Post by: Wildcard on May 16, 2004, 09:22:31 AM
For tourneys I of course use assorted reactive balls but because I'm a cheapo I do not use them anymore for practice, instead using a plain urethane. I'm not exactly a high volume player, but do practice on Friday's through the weekend, about 15-18 games per weekend (excluding league), which means a typical reactive ball starts to lose action / hook after 2-3 months.
So, it's my Visionary Red Sorcerer that sees the most use in practice, leaving the stronger reactive stuff for league and jackpots.
I actually prefer it this way as it has helped me improve my release and accuracy since there's not of built-in room for error.
Now to the question. Visionary has stopped producing the Sorcerer, and I want to buy another few plain urethane balls before they disappear from the earth forever. I assume the Sorcerer will last a long time, but I also figure it will eventually start to crack around the thumb and finger holes (this happened twice with a plastic spare ball I had).
So, what good alternatives are out there? The only hookable urethane balls I've seen on bowling.com are the Columbia Messenger Black Urethane and the Scout Urethane - the Messenger Urethane seems the stronger of the two. I've heard the Storm Thunderflash was a great ball ... but it's also discontinued.
Is the Messenger a good choice? How will it compare to the Sorcerer? Are there other alternative that I just don't know about?
Would appreciate your thoughts.
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Wildcard
"An unpredictable or unforeseeable factor"
(American Heritage Dictionary)
In reference to my scoring
Post by: gbushman on May 17, 2004, 12:35:39 AM
Post by: Juggernaut on May 17, 2004, 12:41:43 AM
Several companies are making a pearl urethane now. Visionary has the slate blue gargoyle, lane1 has the xxl, and columbia now has the trooper. The trooper is like the reactive scouts, just has a regular pearl urethane cover on it.
Depending on the weight, you should be able to find good urethane used balls for a LONG time to come.
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Just call me Darreyl, it's much easier to say!
Post by: Wildcard on May 17, 2004, 01:03:29 AM
Thanks for the replies. eBay is a questionable choice for me as I don't live in the US, which would limit the numbers of those willing to sell as well as raising the price of the ball and shipping to potentially expensive levels. Perhaps I can give it a try, though.
I've had a look at the specs for the Slate Blue Gargoyle and it looks like it's quite a bit weaker than the Sorcerer, though I might give it a try. Same with the Trooper, but I didn't know about the XXL so I'll have to check into that.
But back to the actual question: Is the Messenger Black Urethane a good choice? How will it compare to the Sorcerer?
Cheers!
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Wildcard
"An unpredictable or unforeseeable factor"
(American Heritage Dictionary)
In reference to my scoring
Post by: C-G ProShop-Carl on May 17, 2004, 01:16:13 AM
The Messenger is a good urethane to try. The breakpoint is calm. That is the benefit of urethane.
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Owner/Operator
C-G Pro Shop
Post by: agroves on May 17, 2004, 02:28:01 AM
Andrew
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FUFU
If you're an idiot, you can join my ignore list
Post by: livespive on May 17, 2004, 09:08:42 AM
I would goto visionary and see if
they have any left. Goto:
http://www.visionarybowling.com
and look under closeouts. They still
have that ball on the list, so you might be able to
get a few. IF you do like that ball I would buy 2 or 3
and put them up.
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Eric T. Spivey, P.E.
Visionary Test Staff Member
http://www.visionarybowling.com
Post by: Wildcard on May 18, 2004, 01:20:13 AM
Cheers!
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Wildcard
"An unpredictable or unforeseeable factor"
(American Heritage Dictionary)
In reference to my scoring