There are a lot of different ways a ball is picked by bowlers now a days. Some pick a ball by color, others maybe go with smell. No matter how you end up choosing a ball you must make sure it will be the right bowling ball for you.

Flare/Flare Potential is a good way to start choosing a bowling ball. Basic rule of thumb here is; the higher flare potential a ball has, more of the ball surface touches the lane, thus the more it wants to roll/hook early on the lane. Just as the opposite, the less flare potential, the more length you will end up getting. Note that this does not determine overall hook in a bowling ball but it determines how much length you will get out of a bowling ball. Today companies try to make it easier by giving you the Hook Potential and the Length based on a numeric system. For example Brunswick does there system like this, Hook Potential(10 least-200 most) and they will give you a rough number in that scale. Same thing for Length (25-235), which does make it easier on the customer.

Factory Finish is another way to get a good understanding of what a bowling ball will do for you. Here it is pretty simple, the duller the ball is, the more it will roll early. The more the ball is polished/shiny, the more length you will get out of that bowling ball. Try not to pay too much attention to the names like Abralon and Siaair but more the numbers in front of those names. Some people prefer a certain pad over the other. What you are looking at is the number in front, like 500,1000,1500,2000,4000, and the lower the number, the duller it will be thus causing the ball to roll earlier. The higher the number is, the more shine/polish creating more length. So higher rev players may want to look into a duller ball to help smooth out the back end. Bowlers with less hand and like the track area or right of that may want to look at polished equipment to help get more natural length on the ball. So back to our scale, low rev players should look at high length along with high hook potential, to help with carry. Where as high rev players should look at low hook potential and low length for more control on the back ends.

Another thing to keep in mind is top weight and pin length. General rule of thumb for pin length, is the longer the pin, longer the length, which the pin can vary anywhere from .01"-9" pin from CG(Center of Gravity). Yes I did say 9" pin, as long as you can get the ball under the USBC static weights that are required. By the way, best ball I have ever thrown, Bonanza Hex with a 9"pin. So when getting the ball drilled, shorter the pin, shorter the options of drilling it certain ways. Longer the pin, larger the options of getting it drilled.

Keep it simple and basic! Bowling tends to try and get complicated with fancy words. Pay attention to the numbers and not the names!