**Official**Confirmed** Season-long ATOT bowling thread

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NoCreativity

Golden Member
Feb 28, 2008
1,735
62
91
I hear you. Guy on my team uses the same stuff. The key is to get a consistant clean release no matter how it is accomplished. After getting my balls fitted properly I finally got that clean release and that was one key for me breaking the 200 avg.
 

Pacfanweb

Lifer
Jan 2, 2000
13,149
57
91
Originally posted by: NoCreativity
I hear you. Guy on my team uses the same stuff. The key is to get a consistant clean release no matter how it is accomplished. After getting my balls fitted properly I finally got that clean release and that was one key for me breaking the 200 avg.
I know this one guy who just used thumb inserts for his thumb hole. (basically the pre-drilled thumb slugs)
The pro shop guy would just drill the hole, tap the insert in there with some glue, and this guy would be ready to go....maybe the occasional piece of tape, but no other work to the hole, no beveling, nothing. And he was a PBA regional winner. I wish drilling a ball for me was that simple....I'm pretty close now, though.
 

Rubycon

Madame President
Aug 10, 2005
17,768
485
126
Neat stuff about the balls. I guess they do wear down. (and get chipped from hitting stuff) I see some bowlers taking sandpaper to their (bowling) balls. Wouldn't that make them soak up oil even more? Some of the hard crankers can really hook it and their balls look very well polished.

How much does the outerwrap thickness play? On cheaper balls it looks under 10mm whereas the good ones it's much thicker.

I've seen balls with large holes drilled perpendicular to the finger holes to make one side lighter. I guess this is to improve spin but is it legit or like a baseball bat with cork?

Do synthetic lanes have more tolerance to damage from lofters compared to classic maple boards?
 

OdiN

Banned
Mar 1, 2000
16,430
3
0
Weight holes are perfectly legal. Sometimes they are required to keep a ball legal.

Drilling is a very complex task, and I won't pretend to fully understand it. But a lot of your hook is going to depend on the core - they have strange shapes that affect how the ball turns, etc. and I'm sure they have people that sit around all day and mess with cores to figure out the physics on all sorts of different designs.
 

Pacfanweb

Lifer
Jan 2, 2000
13,149
57
91
Answers to a couple of Ruby's questions:

Yes, synthetic lanes are more resistant to wear than urethane-coated wood lanes. They never need any kind of resurfacing that I'm aware of.

Outer wrap thickness is irrelevant. What the outer wrap, or surface, is made of is the most significant factor in how much a ball hooks.

The weight holes.....think of it this way: Picture a perfectly-balanced hollow clear ball. On a perfectly flat surface, with perfectly straight rotation, it should roll perfectly straight, right? And it would.
Now take that same ball, and attach a piece of lead weight, such as a wheel weight, to the left side of the ball as you stand behind it....then roll it perfectly straight like you did before, with no sideways rotation, down a perfectly straight/flat surface...what happens? The ball will move to the left, towards its heavier side. The weight will basically pull it to whatever side you put it.

Getting complicated: You are allowed 1oz of imbalance towards you fingers, thumb, or either side. Weighing the ball on a scale, there is a punch mark that marks the zero balance location. There are ways of drilling that allow you to start off with a huge amount of imbalance, (well over the legal 1oz) then you drill a hole to remove the excess imbalance and get it back within legal limits.

Combine this with the bowler's rotation he/she puts on the ball, and you have all sorts of weird reactions you can get out of a ball.....you'll have forward rotation, some side rotation, then the weight block in the ball spinning on an even different axis.
I don't fully understand all the different methods, either, but I do know these are the basics of it.
 

NoCreativity

Golden Member
Feb 28, 2008
1,735
62
91
Originally posted by: Rubycon
Neat stuff about the balls. I guess they do wear down. (and get chipped from hitting stuff) I see some bowlers taking sandpaper to their (bowling) balls. Wouldn't that make them soak up oil even more? Some of the hard crankers can really hook it and their balls look very well polished.

Like Pac said, this really depends on what the coverstock is made of. Typically, a dull finished ball will have more movement than the same ball with a polished finish. I usually see guys do this when the lanes are oily so I think they are trying to get more movement on the ball. Not sure if sanding the ball will cause it to absorb more oil though.

Edit: Fixed quote.
 

Pacfanweb

Lifer
Jan 2, 2000
13,149
57
91
678 tonight.
I got progressively worse each game...should have made a ball switch middle of the 2nd game, that would have helped a lot. Lanes were hooking quite a bit. I wish they'd decide on an oil pattern and stick with it.

266
210
202

Average is 214 now.
 

NoCreativity

Golden Member
Feb 28, 2008
1,735
62
91
Good night until the third game. Covered all my spares in 1 and 2 but fell apart in 3. First time I've ever had my finer swell up so that it barely fit in the hole. Anyway, 235, 226, 188. Not sure what my average changed to, probably still 225.

Edit: series was 649.
 

Pacfanweb

Lifer
Jan 2, 2000
13,149
57
91
Originally posted by: NoCreativity
Good night until the third game. Covered all my spares in 1 and 2 but fell apart in 3. First time I've ever had my finer swell up so that it barely fit in the hole. Anyway, 235, 226, 188. Not sure what my average changed to, probably still 225.

