BallReviews
General Category => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: 2handedrook12 on May 22, 2013, 10:27:18 PM
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Often on this sight every bowling ball is often said to be a good bowling ball. So what is considered a bad bowling ball? And why was it the worst bowling ball you've ever thrown?
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Bounty hunter... Core cover combo was too strong. Ball rolled out soon as it hit the lane. Was okay if you like playing straight up 5 board on THS.
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There are no bad bowling balls, just bad bowler to ball matchups.
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There have been bad bowling balls over the years. As a bowler you should be able to tell the difference in a bad ball versus a bad matchup. Many times cover adjustments can help. Or just trying the ball in a different house. There are bad balls that do come along.
The EBI Werewolf is the first that comes to mind. Core was too strong for the cover.
The EBI Vital Energy was another.
My hands down worst is the Brunswick Systems 4.5 No cover adjustment could save this ball.
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Original Brunswick Fury solid or the Columbia EPX
/End Thread :D
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C system 3.5. Three drills and multiple surfaces.
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Older - Brunswick Combat Zone..hooked in oil, slid on dry, and hit like a pillow
Newer - Storm Invasion...didn't do anything well but was a functional door stop
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I LOVED my Fury Solid . .
It was the Storm Diablo for me, hit like a 12 pounder, or the Ebonite Savage Flip.
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Original Brunswick Fury solid or the Columbia EPX
/End Thread :D
+1..... still have images in my mind about the EPX cracking apart on the press..... when it was NIB........... yea I don't think Columbia has every fully recovered from that screw up.
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Kenetic -- This ball hit like a 2 girls in a pillow fight....
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From years ago, the Storm LaNina. There was never enough oil to make it hit. I believe it had the heaviest particle load they ever put in a cover.
The C-System 4.5 was an over/under nightmare for me. I gave it to a guy who likes it though.
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C system 3.5. Three drills and multiple surfaces.
This testing, 3 drills and multiple surfaces, is a sign that the poster REALLY tried to get the ball to work. My 2 cents is, even when you do a thorough job, with at least 2 drillings, 3 surfaces and a few different oil patterns, that does not make this a bad ball. It could be that it just didn't match up with your release and the oil and lane surfaces on which you bowled.
The problem with saying a ball is "bad" carries many possible connotations. And since there is always someone of a higher skill set who will be able to use any one ball, how can anyone say a ball is totally bad? Logically, all they can say is that they couldn't get it to work for them.
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C system 3.5. Three drills and multiple surfaces.
This testing, 3 drills and multiple surfaces, is a sign that the poster REALLY tried to get the ball to work. My 2 cents is, even when you do a thorough job, with at least 2 drillings, 3 surfaces and a few different oil patterns, that does not make this a bad ball. It could be that it just didn't match up with your release and the oil and lane surfaces on which you bowled.
The problem with saying a ball is "bad" carries many possible connotations. And since there is always someone of a higher skill set who will be able to use any one ball, how can anyone say a ball is totally bad? Logically, all they can say is that they couldn't get it to work for them.
I would say very bad match up then. I've owned literally close to 100 balls over the years and have had many balls I didn't like but still was able to use. This ball I couldn't get passed the arrows on a ths before it rolled out and on heavier oil I couldn't get it to finish. Bad cover for me. I also had a brutal nightmare recently I hated terribly. But I could use it, just hates the reaction and thought it was too sensitive to slight release changes. But still useable. I literally never through a complete game with the 3.5
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I have an EPX. Works Great but I don't use it much. Not a lot of places in the area lay down enough oil.
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1) Apex Intensity....just awful reaction for me.
2) Track Kinetic
3) Yeah Baby!
Both 2 and 3 were over/under nightmares...regardless of surface.
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For me, the worst of the worst came during the early days of particle when they overloaded them. The La Nina, Trauma Response, Hammer 4D HPT, and Animal were all absolutely worthless for me. The Hammer Vicious gave me fits. With the box shine it went 50 feet and then banked straight left, leaving me more 2-8-10 combos than I care to remember. Then, when I knocked the shine off, it rolled immediately and did nothing down the lane. More recently, the Hammer No Mercy was an absolute dog in my hands as was the Deep Purple Taboo.
