First thoughts on my Radical Slant HD

[bowl1820]

Well got the Radical Slant HD drilled up today, Kevin really took his time for me today discussing and explaining and setting everything up. We was at it like a hour and half with everything before I got on a lane with it.

We started with the grip, he had some new info on doing pitches and stuff. So we changed all the pitches, went from forward finger pitches to reverse and changed the laterals. Thumb went to 1/16th reverse and 3/16 lateral. Also Did the centerline transfer drilling on the grip.

I thought my grip felt good before, it's in the butter zone now! The ball is really laying nice and flat in my hand now. The pressure on my finger pads is very even now.

The ball is rolling off my hand so much cleaner now. I didn't realize how much I was grabbing the ball before, I can feed the ball outside so much easier now. I didn't pull the ball anything like I was before, That was a problem I had.

I only tugged it twice the whole night in league and that was because the approaches were tacky tonight and I stuck slightly a few times.

So the grip changes was time well spent.
http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w89/aloarjr810/Fit%20and%20Grip/My_Drillsheet.gif

Next we started on the layout, I had a benchmark layout suggestion to start with. But Kevin thought with my rev rate, that it might burn up too fast for me. Then the info started to flow, I needed a tape recorder.

He explained it all to me, about angle's, pin's, the PSA and the stuff they found using the Blueprint software about hole, dry flares etc. etc. (That Blueprint software is something else! and he has it.)

Amazingly I understood most of it! Thanks to reading ahead of time about a lot of it.

Once settled on a the direction of the layout, we threw it on the Determinator and spun it up. Here's a picture of what it showed.

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w89/aloarjr810/bowlingballs/det_psa.jpg

Next do some laying out, rechecking weights back and forth a couple times double checking.

Settled on the layout of 85* X 4" X 65* for total angle sum of 150. With the pin at about 4 o'clock to the ring finger. With a angled baby weight hole kind of between a P2 & P3 location.

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w89/aloarjr810/bowlingballs/slant_hd-1.jpg

As for the ball itself, I won't make a full review yet till I've bowled some more games. I've only had 4 games with today, one practice game to check the grip and 3 league games.

The practice game was at the house where the pro shop is, about 40 miles from my house.

Afternoon leagues was starting to fire up, but the guy's at the desk got me one lane in between two leagues to fire off one game to try my ball out.

The first five frames was junk, threw my "normal shot" stand 21, shot 2nd arrow. Missed left a little and the ball just set in the oil went right at the nose. Four splits and one spare.

6th frame made a change, moved left 5 boards to 26, cocked my hand some with a slight cup and stroked it the 2nd arrow again.

X X X X X X 9 for a 199 game! not bad for a cold start with a new ball and several grip changes. Thought well that might work.

Now it's time for league, anvillanes with fresh oil. So I set up like I had during the practice game, I thought the ball being a pearl might go kind of long but would turn okay. My mistake!

That ball hit 2nd arrow and went out to about 5. It started making the turn and lined up on the pocket. That ball looked like a boulder rolling down hill into a herd of cows.

1st game frames 2-3 tacky approach got me, 8th frame I got careless threw it out to the 2 board (all most got back to the pocket. 10th was afraid I'd over hook it and threw it flat.

2nd game frames 1 & 5 little mistakes on my part, 9th just a little fast, 10th Tap!

3rd game lanes was getting pretty dry, but was surprised the ball made it all 3 games. If I had changed my rotation a little I would have carried the back row on frames 5-6-8.

Frame 4 tried a down and in, it went Brooklyn. But if I had backed of on the cup a little, it would have been a great down and in shot.

That gutter in the 10th was me hitting my leg!

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w89/aloarjr810/KQ%20Bowling%20Winter/week_13.jpg

Thoughts on the ball: I had surprising power coupled with control with the Slant HD using the O.O.B surface on our house shot. It made it through the heads nice and had a very strong roll into the pins after it made the turn.

[noeymc]

can you explain what the first part means?

[bowl1820]

can you explain what the first part means?

What part are you referring to?

[noeymc]

o sorry thought i put pic in there

[Brother_jd]

what is a determinator?

[bowl1820]

o sorry thought i put pic in there


what is a determinator?

From the Determinator Info Sheet

What is Mass Bias?

The term Mass Bias refers to the fact that the center of mass of a bowling ball is not located directly under the pin of the ball. having a Mass Bias causes the center of gravity (CG) mark of a ball to move away from the pin, resulting in a pin-out ball. Therefore, all pin-out balls have a mass bias. A pin-out ball is one in which the pin is at least one inch from the CG mark on the surface of the ball. Technically speaking, the term mass bias is actually short for enhanced mass bias." Enhanced mass bias refers to increasing the dynamic effect of shifting the center of mass away from the pin by having a specific part of the core present on one side of the ball that is not present on the other side of the ball. Enhancing the mass bias affects the direction and rate at which the ball migrates toward its preferred spin axis. Track flare is caused by the migration of the bowler's positive axis point (PAP) toward the ball's preferred spin axis. Knowing the location of the mass bias greatly increases the ball driller's ability to create the desired ball reaction for every bowler by accurately marking the correct layout for each ball chosen.
Introducing the deTerminator!
http://www.jayhawkbowling.com/Products/product_pics/DeTerminator.JPG

The deTerminator is designed to accurately find the location of the mass bias on the surface of a bowling ball and to measure the responsiveness of the ball's design to lane friction. The mass bias location can then be used along with the pin to accurately and reliably lay out a bowling ball to obtain the most appropriate reaction for a bowler. The deTerminator is the ONLY tool available to accurately find the mass bias of a plugged ball.

The strength of a ball's mass bias is measured by finding how long it takes the ball to reach its preferred spin axis from its most dynamic layout position. The faster the ball reaches its preferred spin axis, the stronger its mass bias is, and the stronger the mass bias is, the more dynamic the ball is. The deTerminator, when used properly, will allow the ball driller to produce the best ball motion for every bowler.

The location of the mass bias on an undrilled ball is found by spinning the ball two times with the deTerminator from two different starting positions, and then marking the ball's preferred spin axis on each spin. Using these two marks and the pin, the mass bias can be quickly and accurately located.

The deTerminator will find the mass bias for almost all pin-out balls. On some balls with weaker core designs, the mass bias cannot be found because the ball will not stabilize on a preferred spin axis. A pin-in ball does not have a mass bias, unless otherwise indicated by the manufacturer.

[75lockwood]

Dang, your proshop guy sounds awesome! I look forward to finding a pro shop that is this willing to help and teach :D

Ball looks great, good luck getting your first 300 with it :D