Getting more hook

[Numbat24]

I've been bowling in league (junior) for about a year now, and i am just beginning to bowl with a hook. My league average is a very poor 120, although when I practice I probably average 140-150, i must be the fact I'm more relaxed during practice. Anyway, I have a discarded second-hand 'Olympic' bowling ball, which I bought for $20 and am having trouble getting a hook on it. I can get it to hook fairly about two thirds down the lane, but once it nears the pocket it seems to lose its hook and just go straight into the pins. I suspect it is because of the ball and the way it is drilled.
Although I can string up to 6 strikes in a row (my high score is a mere 207), I want to begin bowling a proper hook and am thinking of buying another ball for my strike ball. Can you recommend any good, cheap balls in the $100-150 price-range, which are good for a beginner-intermediate bowler, and an easy-to-control hook. Also,
any tips on how to achieve more hook would be helpful, I've heard bending or 'cocking' the wrist helps, but this doesn't seem to work for me. Any advice would be appreciated, thanks.

 

[USABowlerPennsylvania]

Hey dude

Hey bud,
How ya doin? Ok, lets get down to business. I see that you ahve trouble hooking the ball. This is common, especially for developing bowlers such as yourself. Ok, what you wanna do to get he most hook out of a ball, is with your hand positions, move your ppinky closest to your ring finger, and spread your index finger as far away as you can until you reach a comfort grip, this creates much more hook then conventional fingertip spread, which you know is the even spacing of the the pinky and index finger, this will help you, beleive me. try it if you may. Now, on to the ball. Ok, there is a broad range of bowling balls. Really, not knowing your style and your release, hey, not knowing you at all, i really wouldnt suggest a ball for you, but for beginner-intermediate bowlers that want the ball to help them out at first, i would say go with the Storm Core Power LRG or the Storm Tour Power. VERY good bowling balls, i happen to in fact own the LRG, i love it and i do not necessarily have a problem with hook, very controllable ball. Hopefully i helped bud, but if you want some further help, you can contact me at:
MSN: Greerman123@hotmail.com
ICQ: 200243013
AIM: FizyLIFTINGDrnks
Take care man, hopefully i have helped. Cheers.

 

[micky_macca]

If you only plan to spen that much look for a second hand heavy oil ball that will give you the most hook you want.

Look for something from the Storm Trauma series(ER, recovery,response)

Although at your beginning stages any medium to heavy oil ball will probably do the trick for now.

 

[Easy Tiger]

But be careful with those balls, that wont always work. Numbat24 you said you have a problem with the ball hooking at about 2/3 and then rolling straight. In that case the ball is rolling out....a heavy oil ball won't necessarily help that. It may accentuate the original problem. I am not saying NOT to get a heavy oil ball, I don't know the conditions over there, but I think the ball isn't the only problem with the hook there.

 

[KANAFA!]

those storm balls are good but they cost a bout $250-$300 dollars aus so i would think about it first. i recommend the EBONITE tornado TPS. its a particle resin ball which would be good for a bigger because its a good starter ball and it doesnt cost a fortune

just a few suggestions hope it can help

matty k

 

[Murderdoll]

Hey matt, EBONITE?? your not serious are u? hehe. Numbat all u need is a track ball. Not expensive, and u could probably pick up an asassain or tko or silencer second for for about $100 from Sandor. Thats all really. If you have alot of experience then try the bigger hooking balls like Storm Trauma line or even (yep) Ebonite.


Hope it helps


Later

 

[Numbat24]

I can't really find any good second hand balls here in Perth, apart from really crappy ones my bowling centre doesn't want anymore. If anyone has a good second hand-ball, reasonably priced that would be suitable for a beginner learning to get a hook e-mail me at Trimac20@lycos.com.

I saw a few good balls on sale online, but the outrageously high shipping price put me off. Some of the balls include the Storm 'Big Hit' and Hammer pearl reactive. Anyone have any experience with either of these balls?

 

[Levithian]

Still sounds like you guys are just expecting numbat to be bowling fingertip, i didnt see one person asking about the drilling (ie conventional or fingertip), nor the style (what about backup?) or anything really specific.

As for not being able to find anything decent secondhand in wa, did you see this thread? --> http://www.totalbowling.com.au/php-forum/viewtopic.php?t=3250 Cant get much closer to home, huge variety too.

My only bit of advice is pretty simple. Find a coach around your local area and get a few lessons. He / she can advise you on ball weights, drillings, types etc, then you have an idea what you want to look for. It is hard with questions like this to really give you a definite answer without actually seeing you bowl and knowing just what you want out of a ball.

Maybe some more details on your part would help. ball weight, fingertip or conventional drilling ( do you know what this means?), your physical game (ball speed), and anything else that may be relevant.

 

[AdrianS]

If you're still in the learning stage of your game then hold off on getting into the exotic equipment for a while. For now a regular urethane is about as hi-tech as you need, when your av gets on the right side of 160 then get into some lower end reactive stuff, 180 and above then get into the 'strong' gear. Basics like learning targeting and spare shooting should be your top preferences for now. As far as learning how to 'hook' a ball, concentrate on learning how to throw a strong rolling ball that carries, let the 'hook' take care of itself.

 

[jtstriker]

i know they are a bit old but if you can get your hands on a Columbia300 PowerTorq it may help if you are just begining to hook. I have been bowling for twelve years and the PowerTorq was excellent when i started hooking

 

[Brett]

An Ebonite Tornado is a good light oil ball. Nice and controllable, and only sets you back around $150 (probably even cheaper now).

Or a Storm Core Power LRG... but Ebonite's better. :lol:

 

[USABowlerPennsylvania]

Hey All

Agreeing with the above posts, i must admit, starting off low-end reactive would be the best, not urethane. Urethane, not only outdated, which really isnt the matter here, does not combat the flat roll he seems to be experiencing. Apparently, since he is a beginner, its probable that his experience is hexing his game a bit, but we all start somewhere. Buddy, what i HIGHLY suggest is getting a pearlized ball, or polishing a low-end reactive. This gives it more length and power in the backend so there is a godo chance you will be able to overcome the rolling situation. As Timmee said in the previous post, yes, a sanded high-performance ball wont take care of your problem, but it might. As a beginner, i highly suggest, again, low-end reactive. As for the leviathan issue, for him throwing fingertip or conventional, i agree there is a big difference. But since he mentioned the fact he is getting 2/3 down the lane and worried about flat rolling, i really dont get too many epopel asking me why their basll does that when they throw conventional. thx all, and take care.