How To Build a Bowling Ball Arsenal

If you’re a speed dominant player, your arsenal should lean towards more aggressive bowling balls. Aggressive bowling balls rev up a little faster and hook earlier on oilier conditions. This prevents the speed dominant player from having too long of a skid phase, helping to match up to the lane condition.

If you’re a rev dominant player, your arsenal should lean towards weaker bowling balls. Because of the revs you impart onto the bowling ball, more often you’ll need your ball to skid farther than the speed dominant player to match up to the lane conditions.

In this Premium Video, Scott Pohl, the owner of On Track Pro Shop, explains the differences between bowling ball coverstocks and how they impact your game.

Benchmark Bowling Ball

A bowling ball that has predictable motion for the shot you usually bowl on is your benchmark bowling ball. You can always go to this ball because you know when and where it hooks on the lane.

The coverstock should be closer to solid, not too dull and not too shiny.

Hybrid Bowling Ball

One part reactive solid and one part reactive pearl is the makeup of a hybrid bowling ball. Generally, each of the materials can be identified by the different colors on the bowling ball.

This bowling ball will skid down lane farther than the benchmark bowling making it a good choice to switch to when the oil on the lanes breaks down; also known as lane transition.

Pearl Bowling Ball

When the lanes become very dry and you need the bowling ball to roll farther down lane before hitting the friction at the end of the oil pattern, pearl bowling balls are the way to go. They are shiny in appearance and have a more noticeable change of direction at the end of the oil pattern than the bowling balls listed above.

The goal when you use any of these bowling balls is to match up to the lane conditions you are bowling on. You know that you have the right bowling ball in your hand when you see it successfully go through all three phases of ball motion.

For more information on bowling ball arsenals check out, “The Importance of Experimenting with Different Bowling Balls” and “Understanding and Improving Your Bowling Ball Arsenal.”