Good subject. I have a few 3-ball rollers, mostly because they're convenient for carrying balls around at tournaments. Aisles are usually to crowded for moving 4-ball rollers between pairs. Still, I'm probably going to get rid of them. I've strained my lower back and my groin too many times lifting the rollers in and out of the trunk.


I'm using my 4-ball roller for leagues and focusing more on 2-ball bags on the lanes for tournaments now. Much less stress on the body moving balls around.

Try asking your local pro shop operator or a fellow bowler if you can try out one of the 3 ball bags. Fill it up and lift it a few times. If you don't have an issue lifting it up a few times in a row then you should be good to go.

I'm a much older guy and I had to stop using the three ball bags cause they gave my back fits.  For the past few years I have used the four ball roller even though I only need two balls and plastic for the lanes I bowl on. 

Unless you have a weightlifter's physique, why bother doing a dead lift of the 50+ lbs of a 3 ball roller several times, every day you bowl? Even if you're young and strong, do you bother to lift with your legs, like you're supposed to do, every time you lift that ungainly dead weight in and out of your car/truck? Compressed vertebrae or ruptured discs are nothing to sneeze at.

A 4 ball roller with 2 separate two-ball bags will work fine for the 99% case. A "Joey" added on or a bag that only holds 2 balls can be used for tournaments, when necessary.