Jeff...
If you go by my profile I have 9 total...8 without my spare ball, but the Ultra Hot is on it's way out probably. Beyond bowling local leagues and in-house tournaments I bowl in NEBA. NEBA is a traveling scratch tournament that goes around the New England area and has atleast one stop a month. I try to bowl as many of these a year that I can as well as one tournament a year with some of my friends (Liliac, Green Mountain Open or Nationals have been the last few). I basically have three core balls in my aresenal that I use all the time: X-Factor, V2 and Lightning Flash. The Turbo Diesel is a new ball that I'm trying out after a Hammer Demo Day my shop had. The Power Groove is an experiment to help with a condition that occurs in match play at some NEBAs. The Tour Power or a ball like it is a must have for a tournament bowler...I can't even tell you how many times this was the only ball that kept me out of trouble or off the nose on a hard breaking shot. The XXX is again an experiment and a ball that I only need maybe 3 tournaments out of the year.
For the most past I could only travel with 4 balls including the spare ball and cover maybe 70% of the conditions that I see. But when you travel say 2 hours+ to a tournament it's nice to know that there is something else to go to if you need it.
That and working in a Pro-Shop I'm always trying a new ball here or there to see if there is a better reaction out there. Been looking at the Flash Point recently so I might punch up one of these? Heck, the V2 Sweet sounds interesting enough to want to try. I guess the number of bowling balls I have is part tournament driven and part pro-shop driven.
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-Chris : DJ's Pro Shop : Auburn, MA
