Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Time to lace up and roll!

With Summer upon us I decided I had enough time off and it was time to go in search of a summer league to bowl to get back into the swing of things. I have been staying active bowling once a week for fun during sunday mornings but i wanted to get back into the competitive side of the game. I missed being there in the 10 frame knowing your team is down 50 pins and if you can just roll 3 strikes in the tenth you can cut 30 pins off that lead to help your team get back into the game! After some searching at my local bowling centers nearby I settled on a trios league that was affordable and competitive with a good prize fund and started at 8:30 on a tuesday. It was a big league they had 34 teams.

Now came the hard part. Trying to figure out which of my set of 12 bowling balls would be ideal to bring. I have a 4 ball bag that I carry so I take with me 1 spare ball which is a plastic ball that can also double as a "the lane guy forgot how to oil so there is no oil on the lanes good luck with that ball!" Then I have 3 more balls I can take with me. I usually like to keep a solid ball and then a pearl ball then I will have one more which may be an aggressive ball in case the lanes are heavy with oil, or maybe a weaker ball that is in between the other 2 that come along. I plan to use different ones every week.
This week I am bringing a 20 year old ball with me to use. It is a hammer 3d Offset blazing Violet. IT was one of the most popular balls Hammer ever put out and those that own them do not get rid of them. I tested it last week on a typical house shot and I was able to just play right up the five board and the ball would just arc to the pocket really smooth and hit high flush to strike. If I went up the 10 board I would leave a weak ten so I knew the angle was not enough from that line to carry.
I threw a 250 with the ball and it had the best look on the fresh oil.

My other 2 choices for balls for this week that will come along is a Storm Dimension

This ball is a great ball as well. It is very even rolling and doesn't over react. But it will cut through heavy oil and did well for me bowling on the badger pattern. This ball I used last week and it was used all 3 games. I only needed small adjustments throughout the night to stay with my line. It is a standard drilling on the ball and requires hand position change if you want to add or take away hook from the ball.

My 3rd ball that will accompany me is my newest ball the Radical Yeti. This is my pearl ball as the other 2 are solid coverstocks.

This ball the drill pattern is different and is my new favorite layout. It has the pin right over the 2 fingers in the center and really makes the ball versatile to adjust to different lane conditions. IT also does a nice even roll on the lane and is not over aggressive. This ball is great to use as the night wears on and the pattern is getting a little beat up on the lane. People move left and I can stay on my same line and throw this ball and keep finding the pocket. I need to have the thumb redrilled again as I lost weight and the hole is too big. For now I use tape to compensate and still have a clean release when throwing the ball.

It is always good to have options on the lane and even though this might seem like over kill for a house shot, It works for me and I am always able to find something that works to score well with.

I will be bowling tuesday night so I will try to use the hammer all night and see if it does well for me. If it does I have 2 other hammers I'm going to have drilled up. One is a pearl 3d offset the sister to my ball Im using. And the other one is the pink super hook 3d offset. That ball should be a more aggressive ball of the 3 and will do well for heavier oil.

Does anyone here bowl? Do you still enjoy it? I have been bowling for 20 plus years and I love it.