Does the breakpoint you use depend on how deep you play?

[Hammer]

The Rule of 31 is sometimes used to find a usable breakpoint on a 40 foot house pattern. You take the 40 foot pattern and you subtract 31 which would leave you with 9 which would be the breakpoint you use plus or minus a board. Some folks here said you can't use the Rule of 31 on short patterns which are below a 40' pattern. If that is the case then how do you find the breakpoint to use on shorter house patterns? Does it depend on how deep you play? If you are playing straight up the boards along the right gutter would your breakpoint be like the three board? If your slide foot arch is on the 35 board would the breakpoint be the 15 board? How do you find your breakpoint on a THS pattern?

[Aslan]

I don't think the breakpoint changes. It's just a matter of whether or not you have the revs to get the ball to make that sharp of a turn or not.

My break point is almost always...regardless of pattern...right around the 2nd (in) tracer mark (for Brunswick lanes). Sometimes I play more outside and it breaks to the outside of that tracer. Sometimes I play more in the middle and it breaks just inside that tracer. With a solid cover stock or a very abraded ball...maybe it breaks a little before it gets to the tracer. With a pearl/polished...just as it gets beyond the tracer. But the breakpoint never really changes much.

But it's hard to say because styles are so variable. I can't move my feet to the left of 30 and target the 5 or 4 or 3 arrows. I just don't have the revs to get it to come back. I don't think the breakpoint would be any different...it would just be more abrupt/angular. But, like I said...styles vary. I see so many high rev players struggle like nobody's business trying to keep their ball right of the headpin on short patterns (like the Cheetah for instance). Yet...I still miss right and hit light. Because yes, it's "shorter" but that doesn't mean it's "drier". Because the oil volume is heavier and more spread out in the front of that pattern...for me it plays a lot like a THS.

[bowl1820]

The Rule of 31 is sometimes used to find a usable breakpoint on a 40 foot house pattern. You take the 40 foot pattern and you subtract 31 which would leave you with 9 which would be the breakpoint you use plus or minus a board.

Actually the Rule of 31 (The Exit point formula Pattern Length - 31 = Exit point) doesn't give you the break point, all it shows is where the ball should exit the oil at the end of the pattern. Once it reaches that point, the ball typically push past that point on it's way to the break point.


Some folks here said you can't use the Rule of 31 on short patterns which are below a 40' pattern.
Yes the formula doesn't work right on shorter patterns and really shouldn't be used on the THS it's more for sport type patterns.


If that is the case then how do you find the breakpoint to use on shorter house patterns? Does it depend on how deep you play? If you are playing straight up the boards along the right gutter would your breakpoint be like the three board? If your slide foot arch is on the 35 board would the breakpoint be the 15 board? How do you find your breakpoint on a THS pattern?

Now Mo Pinel suggested on how to find the board the breakpoint is on. By looking at the composite graph of the oil pattern. (you can also find it by looking at the Lane Machine Settings chart)

I just looked a lot of this was covered in your post here:
clcik for-How-did-the-Rule-of-31-come-about-in-bowling (http://www.bowlingboards.com/threads/17511-How-did-the-Rule-of-31-come-about-in-bowling)

Remember All these formulas are nothing more than starting points, Ultimately the conditions on the lanes dictate where the break point is and the only true way to find it is to roll the ball and watch.

[Hammer]

I guess if you don't have a graph of the oil pattern you are bowling on on your THS pattern you should ask the house how long the oil pattern is and from there it is a matter of guess work to find the breakpoint that will work for you that night.

[RobLV1]

The breakpoint has much more to do with the characteristics of the lanes in the center than with the oil pattern. How to play the oil pattern determines how you will get there. The easiest way to determine where the breakpoint is is to watch someone who is stringing strikes and see if you can find a way to that same breakpoint.