Arsenal 8.0

[Aslan]

Well, beginning of fall season = new arsenal. At least, 2 of the 4 balls.

This time I'm retiring the Motiv Trident Odyssey and Hammer Scorpion Sting. Actually, the Scorpion Sting cracked in my bag...and I had to replace it by unretiring the Grudge Hybrid for the last few weeks of summer league.

Motiv Trident Odyssey

Core: Asymmetric
Coverstock: Solid
RG: 2.490
Diff.:0.054
PerfectScale: 233.1
Surface: 500/2000

Pinpal Stats:

Average: 187.63
Games: 98
High Game: 259
Clean Games: 5

First Ball Average: 8.92
Strikes: 47%

This is the first Motiv ball I've ever thrown. I was kinda boycotting them due to their cheating scandal with the Jackal...but figured I'd lift the boycott given its been almost a decade now.

This ball wasn't as strong as I thought it would be...but it had decent movement and carried well. On a THS, it tended to burn up fast outside 2nd arrow. Probably would have been a perfect ball around the 12-board if I had a little more rpms in my release.

Place on Aslan's Ball List: #10

Hammer Scorpion Sting

Core: Symmetric
Coverstock: Pearl
RG: 2.485
Diff.:0.045
PerfectScale: 216.5
Surface: 500/800/1000

Pinpal Stats:

Average: 188.51
Games: 71
High Game: 267
Clean Games: 4

First Ball Average: 8.97
Strikes: 48%

The stats were a little better on this ball than on the Trident Odyssey...but it was considerably weaker. It was mainly used as a "ball down" option when the Trident Odyssey started burning up and losing carry.

Couldn't seem to settle on a surface that I liked. I really needed to add surface to avoid making a big move right when balling down.

It also gets a penalty as it cracked < 1 year after I got it drilled and started using it. That's the fastest I've ever had one crack...and I'm pretty meticulous about not leaving my equipment in the car...exposing it to freezing temperatures in the winter and hotter temperatures in the summer.

Place on Aslan's Ball List: #12

[Aslan]

Arsenal 8.0

Replacing the Trident Odyssey will be the 900 Global Zen Master Solid.

It has a solid cover and a 2.490 RG...just like the Trident Odyssey...but it has a symmetric core and a slightly lower differential and slightly lower PerfectScale score. It has a 3000 surface OOB, but I'll probably take that down to a 2000 given it is slightly weaker and closer in specs to the Ball #2.

I think this'll be a slight improvement over the Trident Odyssey...a little weaker, but a little more predictable. This is the 3rd 900 Global ball I've used. The other two (Bullet Train and Special Ops) were rather disappointing...so hopefully this'll be better.

The ball down option (Ball #2) replacing the Scorpion Sting will be the Brunswick Perfect Mindset. It has 2.487 RG and 0.050 differential...similar to the Scorpion Sting. However, it's an asymmetric core and has a much higher PerfectScale rating at 234.4.

This is going to be a bit of an experiment. Like my previous issue with the Aura Mystic and Grudge Hybrid...it may end up that the Perfect Mindset is the stronger ball versus the Zen Master Solid...which means I either need to switch them (Ball #1 to Ball #2 and Ball #2 to Ball #1) in the lineup or I need to stay diligent on the surfacing. I think I'm take the 3000 OOB surface and try a 1000/Royal Compound surface. It also creates a much bigger gap between Ball #2 and Ball #3. So, on the nights I start with the Ball #2 (Perfect Mindset)...I'm gonna have to move right quite a bit to ball down to the Brunswick Endeavor (Ball #3).

[boatman37]

No changes for me. Sticking with the Xponent and Eternity Pi. Also have a fairly unused Helios, fairly worn Zen Soul and a few B7 balls that still worked fine last time out so no plans on spending money on anything new. Forgot...pretty new Altered Reality too but I haven't done too well with that one so rarely ever use it.

[Aslan]

@BM37

I added the '37' so not to shorten your user name to imply a bowel movement.

I've definitely changed arsenals way earlier than I theoretically should. My initial goal was to get 400 games out of a ball before I replaced it. But, I ended up accumulating over 25 balls and some of them started to crack in the boxes so I finally just stopped buying new ones and started going through the ones I accumulated and that led to me switching out more frequently. I also bowled far more often before than I do now. I used to be in 1-3 leagues and subbing in 2-3 leagues....so I could accumulate a decent number of games each season.

