r/Bowling

Just wanting to read the temperature of the room on this one. Do you feel that some of these bowling YouTubers talk out of their rear end? I have noticed that some of these and one I can think of in particular YouTube bowling "experts" seem to believe they must provide an opinion on something even if they have no clue what they are talking about. In some cases going as far as to ilegitimize other bowling YouTube channels with little knowledge of that channel. Unfortunately the one I immediately think of is getting more and more popular and embedded in the industry. Calling something bad because it doesn't work for you, but not taking the time to investigate and learn that its good for a lot of people that don't have bowl like you is not a trustworthy opinion. Luke Rosdahl didn't match up to the Hammer Effect but he did not label it a bad ball because he saw the success others were having with it..

Hey everyone!

​I started bowling this year, absolutely fell in love with the sport, and want to build the right habits early so I can enjoy it to the fullest.

​I got my first reactive ball last month—a Storm Surge—and I already have a Phaze II on the way. I also have my own bowling shoes, but they just have the default sliding soles.

​Since I'm fully committing to the hobby, I’d love to get the community’s wisdom on a few consolidated questions:

​Ball Care & Hype vs. Essential Gear: With a Surge (pearl) and a Phaze II (solid), what are the absolute must-have maintenance accessories vs. things that are just marketing hype? What does a solid post-session cleaning routine look like?

​Pro Shop Operators (PSOs): As a beginner, should I blindly trust that any local ball driller knows their stuff, or is there a real risk of someone messing up the drill layout on my new balls? What should I look out for in a good PSO?

​The "Arsenal" Trend: I see a lot of people posting huge arsenals here. As someone who will soon have a two-ball setup, do I need to worry about building an arsenal anytime soon, or should I just master these two?

​Shoe Upgrades: Are default shoes fine while learning, or should I upgrade to shoes with interchangeable sliding soles/heels early on?

​Frequency Limits: I want to practice as much as possible, but is there a practical limit to how many games or sessions a beginner should play per week to prevent injury or breaking down physical form?

​Any major "don'ts" for ball storage would also be highly appreciated. Thanks in advance—excited to learn from you all!

TL;DR: Just started bowling this year. Got a Storm Surge, have a Phaze II on the way, and own default-sole shoes. Looking for advice on essential vs. hyped gear, how to find a trustworthy Pro Shop driller, how many games a week is too many, and if I actually need a big "arsenal."

I overall play for fun. Horribly self-taught, but what I figured out works. I’m a two-finger bowler and the “dismount” to achieve the spin and consistency involves me releasing the ball above my waist. Nothing insane on the distance of my toss, but definitely not a silent toss lol.

Im looking to join a casual beer league but worried if I have to completely change my mechanics to suffice to the opinions of my loft

My ball drops before the arrow lines but it gets close sometimes to obscure toss past the arrows depending on the spare situation

I currently throw a Hustle Earth, and I absolutely love it. It’s very smooth, predictable, and comfortable to throw. I’m a left-handed, two-finger, no-thumb bowler with a ball speed between 13–15 mph.

I’ve been bowling league lately, and I’ve noticed I’m leaving a lot of 7 pins. I also feel like during Game 1, when the lanes have more oil, the Hustle Earth just isn’t quite strong enough. It feels like I have to throw every shot perfectly to strike, and I don’t have much room for error.

I’m looking for a ball that’s a step up from the Hustle Earth for medium to heavier oil, but I’m worried about going too strong and losing hitting power or pin action. I still want something that drives through the pins and carries well without being overly aggressive.
Does anyone have any ball recommendations? For reference, I’m a left-handed, two-finger, no-thumb bowler throwing around 13–15 mph.

Last year I started bowling more frequently (just for fun), so I started keeping track of my stats on an app. In the past 14 months I have played 58 games. Currently, I get a strike 15.8% of my frames (110 total). But of my 12 first roll gutterballs, 4 (33.3%) were followed by spares. Has anyone else noticed doing this? Is it common, uncommon, or too small a sample size to be meaningful?

I’m fairly new to the sport and just got my first ball custom fitted & drilled for a one hand fingertip grip.

I’m 90% confident my thumb hole WAS drilled properly, but after maybe two games or so I had rubbed off a lil too much skin on the side of my thumb. Being new to this I figured, rubbing = bad so I should have the hole a tiny bit wider. The pro shop used the little dremel sandpaper tool and made it a tiny bit wider to help and got me some tape too. My thumb is still getting torn up after a few shots.

Would getting the thumb hole fitted for an insert like I’ve got in the fingers help this at all?

The rubber seems sooooo much less abrasive and it looks like they even come in an oval shape and the shop said I have an oval thumb too.

I had normally bowled 8ish games a night using house balls and those never torn my thumb up like this new ball has, even if the fit was on the tighter side.

I recently started bowling one handed and I’ve having issues w/ my release. My ball tends to spin like a top rather than end over end. Kinda like a spinner bowler. But I am behind the ball. There will be times when ball roll is end over end. I can’t be a fit issue right most likely a release issue? Any advice?

hey all,

I have quite a large issue with travelling (around 3-5 boards right) during my walkup. I noticed that its happening on the slide step.

Anybody have tips to stop doing this?