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Author Topic: what makes your decisions  (Read 1406 times)

zmansmustang

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what makes your decisions
« on: September 01, 2007, 09:55:35 AM »
to start i love bowling but just dont do much outside of one league and a tournament here and there. i carry two balls, a terminator for oily and rs-p for everything else. i dont bowl in dry conditions so no need for dry lane ball and i flatten hand out for 10 pins and hook ball for all spares. i notice a lot of people asking for a certain ball to fit between other balls. they have 5 or more ball arsenal and still looking to fill gaps. i am stunned at this as i just cant imagine needing all these balls. i am able to move around and adjust and make do with what i got.  sure sometimes i put myself in bad situations, but if i know im struggling and i come out shooting a decent series im happy. so i guess my question to people that need so many balls is are you able to adjust  or you cannot so you will do everything possible to stay on your favorite line. im not trying to sound ignorant or anything but i have always believed if you cant get it done with 1 or 2 balls its just not a good night. i do understand many bowl in tournaments but again just seems to be too many balls. also i have seen with this problem is people bounce all over with their choices and start asking these questions. why not each ball from the line ( example: buy each ogre line ball) thats why companies make lines of balls to fill in gaps for you. personally i think people try to make their game too difficult with drillings and changing covers all around. again not being snobby or ignorant but would like to know the thought process involved.
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Russell

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Re: what makes your decisions
« Reply #1 on: September 01, 2007, 07:11:44 PM »
This is a lot of the reason why league bowlers don't do well in tournaments.  The difference in balls is not so you can stay in the same spot, it is to help with carry and strike percentage.

Sure...I can take my Original Inferno and get to the pocket from anywhere on the lane at any time....but I might be sacrificing pin carry to the guy who switched to a better matchup.

For league...you don't need but a ball or two...but to be competitive you have to carry a few extra pieces to fill holes so you can keep striking at all times.  Even the most versatile players in the world utilize a number of bowling balls throughout a tournament.
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the pooh

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Re: what makes your decisions
« Reply #2 on: September 01, 2007, 07:34:28 PM »
Once you rise to certain level,having the right ball is everything.Today,it is all about matching up.On typical house shots,if you are not shooting 300's and 800's at least occasionally,it very well could be that you do NOT have the right ball.
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charlest

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Re: what makes your decisions
« Reply #3 on: September 01, 2007, 07:41:42 PM »
Unless you ARE Norm Duke or his equivalent, that is, literally, a magician with hand releases and ball speeds, you need several balls to compete across the huge variety of oil amounts, oil patterns and lane surfaces in today's bowling world.

If the house you bowl in regularly or compete in for tournaments, uses one or two oil patterns and have GREAT lane surfaces and take care of them IMMACULATELY, then maybe you can get away with 2 strike balls and no spare balls. Then you have found a great place in which to bowl.

The rest of us are not that talented and not that lucky.

See this post also in the Miscellaneous section as a prime example:
http://www.ballreviews.com/Forum/Replies.asp?TopicID=172926&ForumID=16&CategoryID=5
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Edited on 9/1/2007 7:43 PM
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Juggernaut

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Re: what makes your decisions
« Reply #4 on: September 01, 2007, 07:57:56 PM »
In most league settings, you can get by on a limited amount of equipment.  Bowling league and having handicap are very different from tournament bowling where you score bad, you go home.

  If I am leaving a few tenpins during league, I usually won't change balls, especially if I am using one that fits my hand really well.  I will do as you suggest and make adjustments with emphasis on making as good a shot as possible.  Then, if it doesn't carry, I may fiddle around with another ball, but I may not either. My leagues are for practice of repetition and fun anyway.

  If I get into a tournament where carry is everything, I will attempt to match up with the ball that gives me the pocket most consistently and still carry with a good ratio.  Sometimes nothing I have is any better than the others, but at times, one ball will ride head and sholders over the others and I am VERY hard to beat because I have a matchup that the other bowlers may not have available to them.  Having several balls to choose from only means that you are increasing your odds of having a ball that will "match up" well, especially if you have a wider variety of equipment ( i.e.  pearls, solids, particles all drilled in deifferent configurations )
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zmansmustang

