BallReviews
General Category => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: charlest on January 04, 2017, 11:17:44 AM
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While there is some degree of talk about other brands, this web site over the past 3 - 4 years seems to have become almost Storm/Roto-Grip specific website.
It seems like very high percentage of the discussions involve Storm. Like somewhere between 50 & 75%.
Am I just realizing this or am I suffering from a misapprehension?
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I look forward to other opinions as well; I also feel the same, as talked about in a previous post, parity is needed more, and it's great to see Ebonite, and Brunswick back in the mix after futility ( especially Ebonite).
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I agree....but....in the leagues I bowl in, I would have to say Storm and Roto are about 50% of the market share of the balls being used. So to say the discussion is slanted toward Utah would make sense.
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I will agree. Look what Storm has done on Tour recently. I have watched several telecasts where 4 of the 5 bowlers are Storm or Roto Staffers. People use what works as well as what get the advertising dollar ;) I myself have used almost exclusively Roto since 2005. Purchased a couple of Storm Products as a well as a Lanemasters and a Visionary ball but Roto gets most of my equipment $$. ...
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I will agree. Look what Storm has done on Tour recently. I have watched several telecasts where 4 of the 5 bowlers are Storm or Roto Staffers. People use what works as well as what get the advertising dollar ;) I myself have used almost exclusively Roto since 2005. Purchased a couple of Storm Products as a well as a Lanemasters and a Visionary ball but Roto gets most of my equipment $$. ...
But oddly, there have been zero discussion recently about TV shows that have been broadcast. Admittedly many people knew the results before hand .
I have several Storm Balls currently. Used to have more RG balls before they headed the same way Radical has: all very powerful for high speed bowlers or heavier oil patterns.
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RG/Storm has done a great job marketing. My arsenal is more than 50% Utah pour.
And with living in Utah there is a very strong brand loyalty.
The other day my PSO was joking and said " if it wasn't for the odd ball customer like me, he wouldn't even pay attention to the other brands"
I'm starting to think every brand has their gems and duds. Its just tough to decided what each ball is due to marketing.
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As mentioned above, I think it's just the market. I don't throw visionary so I have no real reason to post about it and so on and so forth.
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The overall traffic and activity on this site seems way down compared to where it was years ago, so I think that has an impact too. Now, aside from that, I think the bowling ball market tends to be cyclical. I can remember various times when all of the "major" manufacturers got a lot of talk/attention. Obviously, some of that was tied to what we were seeing used on TV at that time. It also depends on what brand(s) the local shops push. When we had a Brunswick staffer in town, the racks were filled with Brunswick. When he moved to Ebonite, so did many of the bowlers.
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The overall traffic and activity on this site seems way down compared to where it was years ago, so I think that has an impact too. Now, aside from that, I think the bowling ball market tends to be cyclical. I can remember various times when all of the "major" manufacturers got a lot of talk/attention. Obviously, some of that was tied to what we were seeing used on TV at that time. It also depends on what brand(s) the local shops push. When we had a Brunswick staffer in town, the racks were filled with Brunswick. When he moved to Ebonite, so did many of the bowlers.
I think you're echoing the variabilities of the market and the fickleness of the US buying public.
As many people have said, many PBA bowlers can bowl well with any brand; they just go where the money is. I think the same is true with EVERY bowler: they can bowl as well as they do now, with one of more balls from virtually any manufacturer. They just choose to do so with whatever manufacturer being used by whoever influences them the most, be it a fellow bowler, a PBA bowler on the TV or their local pro shop.
Storm/RG has had the most appearances on TV for the past 10 years or so; so most bowlers choose to use them, figuring if those balls made those guys bowl well, they will also make them bowl well.
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WSOB this year had a good showing for all brands if you ask me.Even Radical made a show.900 global even had a showing.Anybody that has not thrown 900 global are missing out on some very good balls.
They seem to be like Motiv targeting specific ball motions.You want control they have it want hook they have it.My only gripe with all ball companies is the entry level. stuff is as strong as most medium priced balls
Low end to me should be geared for less hook.Here in the south most of the time you need very weak balls for these dry houseshots.Unless you can throw 20+mph.I don't understand why its like this.Look in your leagues 75% of us are over 50.And don't say urethane It hooks early on dry and pukes.Just make a weak reactive cover with a weak core.Tropical breeze would be ok with the .009 diff but the cover is still to strong on toast.
My area only sells EBI brands.So mostly that is pushed down your throat.Glad I drill my own stuff .I throw what ever fits my needs.All brands make good balls its your decision on what you need that matters.
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Every time when I enter a new pro shop in my travels and I see only Storm/RG (less plastic balls), I make mention of it and the answer is always the same. The PSO is on staff with Storm/RG.
So, it seems Storm/RG has done a very good job at signing pro shops vs. the other major brands. They all tell me they can get anything I'm interested in, but they can also duplicate it with something from the Storm/RG line which I don't completely agree with, but probably most customesr will accept.
Maybe the other brands need to sign more PSO to their staffs so that they push those brands to the customers?
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my arsenal is mostly storm; reason being that I have had a lot of success with their stuff, and as I need to replace or potentially augment stuff it is easier for me to stick with storm so I don't have to research all 2,865 brands that sell bowling equipment. Heck, my only Roto ball is a 2nd hand original cell.
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I haven't tried much other than San Antonio in the last 10 years, but I will say Motiv has caught my attention in a very annoying "I want to steal you from your girlfriend" way that I can't quite shake. Before Global, I tried some Brunswick and MoRich after Track was sold. (I remember having a Phoenix on order, then the rug was pulled out from under me). The more TV exposure there is, the more people buy and talk about stuff. The Storm reactions have been running the other companies into the ground on tour. Knowledgeable ball reps, great staffers, hype machine full steam ahead. I can't tell you how many people acted like Global was out of business because they had no tour presence.
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I agree....but....in the leagues I bowl in, I would have to say Storm and Roto are about 50% of the market share of the balls being used. So to say the discussion is slanted toward Utah would make sense.
Yup, this is the case for me too. Storm is the biggest seller in my area by a good margin so seeing a good portion the discussions around here involving them fits what I would expect.
Doesn't really bother me much although I'm a believer in any brand is good, just have to find the right ball for what you're looking for. Or maybe more like just going for any ball that's a good deal... 8)
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Well Storm is currently the "biggest" company.
Then Brunswick and EBI.
So of course people will talk about Storm the most.
I will never buy another Storm or Roto Grip ball again though. Guess I'm just a hipster. I used to not buy them because I thought they were the only ones with a 1 year varanty on their balls, but Motiv also have only one year.
I'll stick with Motiv now. Most balls on the market today perform the same way, so I might aswell stick with Motiv who makes those awesome graphics on their balls xD
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Well Storm is currently the "biggest" company.
Then Brunswick and EBI.
So of course people will talk about Storm the most.
Current industry numbers (roughly) of all bowling balls sold in the world
45% = EBI
25% storm/roto
25% Brunswick
5% - rest of smaller brands
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Current industry numbers (roughly) of all bowling balls sold in the world
45% = EBI
25% storm/roto
25% Brunswick
5% - rest of smaller brands
It's impossible, but it would be great to see what those numbers would look like discounting the polyester balls from every brand.
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Storm/RG are the masters of hype. I prefer Motiv. Don't care if anyone agrees.