I, am a Natural
I, am also a nerd. A nerd in many things that interest me, bowling being no exception. Here’s the story:
It’s the final week of my league, Gutterdusters at Mont Clare. The standings are fixed and really, we’re just bowling for fun. My teammate, Tony, uses this as an opportunity to bring a couple extra orbs of destruction, a good idea on his part. It’s typically not a good idea to debut a new ball during league play. Tony knows he’ll be bowling at Mont Clare again, as will I, so what better time to test out a new ball or two when nothing is on the line?
Way to go Tony!
Tony has less hand in his ball than I. He’s a true stroker and tends to use aggressive equipment to get to the pocket on oily conditions. I, on the other hand, often find myself moving WAY left to keep my shot to the right of the head pin. I’m actually a stroker as well, but I get really good rotation off my hand. Couple that with the fact I typic…I digress.
During shadow ball, I see Tony roll a ball that I can only dream of rolling myself. Right up the 10th board. It doesn’t move an inch till the back-end and rides a rail to the pocket. Like I said, Tony rolls a straighter ball than I, but I’d never seen him roll one like this. I asked him about it and he gave me a proud grin. The kind of grin a guy gives you when you make a comment about his new car. “It’s urethane” he beamed. My eyebrow raised…it made sense. A urethane coverstock would explain why Tony’s ball rolled arrow straight till the backend. I hadn’t got a good look at it yet. It was black, dull shine, and no logo of graphic that I could see. I assumed it was a vintage ball.
When it was my turn to throw a practice ball, I asked Tony if I could use his ball. It was then that I got my first surprise: It’s a brand new ball, with inserts and a slug for the thumb. I also see the logo, but don’t pay it much attention. His span is a touch shorter than mine, but otherwise the ball fits my hand almost perfect. The thumb is snug, but bearable. After seeing him throw it, I set my feet to roll it up 10 as well. Because the thumb is snug, I take it easy. 1-2-3-4-5, roll…
Bliss!
I was prepared to be disappointed. Like I said, I have much more rotation to my stroke than Tony. I figured the ball would start reading the lane about midway down, then break way past the head pin. But that’s not what happened. It spun-up as soon as it left my hand, rode the 10th board to the 
back-end, and when it hit the pocket…WHAM! It crushed it. Better than my Eraser. The booming strike caught the attention of more teammates. I crossed to the other lane and waited for the ball to come back. In the meantime, I turn to Tony and shrug. The ball comes back and I give it a better look. I see that not only does it roll beautiful, it looks beautiful. Black with a sheen, but not shine, the word “Natural” in a retro font similar to Magneto, and a super cool chevron logo – all in a 1950′s inspired teal.
This time I pay a little more attention to how the ball sits in my hand. I also focus more on my marks. I threw the first ball leisurely, not really paying close attention to my feet or target. But it got my full attention now. I double check my feet, take a deep breath, test my thumb and remind myself not to let my backswing get too high. 1,2,3,4,5…
WHAM!!!
I crushed the pocket again. I took particular note of how well the ball carried through the rack. A real good strike, nothing sloppy about it. As a matter of fact, these last to strikes I threw felt too easy. Almost like I was cheating. When the game started I rolled the Natural a couple more times, each time being a resounding strike, with the exception of when I simply missed my mark. This is the ball I’ve been looking for…for years. And soon, it will be mine.
