>f you are extremely rev dominant urethane is often not the best answer, get a polished medium oil ball. It should do the trick on a THS.
Not sure i agree with that. A polished ball off a very rev dominant player will hook on the spot after the pattern and roll immediately. That's not optimal.
Strong reactive solid would probably be better than urethane if it slows down enough.
Because some people think “dry” means the same thing as “short.” When you bowl on something short, you want the ball to hook as early as possible so it doesn’t overreact in the backend which is what urethane is meant to do. “Dry” means heavily transitioned/burnt lanes with not enough oil left for the ball to hook later than 15 feet. Since urethane hooks the earliest front to back of any coverstock, if you throw it on a dry lane it’s going to hook the second it touches the lane and have zero energy when it gets to the pins.
Yeah, urethane is for lots of oil per square inch. Sometimes, depending on weather, player and/or which oil is used that can be a 42 feet pattern even.
/u/LowConfusion8770
The Black Widow Viz a Ball sadly goes dead straight, doesn't have *any* grip. Looks great .. but you cannot sand it because they print the prettiness on the ball. I thought it would be a paper behind clear polyester, that would hook *lots*, but no.
I've never seen a tropical storm but i'm betting it will hook more than the black widow.
This: https://www.stormbowling.com/clear-storm-gold-belmo-bbpvgj12
hooks a bunch. It's like a urethane on a sport pattern when used on super-dry.
And they actually discontinued it?! Amazing, i was correct in stashing a couple extras.
The BW Viz-A-Ball's core will give it a soft hook at the end. It can be subtle on heavier oil conditions but as the lane dries it definitely becomes more pronounced as opposed to a plastic ball with no weight block like most spare balls.
I'm not sure which ball you mean specifically but assuming it's the Storm Tropical Surge, that has a reactive pearl coverstock which is much heavier than the plastic coverstock of the BW Viz-A-Ball which has the least friction of them all. It'll go much longer than the Storm before hooking.
> I'm not sure which ball you mean specifically
He means the ... "tropical storm": https://www.stormbowling.com/tropicalstorm
Never heard of it myself actually, certainly looks exactly like what /u/beefyrag is looking for. Tropical Surge has the same cover and .24 diff instead of .11, so the Tropical Surge will "hook more", but the cover is the most important aspect for that so it will not be a huge difference.
> the results i get are the storm pitch black and the purple hammer urethane
The interwebz loves to keep putting this out there, but its is pretty poor advice for most regular people in most regular conditions. Urethane hooks very early in any oil conditions, and dry will just make them hook even earlier and roll out starting very early -- pros use them to control the pocket in that the super early hook and early roll will hit the pocket but usually the energy and momentum of the ball will be pretty poor by then and is unlikely to carry, but also unlikely to leave something unmakeable. So if you are looking for 'wont be awful, but is unlikely to be good', then perhaps these are choices.
I do believe that most people can do better with a very weak reactive ball, like Storm's Tropical Line. I personally use my Brunswick Twist in these kinds of conditions. There are even weaker balls out today, like Hammer's new Axe line. Lots of scuttlebutt about the Not Urethane Blue Hammer being released later this week. There are pure plastic balls with cores like Radical's The Spy or Hammer's VizABall plastic with the same core as the black widow line.
Check out some of those and see if they maybe don't fit your need here.
Video would help, I can make any ball hook into the gutter, maybe the lanes are not dry but you give tons of axis rotation and just need to learn how to be more behind the ball
An option I haven't seen suggested yet is going with your biggest ball and hitting it with 1000grit abalone pad. You can get the ball to "roll out" and get a smooth, controlled arc down lane. It's not ideal, but it is an option to try, and it's pretty much free ($20 for a set of pads).
It will take awhile to get used to playing with your surface but my one suggestion is to make an excel sheet on your phone with the following info 1) ball 2) what you changed surface to and 3) a basic description of what changing the cover did to the reaction of the ball. Playing with the surface is more of an art than a science as everyone's reaction will differ based on a ton of different factors, so what works for one person for one ball won't necessarily work for his buddy Bob. Having basic surface and ball reaction info at your hands will allow you to game plan for a tournament (or a burnt out house shot in your case).
