Monday, April 9, 2018

Balance Holes

The most popular balance hole system or methodology in use today is the Gradient Line Balance Hole system, developed originally by Mo Pinel and his collaborators during his years owning and operating MoRich Enterprises. In short, this system defines four standard balance hole positions (P1, P2, P3, and P4) that can be used to alter the motion of the ball:
  • P1 holes slightly weaken the ball’s motion by reducing its differentials and cutting down on its track flare.
  • P2 holes have almost no effect.
  • P3 holes moderately strengthen the ball’s motion by moderately increasing its differentials and moderately increasing its track flare.
  • P4 holes significantly strengthen the ball’s motion by significantly increasing its differentials and significantly increasing its track flare.

How To Play A Bowling Lane

Information on How to Play the Lane


Bowling Lane Play. - There are 3 basic types of bowling lane lines; open, medium, and direct. (Note: this is for right handed bowlers – reverse everything for left handed bowlers.)
1. Open Line - The open line is inside from the 14th board on the bowling lane. The ball angle is directed toward the 6 pin as it is released. This is described in the illustration below. High revolution bowlers like this angle most the time.
2. Medium Or Indirect Line - The medium or indirect line is from the 13th to the 8th board, or the track area, on the bowling lane. The ball angle is a medium line directed toward the 3 and 6 pins as the ball is released. It is also described in the illustration below. Power strokers or tweener type bowlers like this line.
3. Direct Line - The direct line is outside from the 7th board on the bowling lane. The ball angle is directed toward the 1 and 3 pins, or the pocket, as the ball is released. It is also described in the illustration below. Most strokers like this line or angle.

How To Clean Your Bowling Ball


How To Clean Your Bowling Ball


Cleaning your bowling ball is an area that is discussed and talked about a lot in the bowling world, and there are many different methods that can be used to do this. Most bowlers neglect to clean and maintain their bowling equipment until the bowling ball performance stops, or it stops reacting the way they think it should.

The bowling ball manufacturers tell us to clean our ball with a microfiber towel and a special cleaner after every bowling session. But time and time again the bowlers just don’t take it seriously until their ball quits working for them.

Following is a line of procedure that one should try to follow if they want to keep their bowling ball in fairly good condition.

Please note: The new bowling balls of today soak up lane conditioner and will always eventually die. I am sorry to say this, but it is true. The following will help slow down the process, but will not stop it. In addition, some bowling balls last longer than others. I have some that are a few years old and others that only last a few months.

First you need to get a few things; a mirco fiber towel, some bowling ball cleaner, abralon pads, a bucket and water.

These are the things I use that have worked the best for me.

1. After each frame wipe the lane conditioner off your bowling ball.
2. After you are done bowling for the night clean your ball with the bowling ball cleaner and wrap it in a towel or get a see saw.
3. Every so many games, with some reactive bowling balls, you will have to rejuvenate the surface or put the grooves back in the cover stock so it will grab the lane surface again. So get some abralon pads and scuff up the cover stock. The bowling ball informational sheet should tell you the out of box finish.
4. Every 50 to 100 games soak the ball in a bucket of warm (not hot) water. Warm Soapy water will extract a lot of lane conditioner and give the ball back some of its original performance. Just simply put the ball in the warm soapy water for about 30 to 45 minutes and then rinse it off and let it dry a few days. Then rejuvinate the coverstock with the abralon and there you go. (Note: warm not hot and not to long. In addition make sure the ball is dry before using).

How Long Will a Bowling Ball Last

How Long Your Bowling Ball Lasts 

How long does a bowling ball last? This is a question I have gotten a lot. I will mainly be talking about the newer reactive bowling balls. I will not go into too much detail about the plastic, rubber, or urethane balls. 

I also must note that this is my personal opinion and experience only. This question could go into some detail and I may address it more in later posts. A plastic ball could last for quite awhile, but you will get lots of chipping and cracking. 

These balls do not absorb much lane conditioner and have a semi-hard cover even though it is brittle. You could have one of these balls for many years or only a few months. Remember, these are not high performance bowling balls so scoring will suffer. 

Urethane bowling balls have some oil abortion and have a durable cover, but usually do not have much track flare. They do not score as well as a reactive ball. These balls could last you a couple years if cleaned and maintained properly. Some problems are there are not many companies that make these balls anymore and they do not score as high as reactive balls. A reactive ball scores higher normally, but the longevity of the ball is short so you will sacrifice performance and scoring. 

I have seen some reactive bowling balls only last 30 to 50 games, yet I have seen some work well for a few years. Now the lane center’s choice in conditioner seems to play a factor, but I have no scientific proof of this. 

Some conditioners seem to have properties that kill the ball faster. One factor is the oil absortion rate. A lot of these balls are made to soak up oil like a sponge. It only makes sense the faster the ball is designed to soak up this lane oil, the faster it will lose it's hooking action. 

My point is a highly absorbing bowling ball will not last as long as one that has a slower absorbing rate. These are a couple factors. The question was how long will my bowling ball last. With the new high performance balls, the one time a week bowler will probably have to get a new ball every year or two because most the time the ball only last an average of 100 to 200 games. 

If you bowl a 33 week season at 3 games a night that would be 99 games. Then add probably at least one practise game weekly and you would equal 132 games a season. If you bowl more than that let say 2 or 3 times a week, you are looking at 2 or 3 balls a year for top performance. Proper cleaning and maintaining your ball can help make it last longer. In brief, the more you bowl, the more new equipment you will need. 

Good Luck and Great Bowling.

Adjusting Your Push Way

Here is a bowling tip to help you do two things. One get more speed on your ball, the other being slowing your shot down. 

Now this tip can also be used to get the ball down the lane or set it down sooner. The idea of this technique is to use your push away to ether push the ball up and out farther at the start or down and with less force. 

Now we ask what does this do and which one does what. Well I am not going to go into too much detail at this time about when you should try this technique, but I am going to try to explain which does what. 

Now if we push the ball up and out more this will cause the ball to have more force in the pendulum swing, this will cause more momentum at and speed in your arm swing so you will in turn get more speed on the ball. 

In addition, to this you will have a higher back swing which could help you get the ball out and down the lane quicker. Now pushing the bowling ball down and out with less forces will do just the opposite, this will give you less force in the pendulum swing. 

In addition, you will not have as much back swing so in turn less force at your release point. This could aid in slowing your shot down or setting your bowling ball down sooner. Now caution should be taken into consideration, you do not want to mess up your approaches timing and develop a bad habit. 

I recommend you be versatile enough and learn what to do when, but learn when to change back if these techniques do not work today. In addition, you should toy around with this type of adjustment in practice to find out what they do for you and which works best in what situation.