Heavy vs. Light Oil Ball

[backlasher]

I've been bowling about a year and don't know much about the sport. If my lanes are dry to light oil, what would a ball for medium or heavy oil do?

[bowl1820]

I've been bowling about a year and don't know much about the sport. If my lanes are dry to light oil, what would a ball for medium or heavy oil do?

At the simplest level if you use a heavy oil ball on a dry lane, it can act real weak. Because it will read the lanes too early/much (see the friction), hooking too early and straightening out losing it's hitting power etc. or just hooking too much and missing the pins.

[Markb]

^^^ Exactly

I have tried to explain this to some people I bowl with, and they do not comprehend the physics involved. why doesn't my top of the line heavy oil ball out my lower end ball I hear them say all the time. I try to explain, but after a few times, I think they just gotta use google and figure it out for themselves.

[vdubtx]

All depends on your style, revs and ball speed.

Ball for heavy oil sometimes will hook a lot and not be very controllable. You would likely have to play pretty deep to keep in correct side of the pocket. Other times it will not hook as much and be very flat.

Balls for Medium oil will likely still be OK to use depending if you can make adjustments on the lanes.

[Mike White]

All depends on your style, revs and ball speed.

Ball for heavy oil sometimes will hook a lot and not be very controllable. You would likely have to play pretty deep to keep in correct side of the pocket. Other times it will not hook as much and be very flat.

Balls for Medium oil will likely still be OK to use depending if you can make adjustments on the lanes.


I like the analogy of the ball being the tires on the car, and your rev rate being the engine. The moment the ball sees friction is the moment you pop the clutch.

A heavy oil ball is like a tire with a lot of friction to the road. If your engine is revving high, you're going to get some wheel smoke, but also a lot of acceleration. If your engine is revving low, you're likely to stall the engine, and achieve very little acceleration.

[kingtut]

I like the analogy of the ball being the tires on the car, and your rev rate being the engine. The moment the ball sees friction is the moment you pop the clutch.

A heavy oil ball is like a tire with a lot of friction to the road. If your engine is revving high, you're going to get some wheel smoke, but also a lot of acceleration. If your engine is revving low, you're likely to stall the engine, and achieve very little acceleration.

I was thinking of a analogy the other day when someone asked me "Why do you bring so many balls when you bowl?" The only one that came to mind was, bowling balls to a bowler is like a great set of knives to a chef. Each knife plays a role and have their purpose. A Big butcher (Clever) knife is to a heavy oil ball when you need brute force to get the job done, bone and all. A Chef's knife are like your heavy-medium balls because they are versatile and can be used on many conditions. Paring or Boning knives are like our spare balls when accuracy is key. The different versions of edges or shapes in each type of knife (straight, serrated, granton, bird's peak, granny shaped, etc.) are coverstock, inner blocks, and hand layouts for bowlers. It's extremely overwhelming to think about, but once you use the right knife for the right use makes cooking simple/enjoyable. Same thing with bowling equipment. It would be so much easier if their was an online manual like in knives to say what you should use this for and when to use it.

[RobLV1]

kingtut: Great analogy! Do you mind if I borrow it occasionally?

[kingtut]

Please do!

[CaptainXeroid]

I've been bowling about a year and don't know much about the sport. If my lanes are dry to light oil, what would a ball for medium or heavy oil do?In addition to the other fine comments, I can add from my experience that throwing doing this can lead to some bad habits. I find that I'm rushing my feet, opening my shoulders too much, and rising up at the foul line all in an attempt to throw it faster. I've known a few people over the years who've actually injured themselves trying to throw too much ball. One in particular had PBA aspirations dashed before he blew out his left knee.

It seems most bowlers in today's 'power' game prefer to use the strongest ball they can and try to control the lane with speed. The ball comes off my hand rolling, so I often use a ball for dryer lanes when my teammates are using medium oil balls. Let your ball reaction be your guide if you wonder if you're throwing too much ball.

[JohnnyG]

Any serious bowler must have bowling balls to combat medium-heavy oil lane conditions. With the versatility of modern coverstocks, the surface texture can be modified to meet the degree of friction you desire to match best with lane conditions at most bowling centers where you compete.

[rv driver]

At the simplest level if you use a heavy oil ball on a dry lane, it can act real weak. Because it will read the lanes too early/much (see the friction), hooking too early and straightening out losing it's hitting power etc. or just hooking too much and missing the pins.
I second this opinion. But most centers I'm familiar with use a THS, with medium to medium-light volume. Unless you're bowling early, early in the day, you won't run into heavy oil in my (admittedly limited) experience.