Tournament bowlers only: How many balls?

[wchester]

Please only answer if you are currently active in bowling tournaments.
How many balls do you have to choose from, and what are they?
Break it down between Plastic, Urethane, Reactive, Particle etc

Thanks for you input. I'll collate the results and use it in my research on the sport of bowling in the 21st century.

 

[DaleS]

Hi Wayne,

I dont know if you want it by brand/weight etc, and I dont really want to start another "mines better than yours" thread...so simply:

1 Plastic,
0 urethane
1 pearlised resin
1 particle pearl
4 solid resin (of varying surface grits & levels of polish)

7 in total.

thanks

Dale

 

[Street Racer]

is dependind where i am goin, if i am goin to a centre where i havent bowled be4 i normally take 6, but if it a centre where i kind of now about i 4-5

 

[DIECAST NUT]

I take 8 balls with me,

2 particle balls
1 hybrid ball
4 reactive balls
1 clear plastic

And they all storms

 

[da_cowman]

1 Pastic
2 Pearl Reactive
1 Pearl Particle
1 Solid Reactive

Later Da Cowman!

 

[androooo]

6

1 Urethane - Dry/Spare
1 Particle - Heavy Oil
2 Solid Resin - 1 shiny, 1 with surface
2 Pearl Resin - 1 Drilled for control, 1 to go stupid

 

[wchester]

Since I can't edit my original post I guess I should add this....
Do any of you serious tournament players still use a ball after a couple of years or goes it get put into in "useless POS" pile?

 

[Wallbanger1]

1 track gp2 15lb
1 track mutant 15lb
1 storm LRG 15lb
1 amf Kick 14lb
1 Rotogrip Tyre 15lb

I keep all of my balls, have them resurfaced every now & then. usually brings them back better than ever.

 

[AdrianS]

Lets see

2x Shined solid particle
1x Box finish solid particle
2x Pearl reactive
1x Plastic

 

[DaleS]

Well, my plastic ball is an old Columbia Blue dot - suffice to say its in excess of 12 years old. Also one of my pearlised resins is almost 5 years old. Is it a POS not really......its my go to ball when nothing else works....

 

[GeorgeF]

Hi Wayne

I turn over balls more often than most but and dont really have a 'collection' laying around. I usually sell my balls for a very cheap price to other bowlers (juniors where possible).

When I go to a tournament I usually have 6 balls to choose from. I take things into account when I choose the final 4 balls I take like lane surface, oiling machine and centre.

At the very most, I take 4 balls to a tournament with me, with surface adjustments, its like carrying 12. Here is my 6

1 x particle
1 x particle pearl
2 x pearl
2 x reactive

Hope this helps!

 

[wchester]

C'mon bowlers. I need your input if I'm to do a proper research job.
Tell me what balls you use and how many others you have that you pick and choose from.

 

[tonx]

I take 6 including a spare to tournaments.

Currently, its

4 pearl's of different strengths
1 dull solid reactive
spare ball.

I do have access to a few solid reactives with polish, however the pearls are generally strong and early enough (activator's) to cover that side of things.

1 of the pearls is getting changed to a particle on the off chance that I actually see oil ever.

Bowling balls last however long I want them to, however currently there is nothing in my bag older than 6mths old.

Hope this helps

 

[griggsy]

big time sanded= particle
maxim=polyester
big time pearl= reactive pearl rarely take this ball, just far too strong for most lanes
tornado warning=reactive pearl

 

[Brenton_Davy]

Depends.

If driving, I throw them all in

2 x Original Inferno
2 x Ultimate Inferno
1 x Goliath
1 x Impulse Zone
1 x Absolute Inferno
1 x Dynothane Centrifugal Mass
1 x Blazing Inferno
1 x Spare Ball

Some of these are up 3 or more years old. Amazing what a bit of maintenance can achieve.

If flying it depends on the centre, but usually looks like this:

1 x Original Inferno
2 x Ultimate Inferno
1 x Goliath
1 x Dynothane Centrifugal Mass
1 x Spare Ball

 

[Ducati 851]

1 x Hybrid Pearl
1 x Polyester
1 x Pearl Reactive
2 x Solid Reactive
1 x Pearl Particle

 

[lovey]

I only take two. All Brunswick of course,Smoking Inferno, Monster Bruiser,mainly because, more than two is to heavy to carry.The old days people would carry them for me,gee times have changed.Might change my name to Belmo or George
Lovey

 

[luke]

i take 6 balls everywere, but mainly it depends on were im going.

normal goes like this.

dull ball, something strong for oil.
then my benchmark ball that i always use,
then normally a strong peral.
wearker pearl.
then i have my dry lane ball.
spare ball

but i do have a fair few balls which i change between.

 

[RobbieB]

Not sure if I count as a serious Tournament bowler, but anyway...
Current arsenal:
Spare ball, really old acrylic thing;
Lane 1 Buzzsaw XXXL plastic;
Hammer Reaper, long pin drilled skid-flip;
Sage Quantum, polished, pin & cg below fingers on grip line (about 5x5)
Fire Quantum, 800 flat, label leverage;
Violet (Violent?) hook Quantum, 800 flat, label - oil ball;
Ebonite Predator, particle, drilled 315 degrees pin in grip;
Track Exception 5.0, box finish, pin above ring, mb just right of thumb.

Since I usually drive, I take all 8, but the 5.0 is a new addition and I often don't bother with the Buzzsaw unless I expect desert. If I was flying, I'd leave the XXL and either the violet or sage Q.

Not sure if any of those are more than two years old or not. Maybe the odd one. Brenton is right about what a bit of maintenance can do.

Cheers, Robbie.

 

[jason_doust]

Becoming active again, if it helps...

6 Balls to a Tournament. Gets confusing and beyond real benefit after that. Between these and technique, I can find something.

2 Pearl Particle
- One High RG - flips on crummy backends
- One Low RG - great over/under ball
3 Reactive
- One polished Rev Lev - Very even reaction
- One 1200 sand - strongish late reaction
- One 1200 sand - early reaction - hook/set
1 Trusty old Urethane (Vintage 1985)

In the same order, they are:
Storm Core Power HRG (Big finisher - likes it messed up.)
Storm Eraser Ragin' Banshee (Awesome Ball)
Storm Big Hit (v. predictable - lives up to it's name)
Storm Hot Rod Super Sport (I dream of lining up this baby! So strong!)
Storm XXX Extreme (Like wow! Wipe-Out! Needs the wet stuff though!)
Polished AMF Black Angle complete with about 20 plug jobs.
(For spares and the smoking dry... Even 10 board ditches that dead hook outside!)

Yes, I resurface gear, rather than chuck it. It always comes back to life to some degree and I don't ike jumpy gear, so I find it fine for our drier conditions. It's often nice to polish a ball with some oil still on it to tame it down some.

Cheers,
Jason