Sorry – Long post but I thought I’d include as much info as possible for this one.

I am an occasional PBA Regional bowler (I have my card but I only bowl in a few events every year) and I have decided that I am going to play basically all the events I can starting this coming spring.  As part of that decision I have also decided that I need to start revamping my equipment now in order to be comfortable with the balls ahead of time.

I am a slower speed bowler (~16 mph) with medium revs.  I have both a straight shot game and a tweener-cranker game that I switch between pretty regularly in order to find the best carry.  As a slower speed bowler I rely heavily on accuracy and the right equipment for the right shot in order to level the playing field against high-rev. bowlers.  For the past 4 years or so I have been bowling primarily with Storm stuff and I expect I will continue that for a while at least.

So, on to the arsenal needs.  I have recently jettisoned my Agent, Epic Battle, and my Ragin’ Banshee and Banshee for different reasons.  My current go-to ball is the Shift and I really like my Special Agent and Double Agent for medium-heavy shots.  I tend to like to use particle balls for either longer oil patterns and reactive equipment for shorter shots.

Here is my current thinking arsenal-wise.  Please comment and add like crazy:

Heavy Oil – Either a Passion or I may buy an Attitude Shift and sand it down to 500-1000 Abralon.  I really like the ball motion on the Shift and to date I haven’t matched up all that great with the RAD balls so I am leaning towards a sanded Attitude.  Since I have a bit of time for this one I’ll probably wait a bit for the Attitude reviews to come out.

Medium heavy – I am probably going to stick with my Special and Double for this space.  I keep both balls at 1000 Abralon.

Medium – This is an area I need some help with.  As I mentioned earlier I love my Shift but I really need a ball in this space that will give me a bit more flip so I can get angle to the pocket when I need it.  I am contemplating either a Domination or original Paradigm for this need.  As I mentioned earlier though I have had mixed results with the RAD balls so I am a bit wary of this.  This is a ball that I am really open to suggestions.

Lighter Conditions – I am leaning towards a T-Road Pearl for this need.  It seems to be a ball that I could get good angle from on lighter shots.  However, I’d really like to see a good lighter oil pearl particle as well.  I will probably wait a while to see if Storm comes out with a pearl particle Thunder line ball – but if not I am leaning towards a RotoGrip Venus.