My Desert Heat seems to be too strong. It is drilled 5x4 w/ pin under bridge and a xhole on PAP. If I remember right it's sitting at 7/8 or 3/4 oz of side.
 I don't often get to use this ball where I bowl because they tend to put out quite a bit of oil and also tend to lay a flatter pattern which has too much oil outside for the Desert.
 I bowled a 15 game tournament this weekend, skipping a pair after each 3 game set. It was an older Brunswick house with newer synthetic lanes. I started the day with the X 5.0. I think by game 6 or so I switched to my Xception. The third and fourth set I ran into somw trouble. My X was reading too early and checking up before getting to desired BP. I tried to use the Desert. It too was reading very early. I was having a really hard time keeping the Desert right of the head pin. I could play it tight over the twenty but inside of the fifteen; very straight. It seemed like it was really dry all the way into the fifteen. If I swung the Desert out past the 3rd arrow, it was checking up. Trying to keep it tight up the middle was coming up high and leaving 4 pins or worse. Keep in mind this is with an up-the-back type release.
 The other problem with I was having is is I changes to my more "normal" release and tried to swing it a little, it would skid but didn't want to recover at all on the back.
 Ironically, the last set I ended up on the pair I started on. These conditions were much different than the two previous pair. I had a great look standing 27 and swinging the Desert over the 3rd arrow and out to the 3 board. I didn't have this shot on the other pairs. This was one of my better sets on the day, actually. Did I mention you can also get pretty tired bowling 15 games!!!
 It seems as though my Xception and Desert handle about the same oil volume, but with totally different looks. I need to swing the whole lane with the Xception; I get a ton of length with a very angular backend.
 I was thinking of trying some polish or delayed reaction on it. Since I don't have any delayed reaction, I'll probably try some Magic Shine but I wanted to hear your suggestions. I figure I can try those two, take a tad more out of the xhole and maybe calm it down a bit more, or plug it and try a different layout.
 I have a Solution PP EX that I'll be adding in Feb to go above this ball. Keep that in mind.

Nut,
 I try to look at what others are throwing and how their game compares to mine. One problem is I'm in Okinawa. It seems Brunswick has got the market cornered. Probably 90% are throwing "B". On top of that, they have a lot of overseas balls (duh?) so I can't always make a direct comparison to the US balls.
 It seems folks here are either a cranker or a fluffer playing the ditch. I'm coming to the States in a couple of months and really looking forward to getting a feel for the bowling back in the US.
 My aresenal is pretty set, but I still struggle a bit on burnt lanes. I have hit my Desert with some polish and I'll see how it does for me next week. One of the things about that ball is I normally see too much oil to pull it out. I've think I've used it maybe 4 or 5 times. I'm sure I'll get it figured out. As a last resort, I'll plug it and go with an axis layout.