As others have said, I believe that just about any ball can work if the right matchup is found between layout, surface prep, bowler style, lane surface, and oil pattern. Sadly, I never found the right matchup with any of the balls listed above.
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+1 on the Intensity. Also, Ebonite Riptide, Brunswick Intense Inferno, and Morich Awesome Hook.
Best ball ever? Columbia 300 Messenger Titanium Light Weight. :)
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I'll have to say the Storm Dimension. Not that it's a bad ball, but it is for me. :(
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Swamp Monster.........
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MoRich Solid LevRG. That ball was a turd for me at two drillings and four surfaces on each drill. Never turned, puked at the pins too.
As a side note, I was very inexperienced when I got this ball, and had no strategy other than to grip it and rip it. Most likely this was my problem, not the ball's.
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I have a nice single drill Solid LevRG if you want to give it another try. ;D
I hated the ball as well. Just didn't seem to matter what I tried, it wasn't worth the effort to haul to the lanes.
MoRich Solid LevRG. That ball was a turd for me at two drillings and four surfaces on each drill. Never turned, puked at the pins too.
As a side note, I was very inexperienced when I got this ball, and had no strategy other than to grip it and rip it. Most likely this was my problem, not the ball's.
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I've never owned a bad ball, or seen one frankly. I've seen a lot of balls that don't match up to a particular bowler's style, but I'd bet every single ball listed in this thread was used to success by someone else.
What's that say?
Unless it's egg-shaped or falls apart when it hits the pins, "bad" is very subjective.
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Brunswick Grizz...
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Jmac, don't tell BrunsNick!
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The worst ball match up for me was the critical theory. I like to play straight and hard, to much snap and if I moved in over/under.
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When a company cancels a ball and replaces it as fast as possible ahead of normal production because of its reception by the public and lack of sales its likely a bad ball. Never say say never on a bad ball. They are few and far between but they exist
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The iq regular?
When a company cancels a ball and replaces it as fast as possible ahead of normal production because of its reception by the public and lack of sales its likely a bad ball. Never say say never on a bad ball. They are few and far between but they exist
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A columbia high performance ball from two years ago.
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COUGH STRIKING MOTION COUGH!...man did it suck! Lol
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I absolutely Could not stand my Ebonite Playmaker. With and without a weight hole two different surfaces, two different houses. Way too over under.
Lane 1 G-Force sucked for me as well. I don't think I was ever able to shoot 200 with that Piece. That ball turned me away from Lane #1 as well.
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I've never owned a bad ball, or seen one frankly. I've seen a lot of balls that don't match up to a particular bowler's style, but I'd bet every single ball listed in this thread was used to success by someone else.
What's that say?
Unless it's egg-shaped or falls apart when it hits the pins, "bad" is very subjective.
It is subjective but to say there are basically no bad balls, only bad matchups is like saying there was never a bad car made.
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Swamp Monster.........
No relation to this "Monster"... Mine is of the 'Lake' variety... ;) ;D
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Forgot 1 -- Sorry but I hated the Frantic.... Was just to strong for dry and didnt recover enough for heavy to med with my ball speed
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Brunswick Warp Zone........skid in the oil, skid on the dry.
Brunswick Revolver....not necessary a bad ball, drilled two and hated both.
Ebonite TPC
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Forgot 1 -- Sorry but I hated the Frantic.... Was just to strong for dry and didnt recover enough for heavy to med with my ball speed
+1
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Storm Vivid. Can not believe it is not near the top of the list.
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COUGH STRIKING MOTION COUGH!...man did it suck! Lol
I think I'm the one guy who didn't hate that ball. It was a good tournament ball for me. That said, I could not carry a 10-pin with it on a house shot. Ever.
Worst matchup for me was a ball almost everyone loved, the original Black Widow. I never had any idea what that thing was going to do after I let go of it. I ended up giving it to a guy who shot lights out with it.
I think I'm in the camp of "No bad balls, just bad matchups."
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+1 for the original Black Widow thought I was the only one that never knew what the ball was going to do that ball made me think I was in a slump until I videotape myself two other guys I bowled with killed it with that ball but I never could make it work.
