I'm reaching that point where I am starting to seriously think about purchasing my own bowling ball. Asking around, though, I don't think it is in my budget yet, so for now I am just taking a peek at designs. Here are some interesting ones I saw at Bowler's Paradise. These are the beginner balls I found interesting.      The first ball, I think, was the design of the ball in Mystery Men. Me likey but ... I don't thik I will be able to look at it for long, hehehe. It might just spook me. Tweety ... I don't know what it is about it ... I guess I just think it's cute. The white ball makes me think of a pearl ... or a crystal ball. It's just so pretty! Alien - channeling Mulder: the truth is out there! I like the Ebonite Midnight Glow (the 5th ball) --- it glows in the dark, hehehe. As written up on the site: "Turn down the lights, and turn up the fun! Every Maxim Glow is a wickedly fun ultraviolet glow ball that lights up late night and black light bowling or birthday parties." These are the mid-range balls. I don't know if I am ready for these yet, hehehe.     Er, I just liked the color and pearly finish of the Hammer doom. The second ball is called Storm Tropical Black/Red Pearl. Cool, eh? Smiley --- how can I resist? Black widow ... same sentiments as with the white ball, except I think the white ball is prettier. My faves ... the white ball and the glow in the dark ball.  Hmmm ... it would be nice to have my own ball someday.
 | Cute yung skull at yung happy face.
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 | I think the skull's more the Terminator type. The one from mystery men is a real skull with not glowing eyes. lol |
 | noypi711 wrote on Feb 3, edited on Feb 3 Plastic (polyester) balls yung first 5 balls na pinost mo above, including the smiley. Not recommended kasi they tend to skid across the lane rather than roll, which makes them harder to control. Madulas, kaya siya yung pinakamatagal ang buhay sa lahat. Pwera lang if straight shooter ka (diretso ka kung tumira). Plastic is also the cheapest of the four ball types.
Other types besides the plastic are reactive-r, urethane, and particle ball.
Assuming this will be a regular endeavor for you, may I suggest purchasing two balls: a regular & a spare ball. Your regular ball must be 10% your weight and your spare ball should be a 7-8%. Just choose which type, depende rin kasi kung saan ka hiyang. Just remember that these ball types works satisfactory on a well-oiled alley. The difference is just that the way they grip the floor: urethane's soft, the reactive resin ball is sticky, and particles balll is kinda rough.
Particle should be out of the question kasi dahil sa siya yung pinakamakapit sa alley, siya rin yung pinakamadaling mag-wearout at pinakamahal. Yung mga nakikita mong mga Pros na pag bumitaw, mukhang kakanal na yung ball tapos at the last instant biglang babawi pakabila at makaka-strike pa, particle ball yung ginagamit nila kadalasan.
And don't worry once you go Pro, you won't need to buy a particle ball, leave that to the sponsors, they'll give you everything you need, just to endorse their product. |
 |  Plastic (polyester) balls yung first 5 balls na pinost mo above, including the smiley. Not recommended kasi they tend to skid across the lane rather than roll, which makes them harder to control. Madulas, kaya siya yung pinakamatagal ang buhay sa lahat. Pwera lang if straight shooter ka (diretso ka kung tumira). Plastic is also the cheapest of the four ball types.
Other types besides the plastic are reactive-r, urethane, and particle ball.
Assuming this will be a regular gig, may I suggest purchasing two balls: a regular & a spare ball. Your regular ball must be 10% your weight and your spare ball should be a 7-8%. Just choose which type, depende rin kasi kung saan ka hiyang. Just remember that those two ball types works satisfactory on a well-oiled alley. The difference is just that the way they grip the floor: urethane's soft, the reactive resin ball is sticky.
Particle should be out of the question kasi dahil sa siya yung pinakamakapit sa alley, siya rin yung pinakamadaling mag-wearout at pinakamahal. Yung mga nakikita mong mga Pros na pag bumitaw, mukhang kakanal na yung ball tapos at the last instant biglang babawi pakabila at makaka-strike pa, particle ball yung ginagamit nila kadalasan.
