What kind of ball reaction do you prefer? ie, smoother, skid/flip, arc, etc...?


Take a look at the equipment you have, are most of the balls you use drilled for the type of reaction that you want? Is everything laid out with a very similiar layout? do you notice alot of overlap in ball reaction?


I believe that too many bowlers are using equipment with the identical layout on nearly every ball they have. I have witnessed it first hand with pro shops that used to drill my stuff. At one point I had 5 bowling balls with the pin under the ring finger and CG in palm. I think it really handicaps a bowler to have most of their arsenal drilled with the same layout. Various layouts on equipment would be much better--------AND having a ball for your lighter oil conditions is important. That ball should not be a ball strong like the Rule GP2 polished, it should be something along the lines of the Heat, or Dry Heat.

Take a good look at what you have and then voice what you think about it.

-EX-

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C-G Pro Shop (owner/operator)
Youngstown Ohio

Track Intl.-Amateur/Pro Shop Staff

I've got a good selection, thanks in part to tenpinspro.  I've got balls that have skid/flip, arc, and smooth reactions.  I feel that my varity in drillings gives me a better advantage when the lanes change.  I don't have any two balls that are drilled the same which is how I like it.
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Evolutionary.  Revolutionary.

I recently got rid of a lot of stuff. Dumped my Rule, Mojo, Havoc, Sheer Havoc and someone stole my FAZ with only 12 games on it. I am keeping what seems to work best for me. For the first time in years I am down to seven balls. Kenny Hall from Schenectady drills my equipment. He bowled and drilled on the Tour for many years. Every ball is drilled differently for a desired reaction. Only one ball I ever owned had a drilling from a drill sheet.(Unleashed)

Unleashed - Drilled to roll slightly early and keep it's big backend. One of the most predictable balls ever designed.

Untamed - Some mid lane with an medium arc. At 800 sand. this is my big get out of trouble ball. Reads the lanes well.

X-ception - my skid/snap drill medium oil score monster. I keep it factory finish like most stuff I buy. I firmly believe that the cover comes as it does for a reason. Some one put a lot of thought into what the finish would be before they released it so I don't mess with covers too much. Plus, they named this thing right cause nothing carries like it.

Colossus Pearl - my gut ball. Super polished in a Lustre King. When boards 3 to 5 are open this thing gets such good length with such a hard snap at about 45 ft. Awesome pattern "E" ball. I keep my stuff in super good condition too. It looks like a brand new ball and it has at least 1000 games on it.

Been trying a WOMB and it has a nice reaction. A lot like the Unleashed but with a litttle sooner roll and stronger arching back-end. Pin up and over slightly with factory finish. Carries realllly goood.

Arsenal Agressive - getting it next week. Thinking of drilling it pin under. I don't have much drilled pin under but I want something to roll early and my FAZ did that but still had really god back end. That was a nice surprise. Anyone have one drilled pin under in factory finish. Comments.

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EvEryOnE rOlls OvEr thE lanE bEd

1.Skid/Flip
2.Arc/Roll

My personal favs
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Win or go Home
It don't mean a thing if it aint got that swing!

Founder of the BrunsTrack Nation

Hey Ex,

I try to make everything different.  However, I did drill the the Rule, Xception and GP2 all very similar to help my customers and folks here at BR to really see the strength differences between the balls.  

I think Charlest stated it before about same drills can help you differentiate between each ball but really doesn't show you the true strengths of that particular ball (say if the pattern chosen was weak), I agree with that.  

You will also notice I always use the word "separation" when talking about fitting a ball into someone's arsenal.  Realizing that we all don't have money to burn, it's very important to help fill spots in a bowlers arsenal that will allow him/her the best opportunity to score and cover as many conditions as possible with the equipment they have.

Understood that bowling only 6 games a week and no practice is kind of my norm these days, I wanted to utilize my staff balls more for my customers and research purposes vs my own personal gain.  I guess it still worked out cause I'm at a high of 215 this year which I haven't been in quite a while.  Not bad for this short lil old guy...  That's my take on it anyway bud...
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Rick Leong
Ten Pins Pro Shop
Track Intl. - Amateur/Pro Shop Staff  
Vise Inserts Staff

Hi everyone,

-EX-, I've always wanted to chime in on a topic like this one. Now I have the chance. Here's my story if you guys don't mind a little reading hehe.

I started bowling when I was in Junior High School in the early 90's. I went to a local ball briller who had the, "Best Prices In Town." My friend recommended him to me. Needless to say, for the the next 13 years or so I bought the latest, "Hook in the Box." Everything I bought was drilled stacked pin & cg with the exception of 1 or 2 balls. Needless to say, I "trusted," the ball driller and felt he knew what he was doing, so I let him lay the ball out and punch it up.

Layout looked just like this below...

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---O---O-----P
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-------------CG
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-----O-------

I made the best of all the balls I had and didn't start learning about different types of layouts and the dynamics of a bowling ball till around 2001 when I joined ball reviews. The people here at Ballreviews really opened up my eyes. For the first time in 13 years, I had an idea of how I wanted my ball laid out only to have it shot down by him. I was shocked and realized that after so many years, I've had almost every ball overlap. I finally decided to try someone new, and when I reunited with a fellow tournament bowler Rick Leong on this website (tenpinspro), I was finally able to visit him and get his opinion on my grip, layouts & arsenal.

Rick taught me so much at his Pro Shop in 20 minutes, It wasn't even funny. We re-worked my grip and talked about different layouts and creating separation in my arsenal. I'm finally getting my game up and being educated with the dynamics of a bowling ball. My arsenal is now a work in progress and I'm finally gaining some confidence bowling in more tournaments.

In the past every ball in my bag looked the same and had the same type of reaction. I walked into every house 2-3 heavy Oil Balls in my bag rolling into every tournament or league. Changing balls during league or a tournament was a joke, because every ball pretty much gave me the same type of reaction. I'm glad times have changed and I'm glad I came to ballreviews...

Thanks to Rick, Ex, achappy, clint & everyone for spreading the knowledge!

Regards,
Ram
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Ram
S.F. Bay Area, California