I was waiting for the go to a Pro answer-- so thank you Jorge300!

When I first got on the site I asked a simple question what would be a good ball to start with for someone who has not bowled in 20 years-- BOY was that dumb-- I got berated, humiliated and pounced on-- told to go to a pro, take a lesson, read up -- you’re a jerk, basically.

So 20 years ago I had a white dot and before that an AMF Voit. You know what I still bowled—really, the ball still went down the lanes -- hit the pins and the pins actually moved!! Damn-- can you believe!

All kidding aside-- yes I did go to three pros, they analyzed me - took my rev, speed and everything else you could think of.  Moved me up on the approach and then back on the approach, adjust two boards to the left- right and center.  They gave me several ball choices, which would fit my swing and it did help.  It also helped my son. 

Then I remembered this is just a game, it is fun, and everyone can play it. You don’t have to be 6’7” or 300 lbs or even have great bat speed.

So when I posed this poll- I was just curious to see what everyone was using and have a good time. I now know what a PAP is, RG, DIFF, Cover Stock, and Core all are. Why I can’t explain the exact correlation between them or exactly what they mean to the average house bowler it was fun learning!

So when my son and I bought our first bowling balls—he bought the Assassin, because he liked the name and one of the pros recommended it, I bought the Legend so we could have matching bowling balls, just for fun.  Since then we have both improved.  I gave him my Legend (did not like the Legend) and had it re-drilled and I went with the Storm line – I just liked it better.

So he is using the Hammer – Legend- Assassin, an old Track 503A for dry lanes and a Columbia WD for some spares.  I am using a Crux, Zero Gravity, Fusion IQ and a retired Deuce II from 1992  needed for 10 pins. He will get all 3 of my balls next year—his hands are growing so fast! Has a size 14 shoe and he is 14.  Eats like a horse.

The best part is we are having a ball, no pun intended!  Really—joined a nice league, he is trying out for the high school team, you never know he might shoot another 279 – if not better.

So thank you all for answering the poll- it’s be fun!

I'll play the game....

In my opinion Hammer has no consistency with their new releases or line. It's like they just release stuff without a plan. Also Hammer's strongest oil ball equals the strength of Storms Wipe out which is their weakest solid. Hammer is great for high rev, low speed bowlers or bowlers that bowl on medium oil lane conditions/shorter patterns.

Storm has a wide variety of reactions and shapes. They also have consistency with their releases. However they have a huge gap between the breeze line and Punch Out line. From what I see this is caused by using a cover that's too strong. A lot of people tend to complain that Storm lacks new ideas because of the continued use of the same cover/core combination, which I would like to see a change also. It seems like they are trying to keep from making the mistake of ending a good thing until they can come up with another cover/core combination that will be accepted by the customers. Example being the Marvel Pearl being available for so many years and now the Optimus seems to be good enough to at some point allow them to discontinue the Marvel Pearl. They kept the same cover, but put a new core in the Optimus and it's a really good rolling ball.

Over the past few seasons I've drilled and thrown a lot of bowling balls and I've always tried to build the best arsenal with one brand, just because I think using one brand "should" allow a person to build an arsenal "if" the equipment covers are actually a step down from the stuff in the lines above it. Also if their is consistency, a bowler can replace certain pieces as the new version is released a year or so later without a reaction they like going away because the brand discontinued it and never replaced it with something similar.

So with all of that said... Both brands have stuff that rolls good for me and stuff that is ok. I have the majority of my honor scores with Hammer equipment, but over time have realized Hammer is condition specific for me. However, I've averaged higher with Storm overall. Storm is great until I get to that in between point when it's not dry enough for the breeze, but too strong for the other equipment. So since I can change a few things with my hand to adjust my revs,  I would say at this point Storm has my vote, because they have equipment that's stronger than Hammer as well as equipment that's close to Hammer's equipment in strength and shape. But Storm still needs to stop using the same cover/cores and simply changing the name, color scheme, scent, and keeping it at the same price point.