BallReviews
General Category => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: mrwizerd on October 28, 2014, 11:56:01 PM
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I go to a tournament held at The Orleans in Las Vegas every January. They put out a THS for the tournament, but the oil volume changes every year. I am unsure of the length, my guess is that it doesn't change. Last year it was very dry, whereas the year before it was fairly wet.
You know the pattern, but not the volume. How would you select an arsenal for that situation?
I will be flying, so I am limiting myself to 2 + plastic, so I am thinking:
Sinister at OOB with pin under ring and cg kicked out
Marvel Pearl at OOB with pin over ring and cg kicked out
Plastic spare ball
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What are you planning to do if they are dry?
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I go to a tournament held at The Orleans in Las Vegas every January. They put out a THS for the tournament, but the oil volume changes every year. I am unsure of the length, my guess is that it doesn't change. Last year it was very dry, whereas the year before it was fairly wet.
You know the pattern, but not the volume. How would you select an arsenal for that situation?
I will be flying, so I am limiting myself to 2 + plastic, so I am thinking:
Sinister at OOB with pin under ring and cg kicked out
Marvel Pearl at OOB with pin over ring and cg kicked out
Plastic spare ball
What are all the options you have. I could throw out hypothetical arsenals all day, but they wouldn't apply to you if you don't have the ball...
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I agree with both above. If you really like the two balls you have, then take those and anticipate buying something if needed. I don't mind taking only a couple balls to a tournament, but you need to be open to purchasing something if those don't work.
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Well, if it is a THS we know we'll have friction outside, so how do we get the ball off the spot well enough to carry? You've been there before, are we looking at a high or low friction surface? That can help aid our ball selection.......
If I'm limited to 2 + plastic, I would go with my MoRich MoJave for dry and probably my IQ Tour Pearl (drilled strong) at 2000 for something with volume.
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Let me see if I can answer most, if not all of your questions.
The tournament is a 3 day event that has you bowling 4 games each day (with fresh oil each day). It's only 3 people per lane (6 people per set), so the lanes breakdown very little...I maybe move my feet 2 boards left at the most. The "dry" that I stated isn't Sahara dry, but a medium-dry and last year I used a Vivid Dream (Lucid with NRG cover). The year before it was a heavier volume and I had to use an IQ Tour Solid (didn't bring a heavy oil ball), and I had to slow the ball speed and throw off of the corner. I have 250-300 revs, a higher ball speed and I come up the back of the ball, so I need the stronger equipment to get back to the pocket.
The Orleans has been described as a wet house shot, so I would consider it a low friction house (best guess). I remember there being out-of-bounds outside of 5 board, it didn't matter if the lanes were dry or wet.
As to what ball selections I have to choose from...the term "ball whore" has been thrown around to describe my inventory. They are all from Storm and Roto Grip, and I am covered for all conditions. I could buy a ball while I am there, but I would do it as a last resort.
I am looking for general ideas about what someone would take in this situation (unknown oil volume). I am not looking for an individual ball name, but a generic description of the ball: heavy oil, medium, dry, etc. In my case, I am thinking of taking a Heavy Oil (Sinister), Medium-Heavy (Marvel Pearl), and plastic spare ball.
Thank you for any and all opinions that you can give.
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Let me see if I can answer most, if not all of your questions.
The tournament is a 3 day event that has you bowling 4 games each day (with fresh oil each day). It's only 3 people per lane (6 people per set), so the lanes breakdown very little...I maybe move my feet 2 boards left at the most. The "dry" that I stated isn't Sahara dry, but a medium-dry and last year I used a Vivid Dream (Lucid with NRG cover). The year before it was a heavier volume and I had to use an IQ Tour Solid (didn't bring a heavy oil ball), and I had to slow the ball speed and throw off of the corner. I have 250-300 revs, a higher ball speed and I come up the back of the ball, so I need the stronger equipment to get back to the pocket.
The Orleans has been described as a wet house shot, so I would consider it a low friction house (best guess). I remember there being out-of-bounds outside of 5 board, it didn't matter if the lanes were dry or wet.