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The problem with saying a ball is "bad" carries many possible connotations. And since there is always someone of a higher skill set who will be able to use any one ball, how can anyone say a ball is totally bad? Logically, all they can say is that they couldn't get it to work for them.
I agree 100% with that charlest. Storm's Virtual Gravity the ball everyone loved would be in the top 2-3 balls on my "bad" list. I tried 2-3 drillings, multiple surfaces dull and shiny and absolutely hated the reaction I got with it every time. Gave it to a friend of mine and he loved it. Most of the time it's about matching up.
#1 on my list would be the Jade Quantum. That ball never carried for me. It was a very expensive corner pin leaving machine.
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As mentioned it's bad match-ups. For me the Track Assassin hit weaker than my Spare Storm. Gave it to a teammae and he killed with it. Blue Wolf was an 8-10 machine for me. Gave it to a teammate and he killed with it. Going back aways the ball I remember pretty much worked for no one. Columbia Orsngr Dot
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I second the Swamp Monster. A true marshmallow.
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EPX T1
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Hammer Navy Reactive. It was just a case of not matching up with it, even after several surface changes and doing 2 plug/redrills on it. This was back when I was in the junior leagues.
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I can't lie i hated the cell. It scooted on oil but burned up in the dry. But it could have been the drilling and surface.
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Original Brunswick Fury solid or the Columbia EPX
/End Thread :D
EPX was one of the best oilers i have ever throwen, really got a bad rap for the first batch having cracking issues
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For me it was the Storm El Nino 2000. Now I know it was a good ball, but it just never really worked well for me. :o
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Balls that I could never match up with:
Storm XXX Extreme
Inferno
Black Widow
Lane#1-G-Force
Storm Frantic
There were a bunch of Columbia balls I couldn't match up with. In the end, I just gave up after awhile.
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Balls that I could never match up with:
Storm XXX Extreme
Inferno
Black Widow
Lane#1-G-Force
Storm Frantic
There were a bunch of Columbia balls I couldn't match up with. In the end, I just gave up after awhile.
Well, I know there's 2 balls that you really love... They are obama's left one & obama's right one... Oops... LoL!! :o ??? :P
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Traded for a storm reign on here a few months back and it is by far the worst ball ive ever thrown. 2 plug and redrill jobs on it along with numerous surface changes.. I was in shock they made a reign of power. Also another awful ball for me was a roto grip defiant. Strong ball? Yea right im 2 handed and couldnt get the thing to move.
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I can add a couple of pieces that I didn't match up with :
Motiv Cruel C51, Five surface preps and two weight holes still planked.
AMF White X/S , Just never liked the color and it 8 - 10 real good
Ebonite Omega, A ball before it's time and I had two that were probably misdrilled
Anything Columbia 300 pearl .. Loved the solids never the pearls
Visionary Centaur AMB Pearl, Sixty feet in the oil, Forty boards in the dry
I agree with the EPX T-1, I had 3 crack. No fun.
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My Storm Trauma Response is still the one I think of as my worst ball. Funny though, I had one really good set with it, but all the rest of the time it was complete junk for me. Basically, it just wasn't what I was expecting it to be.
The other recent one that just didn't match up well with me was the Roto Grip Berzerk. It either rolled early and hit flat or it wiggled downlane and hit flat. I tried it both with surface and polished and it didn't roll well for me either way.
In both cases, it was just a bad matchup, though the Trauma Response has gotten a lot of "bad ball" comments in the past so I think it was a bad matchup for many bowlers.
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My Storm Trauma Response is still the one I think of as my worst ball. Funny though, I had one really good set with it, but all the rest of the time it was complete junk for me. Basically, it just wasn't what I was expecting it to be.
The other recent one that just didn't match up well with me was the Roto Grip Berzerk. It either rolled early and hit flat or it wiggled downlane and hit flat. I tried it both with surface and polished and it didn't roll well for me either way.
In both cases, it was just a bad matchup, though the Trauma Response has gotten a lot of "bad ball" comments in the past so I think it was a bad matchup for many bowlers.