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Re: what makes your decisions
« Reply #5 on: September 01, 2007, 08:24:21 PM »
ok I understand the whole tournament idea,give your self every oppurtunity. i do bowl in a few tournaments and yes they are not high payout tourneys but they are challenging. some games i match up and some i dont. my thing also is if you are worried about covering as much possibilities why then have 6 balls with 6 different drillings. my way of thinking is to keep your arsenal as simple and knowing what your arsenal will do is to drill each ball the same way. keeping things as simple as possible will help in managing your game. i think there are bowlers out there that try to impress others with 10 balls with 10 diff drillings and they really dont understand what the balls will do in situations. i admit i dont understand many drillings so i keep mine simple. i prefer to understand the reaction of the ball on lane conditions than impressing people with drilling layouts. kind of like the smart kid who reads a manual and if it says so in the book then thats what it will do, but in real world if it dont then the smart kid has no idea what to do. yes i know there are alot of bowlers who know there balls and know what reactions they will get but usually they have balls that have some kind of order to them. its the people asking for help when they have arsenals all out of whack wanting help.

zmansmustang

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Re: what makes your decisions
« Reply #6 on: September 01, 2007, 11:26:00 PM »
i understand all of that, but what i am getting at is a lot of people on these boards ask for opinions on what ball to get next. when they either have a slue of balls or for example they have the pumpkin and purple ogre and were wanting something that is for med to light med. well thats where the ss ogre fits. it just seems like a lot of people are goin out ther buying all the new balls and not really getting to know their own arsenal, they just want to get the next new ball. anyway i understand every part of everyones responses. i understand bowling and matchups and all that goes with it, except for the drilling stuff but im gettin there. maybe i didnt get what i was tryin to say out clearly but it doesnt matter just wanted to here from people that made sense in their arsenal choices and i did. by the way i have been bowling for about 20 years so im not just someone that just started and trying to jerk peoples chains. that sounds pissy dont it, woops dont take it that way.

thegame

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Re: what makes your decisions
« Reply #7 on: September 01, 2007, 11:43:45 PM »
Most people that bowl tournaments don't take the "if I match up, good, if I don't oh well" attitude of bowling tournaments.  Most bowlers go to tournaments to cash and win the tournament.  1 or 2 10 pins that didn't carry that might have with a better matched ball can be the difference between cashing and not cashing.....getting through brackets and not, and having a go long and clear the dried up heads at the end of the block can be the difference between carrying, or going just high enough to leave a couple 4 pins in that last game.  Do you get what we're saying here?  A very small difference can make a very big difference in tournaments or even in your league....if it's not that big a deal to you, fine, carry the 2 balls, and have fun with the sport, but don't complain if other bowlers with more equipment might have that advantage over you or if they nip you in league money or side action.

zmansmustang

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Re: what makes your decisions
« Reply #8 on: September 02, 2007, 02:08:25 PM »
somehow i missed amish respnse and he got what i was trying to get at. and no im not complaining bc someone brings in 5 balls to my 2 and wins pots. winning pots has nothing to do with what im saying. i have no idea why you brought that up but its farthest from the topic here. i was just comenting on going thru threads and noticing a lot of people asking for help and they have all these balls with different drillings and stuff and still wanting help in finding something that fits between a 10 board hooker and a 12 board hooker. ill reitierate that i understand entry angles and the science of how to carry and get to pocket. i understand many on here know there equipment, i guess i was trying to make some people to think about their equipment and get to know it before buying a ball just because of hype.

charlest

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Re: what makes your decisions
« Reply #9 on: September 02, 2007, 07:05:37 PM »
quote:
 ... i was just comenting on going thru threads and noticing a lot of people asking for help and they have all these balls with different drillings and stuff and still wanting help in finding something that fits between a 10 board hooker and a 12 board hooker.



As I originally commented, which you've chosen to ignore, there are many valid reasons to have more than 2 balls. And one of them is not the amounr of hook, but the length of the breakpoint and the control of the amount of backend, for many and varied reasons.

quote:

 ill reitierate that i understand entry angles and the science of how to carry and get to pocket. i understand many on here know there equipment, i guess i was trying to make some people to think about their equipment and get to know it before buying a ball just because of hype.


That is always true, whether you use 2 balls or 15 balls. If you don't know the ball reaction of your ball under many circumstances, there is no reason to use it.

If you were looking to provoke thought, I think you may have gone about it in the wrong, even if you had to most positive of intentions. Criticism without explanation is often taken as a negative, if not an actual put-down, not as way to "provoke thought".

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"None are so blind as those who will not see."
"None are so blind as those who will not see."