Hey BR Gang, for those that went to Nationals, how much surface are we using for Teams and S/D? I'm curious to which Abralon pads I'll have to buy

From what I've been told, it isn't really necessary to use a lot of surface to carve a spot during team. The guys our group has talked with say there is already a natural hook spot to throw to on that pattern.

In minors, on the other hand, we've been told that it's very important to use surface to the right to try to open things up. Obviously, as that pattern is longer and needs to hold up for six games rather than three, that all makes perfect sense.

That being said, we've taken different approaches to surface over the years. Generally speaking, when trying to carve, I may put a light 500 or a steady 1000 grit on a ball. You always have to be careful with going too gritty as you don't want to completely blow the heads up! Mos of the time, we will throw 500-1000 during practice and then use balls in the 1000-3000 range to actually start trying to knock them down.

The interesting thing this year is that when I've watched the highlights of the honor scores and leaders, a lot of the balls have looked kind of shiny. It's hard to tell if they actually are or they just appear that way due to the lighting. My group bowls a week from Saturday and Sunday, so I guess we'll find out!

was doing fine with balls in the 2000 range and stuff that had some lane shine on it,  definitely want stuff that is very even in reaction that you can keep in front of you,  in S/D the lanes will open up by the end of the block so be ready to move when the time comes.  for what its worth the crux prime at OOB finish with about 10 games on it was money in S/D

From what I've been told, it isn't really necessary to use a lot of surface to carve a spot during team. The guys our group has talked with say there is already a natural hook spot to throw to on that pattern.

In minors, on the other hand, we've been told that it's very important to use surface to the right to try to open things up. Obviously, as that pattern is longer and needs to hold up for six games rather than three, that all makes perfect sense.

The above pretty much nails it.


Just got back from Nationals. On Team, I didn't need anything beyond an aggressive pearl. There is a spot closer to the gutter (2-4 board) where there is a nice hook spot to take advantage of. Too many bowlers were trying to play further in and getting hammered by the hook in the middle of the lane.


On Doubles/Team, you definitively need more surface. The mistake I made was trying to break down the outside. I didn't have enough help, and a dependable shot never developed. I finally moved in during singles and found a nice tighter line between the second and third arrows. There was enough hold where I didn't feel the need to get too deep. But it was too little, too late to save me. I should have made that move much sooner. 

Just finished with team a couple hours ago. There's plenty of hook for team. I threw my Melee Cross at 2000 for the first 2 games and made a switch to shiny for game 3 and balled up to my Kingpin Gold, but it wasn't the right move. Went down to my Tag Cannon and bailed out a terrible game 3.

Luckily made a decent amount in brackets so I'll take that and look forward to D/S tomorrow at 7am

Just finished with team a couple hours ago. There's plenty of hook for team. I threw my Melee Cross at 2000 for the first 2 games and made a switch to shiny for game 3 and balled up to my Kingpin Gold, but it wasn't the right move. Went down to my Tag Cannon and bailed out a terrible game 3.

Luckily made a decent amount in brackets so I'll take that and look forward to D/S tomorrow at 7am

Gratz man.  Good luck tomorrow.  Great to hear from some of the crazy good bowlers on here talking about navigating nightmare conditions (to me anyway).  Great to learn from.

Well after feeling like I threw the ball pretty well in team just didn't quite get the results, I threw the ball like crap for doubles and made the wrong ball change for the first game of singles. Did end on a good note though going 20 clean 215-232 to finish with 610 for singles.

D/S pattern ended up being pretty similar to team for me, just more oil and maybe 1-2 ft longer. I used my Absolute Nirvana for doubles that I hit with 1000 by hand before practice. I wish I would have had a strong symmetrical solid (Method Solid, Idol, Phase 2) for Doubles. It's just a reaction I don't have right now since I made some grip changes. Switched to my Tag Cannon for singles but it ended up being too over/under. Kingpin Gold ended up working great for singles playing tighter and continuing to move left. I finished sliding about 30 and 13 as breakpoint with a couple boards of room.



For those who are pretty well matched rev rate to ball speed, I'd recommend

Team - slower response mid level ball (Intel Solid, IQ Tour, Venom Shock, etc @2000) + mid level shiny ball

D/S - strong symmetrical @1000-2000 + something shiny. If you're with people who can break it down in D/S then I'd say almost any mid level ball. If not, then something a little stronger like Halo Pearl, Conspiracy Pearl, etc

Well after feeling like I threw the ball pretty well in team just didn't quite get the results, I threw the ball like crap for doubles and made the wrong ball change for the first game of singles. Did end on a good note though going 20 clean 215-232 to finish with 610 for singles.

D/S pattern ended up being pretty similar to team for me, just more oil and maybe 1-2 ft longer. I used my Absolute Nirvana for doubles that I hit with 1000 by hand before practice. I wish I would have had a strong symmetrical solid (Method Solid, Idol, Phase 2) for Doubles. It's just a reaction I don't have right now since I made some grip changes. Switched to my Tag Cannon for singles but it ended up being too over/under. Kingpin Gold ended up working great for singles playing tighter and continuing to move left. I finished sliding about 30 and 13 as breakpoint with a couple boards of room.



For those who are pretty well matched rev rate to ball speed, I'd recommend

Team - slower response mid level ball (Intel Solid, IQ Tour, Venom Shock, etc @2000) + mid level shiny ball

D/S - strong symmetrical @1000-2000 + something shiny. If you're with people who can break it down in D/S then I'd say almost any mid level ball. If not, then something a little stronger like Halo Pearl, Conspiracy Pearl, etc

I completely agree with everything you mentioned in here. I bowled the second weekend of the tournament and felt team played very similar to last year, tons of hook, really don't want much surface, saw a lot of people hit them big with shiny assym pearls, (Golden Jackal, Conspiracy Pearl stood out).

D/S felt like last years, but didn't blow up as fast, quite a bit of volume and probably 41-42 ft in length. Strong solid balls with 1000-2000 to start playing pretty direct outside of 10 looked very good to start, right up 5 is in play then chase inside and grab a strong pearl with a tad bit of surface and you'll be in good shape.