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I like these sorts of questions and have thought about it for a couple days.

It's really tough to pick a four ball set that will work for everyone across many centers as y'all know. Here is what I choose from and how I might get down to a four ball set.

Here are the balls I'm currently choosing from:

1) Quest
2) Battle
3) Cell Solid
4) Cell Pearl
5) Saga
6) Mystic
7) Grand Illusion
Illusion
9) RS-1
10) Horizon Solid
11) RSX
12) Venus
13) Neptune
14) Mercury
15) Spare Tire (my polyester always goes so let's call it #5)

That is 15 balls and I excluded a few of the older ones and Pluto which I don't have at present. Let's trim this to recent offerings and re-number:

1) Quest (partical solid)
2) Cell Solid (strong solid)
3) Cell Pearl (even rolling pearl)
4) Saga (strong midlane pearl)
5) Grand Illusion (strong solid)
6) Illusion (snappy pearl)
7) Venus (medium pearl partical)
Pluto (medium solid)
9) Neptune (weak to medium pearl)
10) Spare Tire

That gets us down to 10 nuggets and makes a pretty nice arsenal from which to make sub-sets from. It's titled a bit toward strong pearls so I added a Pluto to give us a bit more balance and another solid cover. So from these 10 let's work it down to 4.

For THS we'll not need the Quest and I typically take out the snappy pearls (unless the house plays that way).

1) Cell Solid (strong solid)
2) Cell Pearl (even rolling pearl)
3) Grand Illusion (strong solid)
4) Venus (medium pearl partical)
5) Pluto (medium solid)
6) Neptune (weak to medium pearl)
7) Spare Tire

Now we're down to seven. I could go into pretty much any house in the country and make that arsenal work. But seven is too many for weekly league so lets carve out a few more.

Venus and Pluto are going to cover about the same territory but with a different look on the lane. I'll take out Pluto since I don't have one :-)

1) Cell Solid (strong solid)
2) Cell Pearl (even rolling pearl)
3) Grand Illusion (strong solid)
4) Venus (medium pearl partical)
5) Neptune (weak to medium pearl)
6) Spare Tire

Wow, we're at six and I'd be happy to bring those in a couple 3 ball travel wheelies. Pretty nice kit actually.

This is a darn good "do it all" type arsenal but it is titled a bit toward stronger equipment. One could swap out one of the Cells for a weaker Grand Illusion or Pluto and have a bit better balance. Or swap out one of the more even rolling pellets for an Illusion if you can use a skid-snap reaction.

If I had to get down to four balls here's what I'd do:

1) Cell Pearl (even rolling pearl)
2) Grand Illusion (strong solid)
3) Neptune (weak to medium pearl)
4) Spare Tire

That's pretty darn good and there would be nothing wrong with making some substitutions to favor your game or more frequently seen oil conditions. There is a hole between the Neptune and the Grand Illusion ractions so you need to change your ball roll to cover that area. If there is 60 feet of oil you'll want your Quest but such is life with "only" four balls.

The logic behind this set is as follows:

1) Cell Pearl (even rolling pearl) - Good on fresh and OK on breaking down patterns. Provides high carry power and will be very good on a variety of conditions. Yes it's a pearl but with a standout asymetric core. Some will find the Cell Solid to be a better choice in this slot.

2) Grand Illusion (strong solid) - I always have a strong solid with a symetrical core drilled 5x3 in my bag. That has been my go-to type ball and layout for about 15 years and it never lets me down. Control, carry and works on a lot of conditions. I've bowled some one ball tournys and this is the ball I'd take in.

3) Neptune (weak to medium pearl) - If you are trying to cover the range of conditions with only four balls you need something weak drilled weak. If you have a bit of hand you can make a Neptune work well on Mediums and you can back out to make it work on all but desert type dry. If I don't expect serious dry I swap in one of the other balls to this spot. Venus is a step up or I might bring in the Illusion or Saga into this spot. It depends but for THS having three strong balls is rarely a problem. I do like to have Neptune along as an insurance policy though.

4) Spare Tire - I go straight at all my spares and although I can use the Neptune I prefer the plastic. The Tire can also be used on super dry if needed.

YMMV but that is my thinking. I like the six ball selection mentioned above very much. If you want to kick it old school and go with only two then the Grand and the Neptune will get you there most nights.

Hope that provided some entertainment!!

Mark

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