And don't worry once you go Pro, you won't need to buy a particle ball, leave that to the sponsors, they'll give you everything you need, just to endorse their product.  Er, I don't know if you read my post properly but I made no mention that I WANTED to buy any of the balls I posted. I said I LIKED THE DESIGN. In other words, when I was looking at the pictures I wasn't considering if they were plastic or urethane or reactive resin or particle. My exact words were, "don't think it is in my budget yet, so for now I am just taking a peek at designs. Here are some interesting ones I saw at Bowler's Paradise."
I was told that based on the way I throw, I should get a reactive. I don't see myself buying a plastic ball, really. For no other reason than because the bowling alley can already supply that anyway. What I am curious about is the option for personalizing a ball. I wonder if that is possible? And, will that be expensive or not? |
 | Actually, what you really need is the Stormballs brand of bowling balls. :p |
| noypi711 wrote on Feb 3, edited on Feb 3 Er, it should be the type of ball that will work for you, not the brand. All manufacturers follow the same standard specs of each ball types naman eh. So nagkakatalo lang talaga ang presyo sa brand names.
Slvrdlphn mentioned reactive. There are so many designs to choose from naman. But locally, wala pa kasi akong nababalitaang ball manufacturer na nagde-design aimed just for one owner. Is this the personalization that you mean, na walang katulad yung bola mo?
Kasi the only ball personalization you can get talaga, aside from having your nickname etched across the ball, is the finger holes drilling. They will drill your balls according to the size of your hand.
3 types din yung pabutas ng bola: conventional like the house balls, semi, and fingertip. The lesser your fingers go deeper into the ball, the more you will need to consider bowling gloves for wrist support.
With your own bowling balls with holes drilled just for your hand, you will find that you may even be able to handle a heavier ball than you are used to. A ball that fits your hand well -- a ball that has been properly drilled (and drilled in the right spot) -- can greatly improve your already superb game.
If you'll go bowling more than just a few times a year, I encourage you to go for it, it is time to get your own bowling balls. |
| noypi711 wrote on Feb 4, edited on Feb 4 Yup! I'm curious about whether a ball could have a unique design. For example, since my monicker is Slvrdlphn, could I have one with a silver dolphin on it swimming through blue waters? Or maybe a Star Trek Delta in a field of stars or some such? I guess that WOULD be expensive if they had it eh?
In as far as the finger holes are concerned, I was told that when I have mine made dapat fingertip lang, for quick release. And he did say that once the ball is customized to my hand (meaning the holes are spaced specifically for my hand) then I would have to step up 1 or 2 weights because the ball will feel lighter. Are you here in Manila? If yes, it would be nice of you could join us one time for a game. We are a bunch of noobs who are still learning the ropes but are definitely having fun learning.
This is how much I've been enjoying this game ... in January 2008 I played 10 times (days) and a total of 37 games. hehehe You know, okey yung idea mo. Possible, pero again, not locally. I tried browsing the net for you, I know it's possible pero wala pa 'kong nakikita (saka patago ako, baka mahuli ako ng boss ko, heheh). You need yata to inquire in bowling ball factories mismo sa US. Me, I was thinking of a clear colorless ball with the Borg cube in the center, heheh... And your right, malamang expensive. Saka di posible yung colorless clear ball dahil may uneven mushroom-like core yung mga standard bowling balls.
Fingertip holes are good for you, pang-pro na. Me kasi in my line of work, di pwedeng i-risk ang wrist injury, kaya conventional yung pabutas ko sa 13kg urethane ko, same as the house balls. Anyhoo, you can re-patch & re-drill it naman later on eh. Heheh, you won't believe, my first ball ever was Paeng's slightly used AMF (or was it Brunswick?) re-patched balls my friend & I bought at Paeng's Bowling Center in Taft. It was so heavy at 16kg, I sold my other half to my friend and bought myself a Dexter
Oh sayang, I just came back from vacation last week, I'm back here at work. Saka hiya aku...by the time nakabalik na 'ko dyan sa December, and with your love of the game, baka magaling ka na't pagtawanan mo na lang yung mga bitaw ko. God know's I tried, pero di ko talaga ma-perfect yung pektus ko, maybe because of the conventional holes, or my lack of patience for the game.
