Went to Ebonite Demo Days last year, mainly to try the XXXcel. Hated it on all 4 shots that were put down. It just did not hook like I expected. I had a much better reaction with a polished XXcel.
This past season, my Delta 1 has been a turd. The ball hooks less than a polished(1200) Firehawk. I was puzzled. There is oil. So I get a Threshold and try it in box finish(1000). Not nearly the hook I expected.
I never had this problem before as far as a ball rolling out or burning up early. I've tried going down in grit on the spinner to make these balls hook more. Maybe I'm going the wrong way?
I just shot 728 with an old pearl Whiplash that outhooked my Delta and Threshold by 5-7 boards. Threw pins all over the place as opposed to weak-10 city. I'm just trying to figure all this out. Does anyone throw dull equipment anymore?

"Does anyone throw dull equipment anymore?"

Dull equipment is for people with a lot of ball speed, but average(medium)hand... like me. In most THS houses, this allows me to play along the outside edge of the oil...usually between the 4 and 7 board...where very few others will play. I'm not talking about swinging it out to the 4 board, at least not for the first two games anyway, but piping the ball right up the boards with some serious giddy-up. Usually the folks that are playing swing shots from the start will push enough oil out my way so I can stay there for a full 3-game set. If I do see myself crowding the headpin early, I can actually move RIGHT, with an equal move forward on the approach. If the "swingers" aren't there to push the oil over to my line, and it becomes unplayable(for me, usually about a game, game and a half), then I move BACK on the approach a full shoe length, left(towards the center) five/six boards, slow my ball speed a couple MPH, and THEN play a slight swing shot out to the same 4-board/breakpoint. This is not a style that I see many other bowlers playing, so I pretty much have this area of the lane all to myself... kind of like lefties having their side much less traveled. I stumbled onto this idea by trying ANYTHING to get rid of the ten-pin, which was plaguing my game like a swarm of locusts, early in the season. A GREAT side-benefit is, as long as you keep your speed up, you almost never leave splits but you have to guard against wash-outs. Oh... and it does get rid of those pesky, ringing tens! It takes a little while to get used to playing out there close to the ditch, but the improvement in my average at both houses(one a THS, one with an OB about the 2-board) has been well worth the effort!

P.S. Almost forgot to mention... ACCURACY is a key element for this type of lane-play, if you haven't already figured that out!

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r.k.wolfe

Edited on 4/21/2007 1:00 AM

Edited on 4/21/2007 1:03 AM