BallReviews
Equipment Boards => Other => Topic started by: TheLorenzMichael on September 19, 2017, 04:22:24 AM
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Hello everyone! 😊
any opinions or suggestions for a benchmark ball?
any brand will do, discontinued balls will do.
A reply would be deeply appreciated.
Thanks so much
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IQ Tour
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Venom shock; IQ Tour would be my two suggestions. Both smooth and predictable, middle of pack for hook.
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Ebonite Gamebreaker 2 would be a fantastic option. I have one as my benchmark and it works perfect. Smooth predictable reaction every time.
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My suggestions would be:
Motiv Venom Shock
Storm Torrent
Roto Grip Dare Devil Trick
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If you can find a 900 Global X, do it. Ball screams benchmark. I love mine.
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Hyroad, IQ Tour, Venom Shock, Vintage Danger Zone, Vintage Inferno to name a few.
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+1 on IQ Tour and Hy-Road (I have both) but if you are a little low on funds the Pyramid Pathogen looks very interesting as a benchmark and has gotten some good reviews and is sub $100.
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Thank you all so much for the replies, i really appreciate it.
keep sending them suggestions and opinions.
looks like the IQ tour and the Venom shock are the odds on favorite as a benchmark ball 😊
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The Magnitude 035 sounds like it will be in benchmark territory.
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Thank you all so much for the replies, i really appreciate it.
keep sending them suggestions and opinions.
looks like the IQ tour and the Venom shock are the odds on favorite as a benchmark ball 😊
Just an FYI the Hy-Road generally hits harder than the IQ Tour. If you only bowl on typical house shot or lighter oil I would go with the Hy-Road. If you bowl on heavier oil or sports patterns than the IQ Tour is probably better (depending on your style and how you drill ball, surface, etc etc). In my opinion you can set them up to complement each other well (pin up Hy-Road less surface, polish and pin down IQ Tour more surface) but some might say they are too close together. Also have heard from some on here that differences between the IQ Tour and Venom Shock are negligible at least on the lane.
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I swear by the Hy-Road for a house shot benchmark ball, as a slower "tweener" bowler. It is my go to ball. It's been around so long for a reason. Same is true for the IQ Tour and that Venom Shock. Just my two cents.
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Okay, quick question or two for the experts. Shouldn't a bowlers style play a part in the discussion of a benchmark ball?
I thought the definition of a benchmark ball was one that would fit in the middle of a bowler's arsenal or range of usable balls. If so, wouldn't the benchmark for a slow speed senior bowler be different than that of a high rev, high speed bowler? That being asked, how can suggestions for a benchmark ball be thrown out with no info on the bowler asking for one?
Edited: I should have probably used a low speed high rev bowler vs a high speed low rev bowler as comparisons. They would probably view much different types of balls as benchmark.
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Hyroad, IQ Tour, Venom Shock, Vintage Danger Zone, Vintage Inferno to name a few.
i hate disagree, but in general, for the avg. rev rate, ball speed bowler, I wouldn't call the Hy-Road, Danger Zone or Inferno a benchmark. Too strong a backend. For speed dominant players, yes; their greater ball speed would mute their backends enough to make them benchmarks.
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Okay, quick question or two for the experts. Shouldn't a bowlers style play a part in the discussion of a benchmark ball?
I thought the definition of a benchmark ball was one that would fit in the middle of a bowler's arsenal or range of usable balls. If so, wouldn't the benchmark for a slow speed senior bowler be different than that of a high rev, high speed bowler? That being asked, how can suggestions for a benchmark ball be thrown out with no info on the bowler asking for one?
Edited: I should have probably used a low speed high rev bowler vs a high speed low rev bowler as comparisons. They would probably view much different types of balls as benchmark.
Yes bowler matters for sure. That said in general the IQ Tour, Hy-Road, and Venom Shock tend to be the most popular benchmarks for the widest number of bowlers. But yeah some of the senior bowlers might even consider the old Blue Hammer as their benchmark if on old beat to crap wood lanes with their lower ball speed.
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Okay, quick question or two for the experts. Shouldn't a bowlers style play a part in the discussion of a benchmark ball?
I thought the definition of a benchmark ball was one that would fit in the middle of a bowler's arsenal or range of usable balls. If so, wouldn't the benchmark for a slow speed senior bowler be different than that of a high rev, high speed bowler? That being asked, how can suggestions for a benchmark ball be thrown out with no info on the bowler asking for one?
Edited: I should have probably used a low speed high rev bowler vs a high speed low rev bowler as comparisons. They would probably view much different types of balls as benchmark.
At the same time if the suggestion is something that's in the middle of a particular lineup then it's probably a safe ballpark. Regardless of throwing style if your suggestion is something like a Cash for a bowler with high speed and lower revs it's hard to really call that a benchmark. No going up from there.
Or at the other end of the spectrum a bowler with lower speed and higher revs could be recommended a Rhino. No going down from there. Each could be the ball the bowler "should" be throwing, but the benchmark qualifier kind of complicates things for those that live on the ends of the spectrum. For those closer to the middle, then the general recommendations seen here thus far are usually in the right ballpark
I totally get what you're saying. Posts like this should include more information by those who make them. Not sure it's on the responders to go fishing for that information though. It would be cool if there were a template for people to use but at the same time it's not like everybody would actually put the effort into finding and using that template instead of just posting a quick sentence or two off their phone.
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> discontinued balls will do.
Well then the C300 Benchmark (yes ball is literally called the Benchmark) it is lol.
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I don't disagree Jeff, just from experiences around my area, is they tend to go with these pieces as such; It also is true for the varying types of styles of bowlers' that play a factor in what is determined by the type of 'benchmark' is needed.