As to what ball selections I have to choose from...the term "ball whore" has been thrown around to describe my inventory. They are all from Storm and Roto Grip, and I am covered for all conditions. I could buy a ball while I am there, but I would do it as a last resort.
I am looking for general ideas about what someone would take in this situation (unknown oil volume). I am not looking for an individual ball name, but a generic description of the ball: heavy oil, medium, dry, etc. In my case, I am thinking of taking a Heavy Oil (Sinister), Medium-Heavy (Marvel Pearl), and plastic spare ball.
Thank you for any and all opinions that you can give.
I would take at least one ball that has low RG with a low diff. Hammer Arson Low Flare, Motiv Venom Toxin/Shock, Storm IQ Tour series etc.
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No matter what you take, you'll be second guessing yourself the entire tournament. I would just Fedex an arsenal and have them hold it for pickup. Haven't been to the Orleans for years, shot used to play on the dry side. Key was controlling the backend.
For the amount you're paying for rooms, travel, entry fee, etc, why limit yourself to 2 choices.
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Take a good spare game and the rest will be fine.
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I have bowled quite a bit at the Orleans over the years. Seen everything from floods that required point off the corner to shots that were flying at 4th arrow. Patterns are always around 39 40 feet. The surface is getting older and there is an unseen track between 10 and 15.
Just take the stuff you like on you local house shots that cover playing anywhere from 10 to 20 for your game.
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Take a good spare game and the rest will be fine.
+100
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Take a good spare game and the rest will be fine.
Though I would normally agree with this statement, you have to remember this is a THS tournament. Not saying spares aren't important, but for THS I would rather ensure I am carrying well as a first priority. Staying in the pocket and carrying okay while making all your spares would be great on sport but not on THS.
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First, as you point out, finding the pocket is easy on the THS. It is all about carry. Maybe other people are different, but I have always found it is more about how my roll pattern matches up on any given THS. I have often said that when I match up every ball in my bag will score, and when I don't, I could drill out the entire pro shop and nothing would carry. Again, maybe that is just me, but take you two favorite balls, and hope for the best.
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i would bring something like a marvel pearl/optimus and lights out.....bring a couple abralon pads and put some surface on if needed once you see whats out there. if its the light pattern its easy enough to go in the proshop during practice and take either ball up to 1000/2000/4000 and polish
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Thank you for all of the replies and suggestions. It looks like I will be shipping some equipment and checking in a couple on the plane.
Marvel-S or Sinister - both pin under ring with cg kicked out
IQ Tour Solid - pin under ring with cg kicked out
Marvel Pearl - pin over ring with cg kicked out
Vivid Dream (MAD core w/pearl NRG cover) 4x4x2 layout and polish removed *worked well last year*
Blue Dot
Comments about what I plan on bringing?
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Marvel Pearl and IQ are two mainstay balls in my bag. Not familiar enough with your other equipment to comment. My other balls are a Cobalt Vibe, that is a very versatile tame pearl, and Black Widow Legend that is a very strong asymmetrical hybrid which is tremendous on long high volume patterns. No strong solid in my bag, but that is me.
I would use your IQ to get a read, and make changes off of it.
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I go to a tournament held at The Orleans in Las Vegas every January. They put out a THS for the tournament, but the oil volume changes every year. I am unsure of the length, my guess is that it doesn't change. Last year it was very dry, whereas the year before it was fairly wet.
You know the pattern, but not the volume. How would you select an arsenal for that situation?
I will be flying, so I am limiting myself to 2 + plastic, so I am thinking:
Sinister at OOB with pin under ring and cg kicked out
Marvel Pearl at OOB with pin over ring and cg kicked out
Plastic spare ball
If it were me; I would take one higher end ball like your Marvel Pearl probably at 3000 abralon no polish and one ball like a Frantic for the lighter stuff. I believe having two balls too close together puts you at a disadvantage. One heavy rolling ball and one ball that has some angularity on the backend. That way you have most bases covered with just the two balls. On a THS; you should be good enough to adjust to be able to use either one.