+1 on the Response
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Traded for a storm reign on here a few months back and it is by far the worst ball ive ever thrown. 2 plug and redrill jobs on it along with numerous surface changes.. I was in shock they made a reign of power. Also another awful ball for me was a roto grip defiant. Strong ball? Yea right im 2 handed and couldnt get the thing to move.
LoL!! "Yeah, I gotta ball, drilled for someone else... They said they only used it 3 games... So I plugged it & redrilled 10 times... tried it 2 games on the fresh kegel patterns... Hit like shi*. Can't stand that ball..." ::)
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Traded for a storm reign on here a few months back and it is by far the worst ball ive ever thrown. 2 plug and redrill jobs on it along with numerous surface changes.. I was in shock they made a reign of power. Also another awful ball for me was a roto grip defiant. Strong ball? Yea right im 2 handed and couldnt get the thing to move.
Lot of reviews that I've seen of that balll was that a good chunk of people couldn't get it to work right for them. Most of those seemed to think the coverstock and core just didn't match up well. However, many of those same people said the Reign of Power was a much much better ball because it was the coverstock the orginal Reign probably needed.
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Traded for a storm reign on here a few months back and it is by far the worst ball ive ever thrown. 2 plug and redrill jobs on it along with numerous surface changes.. I was in shock they made a reign of power. Also another awful ball for me was a roto grip defiant. Strong ball? Yea right im 2 handed and couldnt get the thing to move.
I thought it was just me....
I let some kid have it... Trash
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IQ Tour Edition. Very, very, very disappointing.
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I dont have IQ Tour but what is wrong with it...
It hooks 2 much?
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I dont have IQ Tour but what is wrong with it...
It hooks 2 much?
No. My carry with the IQ Tour is horrible. Constant 10 pins.
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Columbia extreme chaos....worst ever.
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Roto Grip Oracle, Oracle Vision, RSX
Brunswick Warp Zone, Maxx Zone
Storm Power Bolt
Ebonite Agression
Hammer Vicious Particle
AMF OMG
Thats all I can remember right now.....9
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THE ONE THAT DOESN'T STRIKE... I don't care if its the best ballon everybody's opinion if it doesn't strike is the best test... Though often it is the bowlers fault.. But you get my point
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I just like to know if anyone had bad experience with the black V2 solid reason I ask I never read a bad review and I loved the ball.
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There are certain bowling balls that I absolutely hate but the rest of the world seems to like them. The original Black Widow for example and the IQ pearl. Just never liked the reaction from them. Doesn't mean the they are the worst I just didn't like them.
Smash49
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I've never owned a bad ball, or seen one frankly. I've seen a lot of balls that don't match up to a particular bowler's style, but I'd bet every single ball listed in this thread was used to success by someone else.
What's that say?
Unless it's egg-shaped or falls apart when it hits the pins, "bad" is very subjective.
It is subjective but to say there are basically no bad balls, only bad matchups is like saying there was never a bad car made.
Never said there were no bad balls, just that hadn't owned or seen one. And, barring defects (and this includes materials or design), even the "worst" ball might be perfect for a certain style or in the right hands (for the reason I mentioned).
It's very very different from a complex moving machine, need I point out why?
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Storm Vivid. Can not believe it is not near the top of the list.
There were at least 4 or 5 people that didn't like the Vivid in my league this past year.
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scrub: The V2 is obviously one of the very best of the reactive era. For me, it has always worked on tougher shots. However, it has never been the best option for me on most house shots. After 12-13 years, I still take it to events that put down a sport pattern. In fact, I will have it next week in Reno and it will be an option in D/S.
Because of its extremely low RG, there is a limit on how deep one can use it. In my case, it becomes ineffective once I have to move in around 17-18 at the arrows and deeper.
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I agree 100% with you djones on the V2 I had the same reaction as you I was just curious if there were that one person who did not like the ball. I think it was one of the best ball ever made along with the Black U Dot.
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Just to add something about my V2, surface now at 4000, no polish. I think it is actually more angular downlane now than it was back in the day. I can't think of any other reason than the slicker oils helping it slide further before it grabs. And no, I have never heard anyone not like it.
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I polished one and also owned an V2 pearl both was angular.
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The V2 line was the best -- Also the Track Freak line was good....