Edit: series was 649.
Might have cost you a pin...I wouldn't think it would drop anymore than that.
 

OdiN

Banned
Mar 1, 2000
16,430
3
0
Horrible night. The lanes were BAD! Everyone was having trouble. I finally got things figured out towards the end of the 3rd game.

I got a 172, 176, 196 - 544 series

YUCK!

Starting average was 184, probably settle down to 183 or 182 after last night.
 

NoCreativity

Golden Member
Feb 28, 2008
1,735
62
91
Originally posted by: OdiN
Horrible night. The lanes were BAD! Everyone was having trouble. I finally got things figured out towards the end of the 3rd game.

I got a 172, 176, 196 - 544 series

YUCK!

Starting average was 184, probably settle down to 183 or 182 after last night.

Same here. We won the first game bowling 30 pins under team average and the second bowling about 50 under. Lots of splits and corner pins.
 

OdiN

Banned
Mar 1, 2000
16,430
3
0
Originally posted by: NoCreativity
Originally posted by: OdiN
Horrible night. The lanes were BAD! Everyone was having trouble. I finally got things figured out towards the end of the 3rd game.

I got a 172, 176, 196 - 544 series

YUCK!

Starting average was 184, probably settle down to 183 or 182 after last night.

Same here. We won the first game bowling 30 pins under team average and the second bowling about 50 under. Lots of splits and corner pins.

Yeah...our games were close but we only won the last one. If I bowled my average we would have won all of them :|

Of course...the other guys didn't do as well either...
 

banksh0t

Member
Jun 4, 2004
136
0
76
Had league tonight, average dropped down a few sticks. Now at 176.
Game 1: 200
Game 2: 209
Game 3: 157 : /

For some reason my wrist was hurting during the last game. I was hoping for a 600 series again but messed it up.
 

Pacfanweb

Lifer
Jan 2, 2000
13,149
57
91
Okay, I shot 711 tonight.

194
279
238

Threw the first nine strikes in the 279 game....threw a good ball in the 10th and left a 10-pin. Oh, well...happens like that sometimes.
Still was being hard-headed about using a different ball in the first game....I told my team to smack me if next week I pull out any ball other than the one I finished with tonight.

edit:
Average now 217
 

OdiN

Banned
Mar 1, 2000
16,430
3
0
Originally posted by: Rubycon
Wow I hope you guys bowl better than these guys. :laugh:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWHTIG3CbD4

They are throwing the ball (lofting) too far IMO. :thumbsdown:

I know they're just having fun but geez.

Actually there are many people that bowl like that.

Sometimes I will throw about that far to adjust for lane conditions.
 

OdiN

Banned
Mar 1, 2000
16,430
3
0
I am probably not going to do well tomorrow. My legs are very sore/stiff.

I spent 6 hours crawling around under my truck this weekend, lifting crap, screwing around with the bumpers and all sorts of fun stuff.
 

NoCreativity

Golden Member
Feb 28, 2008
1,735
62
91
Originally posted by: Pacfanweb
Okay, I shot 711 tonight.

194
279
238

Threw the first nine strikes in the 279 game....threw a good ball in the 10th and left a 10-pin. Oh, well...happens like that sometimes.
Still was being hard-headed about using a different ball in the first game....I told my team to smack me if next week I pull out any ball other than the one I finished with tonight.

edit:
Average now 217

Great series! Sucks that you got shafted on the 10th. Ball switch is hard to judge if you don't bowl all the time. I know I have a problem with it, especially if I'm just short of carrying a strike.
 

NoCreativity

Golden Member
Feb 28, 2008
1,735
62
91
Had a bad night. 236, 186, 180. Went 4 for 9 on 7 pin leaves and went 5 for 6 on the rest of the spares. Couldn't seem to get it together. Sadly I could feel what I was doing wrong, I just couldn't correct it. I knew things wouldn't go well when my day started off arriving at work only to realize I left my ID badge at home.

Average is now down to 220, it dropped two pins after last week. The bright side is only 20 more pins to drop before I'm back to normal ;)
 

OdiN

Banned
Mar 1, 2000
16,430
3
0
Yup....crappy night.

196, 155, 133

Current avg 181.

My legs just got worse as the night went on. At least I didn't fall.

I don't bowl next week.
 

Pacfanweb

Lifer
Jan 2, 2000
13,149
57
91
Originally posted by: OdiN
Yup....crappy night.

196, 155, 133

Current avg 181.

My legs just got worse as the night went on. At least I didn't fall.

I don't bowl next week.
You need to go practice this weekend, about 10 games. Your legs will be hurting for a couple of days, but you won't have problems with 3 games in league after you recover.
 

OdiN

Banned
Mar 1, 2000
16,430
3
0
Originally posted by: Pacfanweb
Originally posted by: OdiN
Yup....crappy night.

196, 155, 133

Current avg 181.

My legs just got worse as the night went on. At least I didn't fall.

I don't bowl next week.
You need to go practice this weekend, about 10 games. Your legs will be hurting for a couple of days, but you won't have problems with 3 games in league after you recover.

My legs weren't hurting because of bowling - they were hurting because I spent 6 hours doing a bunch of work on the weekend.