I probably don't see enough oil to make this ball a worthwhile choice for me, either.
However, I use multiple manufacturers -- used four tonight, actually -- and drill my own stuff. I'd had some issues getting Lane #1 balls to match up to me a long time ago when I was a speed-dominant, low-rev, high-track player. As I got older and worked with several different coaches, I transitioned to a tweener-rev, speed/rev match, low- to mid-track player -- and my matchup problems with Lane #1 went away.
I'd thrown primarily AMF (back when Mo Pinel was still designing balls for them), then Storm (and to a lesser extent, Roto Grip) up to about two years ago, when I tried a couple of Lane #1 balls out of, basically, desperation, because I just could not quit getting bit by over/under (and plus, I'd started drilling my own stuff, and it became easier and cheaper to experiment).
What I've found is that Lane #1 has developed a bad reputation from many who hate their marketing, their pricing philosophy, the names of the balls, you name it -- but that the bad rep is undeserved when performance is taken into account.
I'm not going to say that Lane #1's advertising is spot-on with its claims (no one's is, for that matter -- I took plenty of marketing classes in college and I know what's up). I will, however, say that I've drilled equipment from 12 different manufacturers for myself over the past 1-2 years and the greatest success I've had has been with Lane #1's stuff.
I'm not big into marketing BS, but I'm also not big into watching people laugh at others over something they don't understand, haven't tried for themselves or something irrelevant to the discussion (i.e., Lane #1's marketing BS vs. whether the stuff actually performs). Quite frankly, a lot of folks come off looking pretty bad when they do that.
Maybe in a few years, I'll change my primary ball company again, when my style changes or when the conditions I see change. Right now, Lane #1 gear will be the first out of my bag.
So what did I use tonight? Lane #1 Gold Nugget and G-Force Evolution, Storm Power Agent (overseas), Roto Grip Retro Resurrection and an AMF Ninja Master (yes, a few of those old things still exist). Thanks to that old Ninja Master, I managed to smooth out a very tough wet-dry shot and win 2 of 3 points after making the switch. Tonight was not a good night for my Lane #1 gear. Last week, I shot 678 with it. I'd say it ends up being my go-to stuff three out of every four weeks.
High series of the night on our 22-team league, by the way, was the guy one pair to my left who shot between 750-780 with a Buzzbomb/R. So keep laughing, folks.
Jess