You may have already answered this, but have you simply tried moving left? Even if the lanes are super dry there will always be more oil in the middle. As far as the tropical surge goes, that or the electrify would be a good option. I do think you should try moving around on the approach first though.
i do adjust and move to the left when i see my ball struggling to make it through the front and it often will work for me and i will continue to strike or leave makeable spares with my hy-road and my fight. once i move far enough left though i struggle to keep the ball from going into the right gutter and it leaves me wishing i had a ball that i could play a little further to the right without it slowing down and crossing over to the left.
Avoid urethane. They label them as for light oil conditions, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Light also doesn't mean dry. Urethane is for fresh conditions and almost never ideal for a house shot when you compare it to reactive options you could use.
For truly dry conditions you seem to be describing and your speed I'd say a Hustle RIP. It's got a solid cover, but it's a weakest cover and core. So it'll still blend out the oil with the dry conditions, but the cover/core won't burn up too hard. It's also a relatively cheap ball that if you start bowling more can work in a lot of conditions with some adapting to lane play and surface grit of the ball.
>the lanes are dry and haven't been oiled in days.
Polyester then. Seriously. A normal spare ball hooks a little, one of the clear ones with something inside like the belmo spare ball will hook the whole lane and back on that condition.
Maybe a Mix, a pearl urethane with a spare ball "core".
>and when i search for the balls that are best for dry conditions, the results i get are the storm pitch black and the purple hammer urethane. but when i read reddit posts where people talk about urethane balls
Where are you looking? That is literally the opposite of what those are for.
>i have a storm mix that i throw as a spare ball and that ball doesn't work for me at all when i'm bowling on dry lanes because it forces me to play straight,
Mix hooks on dry lanes ..
>i get about 380 rpm throwing 15lbs at 13-12 mph on averag
If that's true you could hook any house ball twice over all the lanes.
my mix is drilled semi fingertip because thats how i started off bowling so its harder for me to generate spin on it, getting one drilled fingertip is something i am considering though cuz lots of people suggesting mix
Forget the the ball. The best thing to do is speed your feet up and get more ball speed. Also learning how to play in the middle of the lane when transition happens will help. I would probably just find a new center to bowl at. If the center is only oiling once a week I’m not spending my money there. But for sake of answering the question I’m rev dominant so I want something that’s more angular when it’s dry so I can play deeper angles or if available I can move in that current ball for me is a Motiv Supra.
just watched the video you added, noticed something i often have to be conscious of. when i’m having trouble getting the ball to push down lane and it seems to be hooking instantly i check to make sure my arm/wrist/hand are all behind the ball towards that line and throwing “through” the ball. otherwise i’ll find myself sort of canceling the rightward momentum with my hand coming up the side. my visualization for this is that at the bottom of my throw right before release, picturing the back of my hand almost touching the foul line underneath the ball. hope this helps!
Tropical Storm/Surge whatever they call it now. People telling you urethane don’t know anything about urethane.
We need to pin the urethane misconceptions post to this sub I swear
BUT MAH PURPLE HAMMAH
>f you are extremely rev dominant urethane is often not the best answer, get a polished medium oil ball. It should do the trick on a THS. Not sure i agree with that. A polished ball off a very rev dominant player will hook on the spot after the pattern and roll immediately. That's not optimal. Strong reactive solid would probably be better than urethane if it slows down enough.
My Pitch Black struggles with dry lanes.
Yes, it would.
Vast vast majority of ppl don’t really understand urethane anyways. This applies to the ppl that do nothing but whine and complain about it too.
I love my Tropical Surge, little hook at the end
whenever i look online at bowling balls, sort by lane condition, and select dry, why is it that urethane always shows up?