For illustration, here are the games I accumulated by ball:

Storm Frantic: 145 games
Hammer Rhythm: 433 games
Brunswick Slingshot: 171 games
Columbia300 Encounter N: 159 games
Columbia300 Encounter300 A: 139 games
900Global Bullet Train: 257 games
Brunswick Lethal Revolver: 213 games
Columbia300 Dark Encounter: 136 games
Rotogrip Asylum: 65 games (won this ball on BB.com, hated it, gave it away)
Brunswick Melee Jab: 51 games (RobM gave me this ball. He didn't like it, but it worked great for me)
Brunswick Loaded Revolver: 139 games
Radical Reax Pearl: 139 games
Ebonite Innovate: 118 games
Rotogrip Defiant Edge: 10 games (had high hopes for this ball...but it was so horrible I gave it away and swore off Rotogrip balls in the future)
Hammer Scandal Pearl: 87 games
Hammer Blue Spare Ball: 5 games (I found this ball...I think I just left it at an alley after realizing it wasn't gonna be much use to me)
Track 300A: 27 games
DV8 Thug Life: 154 games
Ebonite Warning Sign: 70 games
Brunswick Aura Mystic: 86 games
DV8 Grudge Hybrid: 116 games
Brunswick Fortera Exile: 62 games
Brunswick Gold Vintage Rhino: 39 games (2nd ball I won on BB.com)
Storm Optimus Solid: 48 games
Lane Masters Yeah Baby Sinful: 31 games (only Lane Masters ball I've ever used...and it was horrible)
900Global Special Ops: 25 games (won this ball in a raffle...hated it)
Pyramid Force Pearl: 88 games (Only Pyramid ball I've used and I LOVED it)

So, I guess I'm not too "off" with my recent retirements. The average is 106.4 games...and I've thrown the Trident Odyssey 91...would have thrown the Scorpion Sting at least a few more times had it not cracked. And sometimes I hold onto a ball longer than one season...if I don't feel I've thrown it much. Did that with the Rhino Gold and Track 400A. I rarely threw them, so I just kept them for 1.5-2 seasons rather than just one.

I probably won't retire the Endeavor after this fall...I've only thrown it 2-3 times this past summer. Same thing with the Outer Limits Pearl...I've not thrown it nearly as much as I thought I would...maybe twice this summer. So, I'll probably hold off a full year before transitioning to Arsenal 9.0.

[boatman37]

Yeah I have a spreadsheet that I track my games, ball usage, etc. My Zen Soul was my favorite ball and worked great then all of the sudden with about 130 games it stopped carrying. Threw 3 different balls back to back a few times and struck with the others but 10 pinned with the ZS. I re-surface every 40 or so games and freshen the surface every 15 or so games. My Altered Reality was great the first 3 weeks or so averaging about 215-220 those weeks then after that struggled to break 600. The Helios never did work good for me.
But i'm the same...gonna start using up some of my older balls before buying new ones


Zen Soul - 130 games. great ball until 130 games
Altered Reality - about 25 games. not my favorite
Eternity Pi - about 50 games. great carry and works well for me
Xponent - about 40 games. usually struggle to strike. only works when i throw it up the 5 board unless the lanes are very dry
Helios - never did good with it. maybe 15 games on it

[Aslan]

Arsenal 8.0

This is going to be a bit of an experiment. Like my previous issue with the Aura Mystic and Grudge Hybrid...it may end up that the Perfect Mindset is the stronger ball versus the Zen Master Solid...which means I either need to switch them (Ball #1 to Ball #2 and Ball #2 to Ball #1) in the lineup or I need to stay diligent on the surfacing. I think I'm take the 3000 OOB surface and try a 1000/Royal Compound surface. It also creates a much bigger gap between Ball #2 and Ball #3. So, on the nights I start with the Ball #2 (Perfect Mindset)...I'm gonna have to move right quite a bit to ball down to the Brunswick Endeavor (Ball #3).

Decided to take RobM's advice and surface these balls rather than throw them with an OOB finish. The main reason is that the ball videos I watched online....its pretty clear the Perfect Mindset (PM) is going to cover more boards than the Zen Master Solid (ZMS).

Watching the videos, it seems like the ZMS is going to be very similar to the Trident Odyssey (TO) it is replacing. The problem is the PM looks to be a BEAST. So, if I was going to throw them with OOB finish, I'd have to throw the PM 1st, then ball down to the ZMS...which I don't think would work as well.

So, I put a 2000 surface on the ZMS...which should still allow me to throw up the edge of the oil and get to the pocket. Hopefully it doesn't lose too much energy out there...which is what the TO had issues with. I put a 1000/R. Compound surface on the PM...hopefully that allows me to ball down to it when I'm throwing 10-11 boards and the line is burning up. I'll still probably need to move 1-2 boards left with my eyes and target when switching...just because the PM looks to be a monster.

If I can get the ZMS dialed in and working for a couple games...I might just be able to switch to the Outer Limit Pearl (OLP) for Game 3. Starting with the PM is going to a be a bit more challenging...because I'll have a huge gap between the PM and the Brunswick Endeavor ball down option....and will even have to probably make a slight right adjustment to ball down to the OLP.

Looking forward to a fun fall!