League Night - NSAC - Victory Lanes - Kankakee, Illinois

This was my first night out on the lanes since making the switch to an all-Brunswick label (Brunswick, DV8, and Radical) lineup, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I know that I have some great balls at my disposal, but figuring out exactly what to expect from each one is going to take some trial and error; that's what I saw tonight.

Game 1

81 9/ X X 7/ 9/ X 8/ 8- X9/ - 181

Since our league gets fresh oil, I decided to start out using the strongest piece of the three that I had with me, the DV8 Brutal Nightmare. From watching others throw the Nightmare, I knew that it was early and strong all the way throughout the lane. Sadly, I didn't realize just how strong. The biggest issue I had this game was hold. The Brutal Nightmare is very, very strong in the oil, so misses inside caused the ball to dig in extra hard and go charging through the face. Pretty much all of my misses were high, which is on me. When I actually got the ball wide enough, it actually gave me a smooth arc and very good hit. As such, I just had to chalk this one up to operator ignorance and error.

Game 2

X X X X 81 X X 63 X 9/X - 210

This game was frustrating! I had much better control of the pocket here than I did during Game 1. I still missed in a couple of times, resulting in a 3-6 (which chopped like a moron) in the 5th and a 3-6-9-10 (which i thought I made) in the 8th. In any event, a game that could easily have been 230-240 turned into 210. That irks me, but at least I feel like I now have a better understanding of how, when, and where to use the Brutal Nightmare.

Game 3

X 7/ 8/ 9/ 9/ X 9/ 8/ X X9/ - 203

Realizing that the Brutal Nightmare is probably not my best option for getting deep, I decided to switch to my Mastermind Genius, which is pin up and box finish. The first thing I noticed about this ball is that, visually, it's one of the coolest I've ever seen; the combination of green, black, and gold is really, really sharp. Sadly, the movement of the ball isn't living up to the aesthetics for me just yet. The ball clears the front of the lane very easily, but it seems to labor coming off the spot and making it all the way to the pocket. To be honest, I really liked the way I threw several of these shots; unfortunately, the ball just didn't quite do what I was expecting. In the end, there is nothing wrong with 203, but I think there is a lot more potential there if I make some surface adjustments.

All in all, a sub-600 set isn't exactly the start I was hoping for with the new gear; however, I think that it's more of a matchup (surface to conditions to bowler) problem than an it is a problem with the equipment itself. I firmly believe that there really aren't any truly bad bowling balls. Long story short, I'm going to do some surface tinkering this week and see if I can't get some things figured out in time for my next set. One way or another, I'll crack this code; stay tuned!