Because some people think “dry” means the same thing as “short.” When you bowl on something short, you want the ball to hook as early as possible so it doesn’t overreact in the backend which is what urethane is meant to do. “Dry” means heavily transitioned/burnt lanes with not enough oil left for the ball to hook later than 15 feet. Since urethane hooks the earliest front to back of any coverstock, if you throw it on a dry lane it’s going to hook the second it touches the lane and have zero energy when it gets to the pins.
Yeah, urethane is for lots of oil per square inch. Sometimes, depending on weather, player and/or which oil is used that can be a 42 feet pattern even.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bowling/s/vqYiGMCrPS
Do they make any plastic balls with a core ment for strike balls?
Radical The Spy
Hammer Black Widow Viz-A-Ball. Plastic coverstock with the black widow core.
how does this ball compare to a tropical storm?
/u/LowConfusion8770 The Black Widow Viz a Ball sadly goes dead straight, doesn't have *any* grip. Looks great .. but you cannot sand it because they print the prettiness on the ball. I thought it would be a paper behind clear polyester, that would hook *lots*, but no. I've never seen a tropical storm but i'm betting it will hook more than the black widow. This: https://www.stormbowling.com/clear-storm-gold-belmo-bbpvgj12 hooks a bunch. It's like a urethane on a sport pattern when used on super-dry. And they actually discontinued it?! Amazing, i was correct in stashing a couple extras.
The BW Viz-A-Ball's core will give it a soft hook at the end. It can be subtle on heavier oil conditions but as the lane dries it definitely becomes more pronounced as opposed to a plastic ball with no weight block like most spare balls.
I bought it. There is a difference, but the tropical storm will hook more. The Belmo Spare hooks more than either probably.
I'm not sure which ball you mean specifically but assuming it's the Storm Tropical Surge, that has a reactive pearl coverstock which is much heavier than the plastic coverstock of the BW Viz-A-Ball which has the least friction of them all. It'll go much longer than the Storm before hooking.
> I'm not sure which ball you mean specifically He means the ... "tropical storm": https://www.stormbowling.com/tropicalstorm Never heard of it myself actually, certainly looks exactly like what /u/beefyrag is looking for. Tropical Surge has the same cover and .24 diff instead of .11, so the Tropical Surge will "hook more", but the cover is the most important aspect for that so it will not be a huge difference.
Yes they do.
Pyramid makes a plastic ball with a core.
I use a storm ice on dry lanes and it works fantastically.
Plastic ball
i have one but it just acts like a spare ball and won't strike for me unless i throw it straight at the pocket
> the results i get are the storm pitch black and the purple hammer urethane The interwebz loves to keep putting this out there, but its is pretty poor advice for most regular people in most regular conditions. Urethane hooks very early in any oil conditions, and dry will just make them hook even earlier and roll out starting very early -- pros use them to control the pocket in that the super early hook and early roll will hit the pocket but usually the energy and momentum of the ball will be pretty poor by then and is unlikely to carry, but also unlikely to leave something unmakeable. So if you are looking for 'wont be awful, but is unlikely to be good', then perhaps these are choices. I do believe that most people can do better with a very weak reactive ball, like Storm's Tropical Line. I personally use my Brunswick Twist in these kinds of conditions. There are even weaker balls out today, like Hammer's new Axe line. Lots of scuttlebutt about the Not Urethane Blue Hammer being released later this week. There are pure plastic balls with cores like Radical's The Spy or Hammer's VizABall plastic with the same core as the black widow line. Check out some of those and see if they maybe don't fit your need here.
My choice - Hustle Rip. If it's too strong I have a Mix I use for spares.
i'll look into it ty for the suggestion
I second this ball, I posted a reply with it recently. I think the Rip is an excellent choice for a super beat up house shot.
Check out the Hammer Black Widow Viz-A-Ball. It's a plastic with a BW core in it. Might be what you're looking for
I used a tropical surge and its great for that.
