sure the Blue Vibe is solid even though the color is described as Blue Pearl. CT-Reactive is a solid coverstock.
--------------------
Ken
Sometimes you are the cheetah and sometimes you are the stick...
Videos at http://www.putfile.come/k-dawg77
http://www.myspace.com/lefthandedhammerpride
http://khlthe2nd.bowlspace.com
http://members.bowl.com/FindAMember/memberView.aspx?mp=418&ms=2006&s=2006-2007

baspangler152 · « **Reply #10 on:** March 13, 2008, 10:58:39 AM »

I've wondered that about the blue as well. It looks like there is a bit of pearl to it, but it definitely rolls like a solid in my opinion

Author Topic: The Vibes (Read 3294 times)

chitown

The Vibes

Matt Fortney

Re: The Vibes

KDawg77

Re: The Vibes

dechrist

Re: The Vibes

chitown

Re: The Vibes

Matt Fortney

Re: The Vibes

baspangler152

Re: The Vibes

baspangler152

Re: The Vibes

chitown

Re: The Vibes

KDawg77

Re: The Vibes

baspangler152

Re: The Vibes