Woah! 37 games?? Girl, bili ka na ng bola noh! (joke) |
 | Gusto ko mukhang palantir. Hahahahaha. Tas mag-a-appear mata ni Sauron. :-Þ |
| noypi711 wrote on Feb 4, edited on Feb 4  Magandang idea yan! Maka-strike kaya si Aragorn? LOL!!! |
| Oh sayang, I just came back from vacation last week, I'm back here at work. Saka hiya aku...by the time nakabalik na 'ko dyan sa December, and with your love of the game, baka magaling ka na't pagtawanan mo na lang yung mga bitaw ko. God know's I tried, pero di ko talaga ma-perfect yung pektus ko, maybe because of the conventional holes, or my lack of patience for the game. Sayang nga. Pagbalik mo na lang.
As for playing bad ... I don't think that is possible, at least not if you already played better than average before you stopped. You will just need to get your groove back with the first few frames (or the first game). After that, nakakahiya na kaming kalaro 'cause we won't be able to touch you sa galing mo, hehehe. |
| noypi711 wrote on Feb 4, edited on Feb 4 The first time I ever played tenpin bowling was at an amatuer tournament already. We have no choice dahil boss lang namin yung marunong, isinama lang kaming 5-6 na tauhan niya to complete his team. Since, everything was sponsored (except the ball), what we had were just cool bowling shirts & new shoes, food & beverage (beer!) on these free games, but none of the skills. We did 2 tournament in one year, one was by Sinclair Paints, the second was by Davies Paints. I'm unsure if they are still operational, baka nagsara na, matagal na kasi yun eh. But believe me, we were the ones drooling on those almost-pro-level amateurs na kalaban namin. Sa galing ng stance at sa bitaw pa lang, talo na kami. A few years later ko na nga lang nalaman why one has to wear bowling gloves eh... I never had had a proper training pa, puro self-taught at tips from co-players lang. So believe me, I'm below average. Ang isa pang napansin ko, for me lang naman yun ha, the game is so addictive. Pinahiram ko na nga yung bola ko dati, wag lang akong maglaro. I ended up forgetting who borrowed my ball, but never the bowling. Yung sport lang talaga ang di na-adik sa akin,,,  BTW, where do you always bowl nga pala? |
| I heard what the glove is for but since I don't have my own ball yet, di muna. Maybe I will get them together. And truly, addictive ang bowlng, hehehe. As for where we bowl, we go around but lately we've been going to AMF Puyat Sports at Farmer's Plaza (Cubao, Quezon City). They have the best rates. Click HERE for info. We also play at Paeng's Superbowl (Robinson's Galleria) and at AMF Puyat Coronado Lanes (Starmall). I might try out E-Lanes later just to test the facilities, hehehe. ADIK! |
| noypi711 wrote on Feb 5, edited on Feb 5 Adik, panget nmn nun, KEGLERS na lang para sossy ang dating, heheh... Try playing at Megamall, specifically lanes 35 & 36. That's Ms. Bong Coo's lane. She never plays on any lane unless its her lanes 35 & 36. Pinag-aantay namin. Biruin mo, bowling legend, inaantay kami, heheh While waiting, ang bait nga eh, she gives us some tips or pointers, we don't need to act stupid, eh tangengerts naman kami talagang lahat. We were able to do that twice.  Napagtripan lang naman namin. Sige na nga, ADIK na me.  |
 | AMP, ang unang pumasok sa ulo ko was "Stormballs." WAT. XD;
Anyways, whee, reminds me of the time my mum used to bowl. She got all of us into bowling but none of us did as well in it as she did.
I like the Ebonite Midnight Glow ball actually. But either way please make sure it's in your weight. Get anything too light or too heavy and trust me, your play will suck. :3 |
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