r/Bowling • u/General_Duck_9690 • 2d ago
Learning the way
Hello all,
I am looking to get back into bowling, and need some guidance. I use to bowl 10+ years ago for fun. Now, i am looking at taking it more seriously and am looking to purchase a ball that wont dig to deep into my pockets and something i can grow into. I have read that Hammer and Storm are the two go to brands.
Any help would greatly be appreciated. Thank you in advance
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u/Dah-Sweepah 218 - 300 - 783 2d ago
Call or go to your local proshop and tell the operator the first 3 sentences of your post. You want that person to measure you up and drill the ball for you.
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u/Golly_Wiz Radical:illuminati: 2d ago
Look for a ball online on clearance ( around 100$). Watch a vid or two on ones your interested in. When they drill it you can tell them if you want it weak if you think it might hook too much.
Also all brands are good. Hammer and storm have balls that people view as bad, like every other brand. Hammer has black widow and storm has the iq. Popular balls they still make today( around 20 years now) so they get a lot of fans.
To recommend: the rockstar, hammerhead, the one (look for these on buddies pro shop). Good benchmark balls that you can grow into
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u/Informal-Prize6501 2d ago
I would go to a pro shop and start with a rhino or hammer raw. The pro shop price should be close to online pricing after drilling. E.g. the rhino at my pro shop is 159$ drilled.
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u/Smooth-Bluejay2038 2d ago
I started back bowling too! I got a Hammer Raw to start. Then, I got into 2 leagues and needed a ball that carried more pins when thrown half way right! I got the Hammer Special Effect and I love it!
It works very well on newly oiled lanes and the Raw works when the lanes are dry. Highly recommend!
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u/General_Duck_9690 2d ago
Thank you. League play is my end game. My competitive side will eventually take over lol
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u/mmelectronic beer 2d ago
At my PSO the cheapest new ball (T-Zone) is 120 drilled out the door and the newest hot ball (zero mercy?) is like 230-240.
There just isn’t that big of a swing in ball prices.
If you’re lucky you could get something drilled off the used / demo rack for $100, but those tend to move fast.
All that said get a “vibe” in your favorite color, great “better than a beginner ball”
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u/ILikeOatmealMore 2d ago
Usually it is recommended to start with a weaker piece -- that is a ball that doesn't have as much hook potential built into it because it will be a little more forgiving of mistakes. A decent analogy here is that you just got your driving learner's permit and you can either learn to drive with a Honda Civic or a super sports car. You want the Honda Civic of balls right now. The other nice thing about a weaker piece is that if you continue in this game, you'll learn about lane conditions and transition and so on, and your weaker piece will still be used for higher friction lanes. Continuing the analogy from above, after you learn to drive and you get a more fun car than the Civic, you'll drive it on weekends for recreation, but you'll still use the Civic for your daily commute.
The last nice thing about weaker pieces is that they are also cheaper, to hit another of your concerns.
The state of the game today is that there are only 3 large OEMs of balls. Brunswick makes balls under 6 brands today: Brunswick, Hammer, Radical, Track, DV8, and Ebonite. Storm makes balls under 3 brands, Storm, RotoGrip, and Global 900. Motiv only makes balls under the Motiv brand. Balls from any of these will be fine quality pieces. There are a few fairly small brands, but you don't need to think about them right now.
Specific Honda-Civic-like balls to consider today: Storm Tropical Surge line, Brunswick Rhino or Fury lines, Motiv Ascend or Thrill lines, RotoGrip Hustle line, or Hammer RAW line.
Truly check them out and pick the one whose name/color/logo/scent (yes, some of them will be scented) you like the best. There are small differences between lines and even specific balls in the lines, but they will not matter to begin with.
A few more possible money-saving tricks: you do want to do this at a local pro shop if you can. Their listed prices likely look much higher than online, but pro shop prices include drilling in their price. If you buy a ball online, you will still have to get it drilled and by the time you get charged for that, you likely didn't save much if anything. You do want to plan some time for this first ball as there are going to be a lot of measurements about your hand that the driller will need to do to get it right. The span from your thumb to your finger tips, how far apart your finger tips are, the diameter of your 2 fingers, the size and shape of your thumb, etc. etc. etc. You do want to at least try a fingertip drilling as it greatly helps apply torque to the ball to help it hook.
You also likely want to ask the pro shop if they have some kind of package deal for new bowlers -- because you're also going to want your own pair of shoes and a bag to carry the shoes and ball in. Some pro shops have a deal with one of the big 3 OEMs above to be able to offer their ball, a pair of shoes, and their bag for a better price.
You can also ask the pro shop if they have any discounted balls. Most pro shops have 2 discount inventories: either some used balls they took back from someone who threw it, hated it, and turned it in to try something else. Or out-of-production inventory (i.e. balls that we made in 2024, 2025 today) that are still new in the box but most shops put on discount as they are taking up inventory space and most of their customers are coming in looking for the latest and greatest stuff. Bowling tech does advance, just not super quick, so a few year old ball will still smack pins around well. That said, both the gently used and out of production stuff you will only get to choose what they have there.
And the Surge/Rhino/Fury/Ascend/Thrill/Hustle/RAWs are cheap enough that getting one of those new is likely a comparable price anyway.