Am in my early-mid fifties, but until this year, I have been a speed dominant/rev challenged bowler, so I rarely had the need for a plastic ball in my arsenal. On the few occasions when the lanes were drier than usual, I just threw harder or picked up one of my older reactives, and with the reduced friction and reaction in comparison to my newer and more aggressive stuff, problem was solved.

But for the last year or so, my speed has been diminished by a hip/leg injury (bursitus and god knows what else), and/or the lanes have been much drier than before, and last night, my old Brunswick Black Diamond (circa 1976-1979?) saved my ***butt in the last game. But it is the ONLY non-reactive ball in my possession, so I'm thinking about adding a plastic ball to my arsenal.

Is there any advantage (or disadvantage) on very dry lanes to a plastic ball versus a weak or dead reactive (which I have plenty of)? I would think that most times I'd be better off with the reactives, cause the cores would be stronger. And last night was extreme. But maybe that condition will come up more often now.

(Oh... the black diamond is an old drilling, and I doubt I could find someone to plug and redrill it. So while it worked last night, the fit is less than ideal in the long run.)

***PS:  I cannot believe I was censored from using the word A_S in the context in which it was used above. That word is in the dictionary ?!?!?!
 

I''d say it is a skill thing, and with what you feel comfortable. If you can kill your reactive through speed and/or release tricks, and you see no problem with unexpected reactions down the lane, just stick with it.
If you have one to spare, you might even consider hitting an old reactive or urethane ball with wax polish, just to add more length and lower its friction even more.

The selling point of a core is that it gets the ball into a forward roll - good for double wood to reduce deflection, but futile with lack of traction of the cover.

The selling point of a polyester and an old school rubber ball is that it is the straightest thing you can have on the lane, when you apply your standard release. High RG, little flare, little friction. It is IMHO the best thing to toss when you want a straight ball with little reaction, and a fall-back option for truly scorched lanes. Not a must-have, but a wise addition to anyone''s arsenal.
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DizzyFugu - Reporting from Germany

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Edited on 11/13/2009 6:58 AM

I tried a variation of what dizzyfugu mentioned ("...you might even consider hitting an old reactive or urethane ball with wax polish, just to add more length and lower its friction even more.").

Had a reactive (Ebonite Big One) with an old drilling, but it had so many previous plugs, that it would not gave been an effective ball even after refitting. So, I decided to have it plugged and re-drilled as a weak spare-type ball.  In theory it made sense, but so far---in practice--- the results have been not so good, as the ball is kind of unpredictable.  Sometimes it acts like a spare ball, but other times it has a violent snap on the backend.  Oddly... I do not consider that a bad thing... it's just not what was intended with this particular ball.

HOWEVER... I have not yet tried adding polish or wax to the surface. And the ball DOES go very long before reacting.

Maybe the lanes were just that dry that this ball travelled farther down the lane than my other equipment, but would normally travel father still? Next step will be to try adding some polish or wax to the surface and see what happens.  

Plastic balls are cheap enough, so if money isn't a big concern why not give one a try?

If money is a concern, try one of your weak or dead reactives.  

Depending on your release and the conditions, plastic can still hook, so I don't buy into the "it's the only thing that will go straight and take the lane conditions out of play."  I've missed plenty of spares because my plastic ball jumped a couple of boards.

I know part of my issues with my plastic ball is that I didn't practice with it and didn't know how it would react.   I was told that plastic wouldn't hook and would just go straight.  Nope, it can jump off the dry. I eventually found it easier to just stick with a ball that I was comfortable with and knew how it would react (which in my case is an old mild reactive).

The only that will really help is practice.  You'll have to practice with the ball to learn how it will react, and you should also practice altering your release to alter the ball reaction.