surface change or stronger hand position???

[TJS_7]

guys I like to put the ball down on 15 but on a THS the ball doesn't finish as hard.15 board feels comfortable to me,should I adjust my ball from oob ???? cause I'm a up the back of the ball guy,not a ton of wrist movement.any thoughts would be great

[bluerrpilot]

Surface change is the second easiest thing to do...other than changing lines. But if your not comfortable doing that...then surface change it is :)

[Young300]

I agree, change the surface. If it's not retaining enough energy, just put a small amount of polish on it to give it that extra 1-2 feet of skid.

[TJS_7]

I'm at 4000 now would 2000 be enough to make the ball finish from that angle on a fresh shot??? I have no problem moving left,it's when I get on the right side of 20 is where I have my troubles.

[Young300]

Lowering the grit will make the move earlier but also smooth out the overall ball reaction across the entire lane. Are you looking for more length or what?

[bluerrpilot]

I'm at 4000 now would 2000 be enough to make the ball finish from that angle on a fresh shot??? I have no problem moving left,it's when I get on the right side of 20 is where I have my troubles.

It might. you can try it 1 step at a time. Keep in mind, the pocket is at 17 board, if your starting at 15, thats not much room to develop alot of angle if you dont have alot of revs.

[TJS_7]

I'm lookin for a little stronger finish from the ball without having to get off of 15 until the line dries a bit.I have enough length the fresh oil makes me struggle a bit,i know you can't cover a lot of boards in a lot of oil but I also though about how the ball is drilled also.Pin is between the fingers (above).So I'm really preping myself for fall league,I'm open to anything you guys may have to offer.

[BubbaRay]

#1 factor for obtaining hook is not the coverstock of the ball or how it is drilled. It is how the ball is released by the bowler. the coverstock and drilling simply enhances what the bowler throws.

Watch how the ball rotates down the lane. You need to observe it from two aspects:

How it's initial rotation is a different direction than its travel down the lane (called axis rotation) and how it is rotating relative to the lane surface (axis tilt).

You can get a good idea of the amount of axis tilt by looking at the oil ring on the ball after it comes out of the ball return. If it is a ring (or rings, depending upon how your ball is drilled...if multiple rings, use the ring closest to the thumb hole) that is somewhat large, passing near the thumb, then your axis tilt should be fine. If it is a small ring, then you need to work on your release because your spinning the ball like a top.

So that this reply doesn't turn into a book, let us know were the ring is and we can discuss the release fixes.

To determine you axis of rotation, put the ball in an ashtray with the oil ring parallel to the floor. Look straight down at the top of the ball. The top-center of the ball is your axis of rotation. Put a piece of tape (ball tape is fine) on that center point.

Now throw the ball and watch that tape. If it is spinning parallel to the foul line, your throwing the ball in a 'roller' fashion (0 degree axis of rotation) and it will not hook. If it rotating so that the tape is pointing toward you, then you're throwing a 90 degree axis of rotation. Somewhere around half-way between the 0 degree and 90 degree axis of rotation (45 degrees) is the most common rotation characteristic. Obviously, the more the axis of rotation, the more severe the hook, depending upon the amount of axis tilt.

The piece of tape is an excellent way to get instant feedback to the bowler as how they released and rotated the ball. Another way to use tape is to have the ball with the holes facing up and put a piece of tape (4-5" long) from the center of your grip out to the 3 o'clock position when looking down from the top of your ball. Use masking tape for this purpose.

This is for right handers...left hands just reverse the sides mentioned...

Now when you throw the ball the angle of your rotation on the ball will be known by where you see the tape. If you roll the ball striaght up the back and do not come around the ball causing it to spin, you will see the tape rotating on the very left hand side of the ball. If you rotate the ball around 45 degrees you will see the tape move from the very left side of the ball to halfway from the left side, to the back side that faces the bowler. For the clock analogy, the tape would not be at 9 o'clock, but at around 7:30. If you gave the ball 90 degrees of axis rotation again with no spin, the tape would be facing the bowler at the 6 o'clock position.

Now, if you do add any type of axis tilt to the ball, the tape will start to move more to the top of the ball instead of directly on the sides.

[aigaios]

Now throw the ball and watch that tape. If it is spinning parallel to the foul line, your throwing the ball in a 'roller' fashion (0 degree axis of rotation) and it will not hook. If it rotating so that the tape is pointing toward you, then you're throwing a 90 degree axis of rotation. Somewhere around half-way between the 0 degree and 90 degree axis of rotation (45 degrees) is the most common rotation characteristic. Obviously, the more the axis of rotation, the more severe the hook, depending upon the amount of axis tilt.


If it's parallel to the foul line than you have a fat load of axis rotation. I think you mean perpendicular.

[TJS_7]

ok so if you look at the ball finger holes facing you rings are on the left side of the ball (right handed) not really near the thumb area.hope this is enough info????

[BubbaRay]

Yes, the flare rings will be on the left side as you are looking at trhe finger holes. It depends on what type of roll you have on the ball depends on how close trhey areto your thumb hole.