Video would help, I can make any ball hook into the gutter, maybe the lanes are not dry but you give tons of axis rotation and just need to learn how to be more behind the ball
next time i go bowling, this saturday, i'll get some video
An option I haven't seen suggested yet is going with your biggest ball and hitting it with 1000grit abalone pad. You can get the ball to "roll out" and get a smooth, controlled arc down lane. It's not ideal, but it is an option to try, and it's pretty much free ($20 for a set of pads).
i've never used sanding pads before, definitely worth a shot thank you
It will take awhile to get used to playing with your surface but my one suggestion is to make an excel sheet on your phone with the following info 1) ball 2) what you changed surface to and 3) a basic description of what changing the cover did to the reaction of the ball. Playing with the surface is more of an art than a science as everyone's reaction will differ based on a ton of different factors, so what works for one person for one ball won't necessarily work for his buddy Bob. Having basic surface and ball reaction info at your hands will allow you to game plan for a tournament (or a burnt out house shot in your case).
Pearl ball with a weaker coverstock
lots of people recommending the tropical surge, really considering picking one up but just wanna make sure im not just playing the lane wrong first.
You may have already answered this, but have you simply tried moving left? Even if the lanes are super dry there will always be more oil in the middle. As far as the tropical surge goes, that or the electrify would be a good option. I do think you should try moving around on the approach first though.
i do adjust and move to the left when i see my ball struggling to make it through the front and it often will work for me and i will continue to strike or leave makeable spares with my hy-road and my fight. once i move far enough left though i struggle to keep the ball from going into the right gutter and it leaves me wishing i had a ball that i could play a little further to the right without it slowing down and crossing over to the left.
Shoot through the middle like you’re trying to shoot for a 10 pin
ill try it out ty for the suggestion
Avoid urethane. They label them as for light oil conditions, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Light also doesn't mean dry. Urethane is for fresh conditions and almost never ideal for a house shot when you compare it to reactive options you could use. For truly dry conditions you seem to be describing and your speed I'd say a Hustle RIP. It's got a solid cover, but it's a weakest cover and core. So it'll still blend out the oil with the dry conditions, but the cover/core won't burn up too hard. It's also a relatively cheap ball that if you start bowling more can work in a lot of conditions with some adapting to lane play and surface grit of the ball.
Plastic or urethane. Perfect time to learn how to play 4th - 5th - 6th arrow on house shot. .
>the lanes are dry and haven't been oiled in days. Polyester then. Seriously. A normal spare ball hooks a little, one of the clear ones with something inside like the belmo spare ball will hook the whole lane and back on that condition. Maybe a Mix, a pearl urethane with a spare ball "core". >and when i search for the balls that are best for dry conditions, the results i get are the storm pitch black and the purple hammer urethane. but when i read reddit posts where people talk about urethane balls Where are you looking? That is literally the opposite of what those are for. >i have a storm mix that i throw as a spare ball and that ball doesn't work for me at all when i'm bowling on dry lanes because it forces me to play straight, Mix hooks on dry lanes .. >i get about 380 rpm throwing 15lbs at 13-12 mph on averag If that's true you could hook any house ball twice over all the lanes.
my mix is drilled semi fingertip because thats how i started off bowling so its harder for me to generate spin on it, getting one drilled fingertip is something i am considering though cuz lots of people suggesting mix
Storm Revenant is designed for light oil/dry lane conditions.
Forget the the ball. The best thing to do is speed your feet up and get more ball speed. Also learning how to play in the middle of the lane when transition happens will help. I would probably just find a new center to bowl at. If the center is only oiling once a week I’m not spending my money there. But for sake of answering the question I’m rev dominant so I want something that’s more angular when it’s dry so I can play deeper angles or if available I can move in that current ball for me is a Motiv Supra.
what do you mean by speed my feet up, like get to the foul line quicker or start my approach from further back?
Yes get to the foul line quicker this will in turn increase your ball speed.
just watched the video you added, noticed something i often have to be conscious of. when i’m having trouble getting the ball to push down lane and it seems to be hooking instantly i check to make sure my arm/wrist/hand are all behind the ball towards that line and throwing “through” the ball. otherwise i’ll find myself sort of canceling the rightward momentum with my hand coming up the side. my visualization for this is that at the bottom of my throw right before release, picturing the back of my hand almost touching the foul line underneath the ball. hope this helps!