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A benchmark ball is any ball that you feel you can read the lanes best with. Whether that means something in the middle, or at the ends of the spectrum, it doesn't matter. In other fields, benchmarks are usually at the top, so not sure why bowling balls would be in the middle.
Someone mentioned the Cash being a poor benchmark because there would be nowhere up from there. This would be true regardless if it was a benchmark or not. As long as someone is able to differentiate between not hooking due to oil and not hooking due to roll out, there's no reason the Cash can't be a benchmark. Either way, if you need more ball, it doesn't exist.
Pick any ball that you know well enough that you can decide if you need to throw something else or not. If you are just starting out, then middle of the road would be a good starting point.
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A benchmark ball is any ball that you feel you can read the lanes best with. Whether that means something in the middle, or at the ends of the spectrum, it doesn't matter. In other fields, benchmarks are usually at the top, so not sure why bowling balls would be in the middle.
Someone mentioned the Cash being a poor benchmark because there would be nowhere up from there. This would be true regardless if it was a benchmark or not. As long as someone is able to differentiate between not hooking due to oil and not hooking due to roll out, there's no reason the Cash can't be a benchmark. Either way, if you need more ball, it doesn't exist.
Pick any ball that you know well enough that you can decide if you need to throw something else or not. If you are just starting out, then middle of the road would be a good starting point.
Of course there's a ball up. #morecash
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A benchmark ball is any ball that you feel you can read the lanes best with. Whether that means something in the middle, or at the ends of the spectrum, it doesn't matter. In other fields, benchmarks are usually at the top, so not sure why bowling balls would be in the middle.
Someone mentioned the Cash being a poor benchmark because there would be nowhere up from there. This would be true regardless if it was a benchmark or not. As long as someone is able to differentiate between not hooking due to oil and not hooking due to roll out, there's no reason the Cash can't be a benchmark. Either way, if you need more ball, it doesn't exist.
Pick any ball that you know well enough that you can decide if you need to throw something else or not. If you are just starting out, then middle of the road would be a good starting point.
Good observation, well stated.
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A benchmark ball is any ball that you feel you can read the lanes best with. Whether that means something in the middle, or at the ends of the spectrum, it doesn't matter. In other fields, benchmarks are usually at the top, so not sure why bowling balls would be in the middle.
Someone mentioned the Cash being a poor benchmark because there would be nowhere up from there. This would be true regardless if it was a benchmark or not. As long as someone is able to differentiate between not hooking due to oil and not hooking due to roll out, there's no reason the Cash can't be a benchmark. Either way, if you need more ball, it doesn't exist.
Pick any ball that you know well enough that you can decide if you need to throw something else or not. If you are just starting out, then middle of the road would be a good starting point.
Then this is branching off into everybody's own personal definition of benchmark. Which will vary... wildy. It's not that I don't agree with what you're saying, because I do, it's just this is a topic that isn't quite straightforward. Like I said before a template with areas for information to be answered would be nice for questions like this/recommendation help. As long as it wasn't ignored.
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A benchmark ball is any ball that you feel you can read the lanes best with. Whether that means something in the middle, or at the ends of the spectrum, it doesn't matter. In other fields, benchmarks are usually at the top, so not sure why bowling balls would be in the middle.
Someone mentioned the Cash being a poor benchmark because there would be nowhere up from there. This would be true regardless if it was a benchmark or not. As long as someone is able to differentiate between not hooking due to oil and not hooking due to roll out, there's no reason the Cash can't be a benchmark. Either way, if you need more ball, it doesn't exist.
Pick any ball that you know well enough that you can decide if you need to throw something else or not. If you are just starting out, then middle of the road would be a good starting point.
The problem with starting with the Cash is yes you can't go up anyway but it might be difficult to tell exactly how far you should go down right off the bat. Especially since in warmup I am usually more trying to burn a hole, right off the track with my epoxy ball than trying each ball multiple times. In league I have 100% confidence either my IQ Tour or my Hy-Road will be able to handle the condition well due to it being first shift Sunday afternoon. Usually start with the IQ Tour to break the pattern down some before I switch. If there is some kind of disaster with the oiling machine have my Blue Hammer spare ball for garbage time. In a tournament I would start with my IQ Tour as well to read how far each direction to go.
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And on the other side of the spectrum, also why I was trying to point this out, is that I know a bowler who is very slow and as an arsenal has three plastic balls that hook more than some of my reactives. He wanted to know what ball I could recommend to him to use as a spare ball. I couldn't. :)
Edited to add: I think I told him he needs to learn how to throw the ball straight but that is difficult for some.
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And on the other side of the spectrum, also why I was trying to point this out, is that I know a bowler who is very slow and as an arsenal has three plastic balls that hook more than some of my reactives. He wanted to know what ball I could recommend to him to use as a spare ball. I couldn't. :)
Edited to add: I think I told him he needs to learn how to throw the ball straight but that is difficult for some.
Well you could recommend one of those old rubber balls with a durometer reading over 90. Still yeah learning to throw straight especially with that kind of ball speed should be practiced. Being speed dominant myself making the ball go straight is the easy part and why spare shooting is a strength for me. Hooking plastic off the lane not so much.
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Thanks for the suggestions everyone, every post is deeply appreciated. A big help for a benchmark ball not just for me but for all the bowlers.
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Most on here say the Venom Shock is a better ball on house shot. Think the IQ Tour might be better on sport shot but haven't thrown on sport since I got mine. My Hy-Road is actually my benchmark. Never worry about carry with that ball.