Aslan
03-28-2015, 05:44 PM
I have a teammate in my Thursday league that is a pro shop's dream. He buys a new ball every 3 weeks and most of the decision is just whatever the pro shop operator thinks.
Well, he has no real bowling ball IQ. He knows virtually nothing about bowling ball technology. So he usually tries a ball…if it works he uses it. Then if it hooks too much or not enough…he goes and randomly grabs another one and tries that one.
His current arsenal is:
DV8 Ruckus Feud, Brunswick Mastermind Genius, Storm Optimus, and Motiv Jackal.
Now, in my initial attempt to analyze his arsenal and figure out a knowledge-based progression…I looked at what ball hooks soonest and the RG which is suppoed to be indicitive of that. Going simply by the RGs:
The Jackal should hook soonest (2.46), then the Optimus (2.48), then the Genius (2.532), and then the Feud (2.566).
BUT…there are two problems when you dig deeper into the balls in question:
1) The Jackal's coverstock seems to be designed to go a bit further than it's RG would indicate. It's also the newest ball in terms of coverstock technology.
2) The Genius, when reviewing ball path diagrams, seems to be suggested to use more on the outside (of 10) which a strong backend. The other 3 balls show paths that open up the lane a bit more. Not a reliable metric by any means….but it's still a thought.
The problem with using RGs is they involve the core and the coverstock has been proven to be far or at least slightly more relevant to ball motion. Using that logic, a Solid cover will hook soonest, followed by a hybrid, followed by a pearl.
Using that logic, the progression is the exact opposite: Feud (solid), Genius (hybrid), Jackal (pearl/matte), Optimus (pearl/1500polished).
:confused:
Now…one thing I've found useful in arsenal dilemmas when you have this type of conundrum is to use the bowling ball.com PerfectScale rating (if they've rated the ball which for most they have). I don't think it's a good first tool to go to…I think coverstocks and RGs and understanding those is more important. But, the perfectscale usually is pretty good as a tiebreaker. And I think it's a good leveler of the playing field that takes into account different companies bias as well as being a built in measure of how technology changes over time.
Using that logic…the progression should be the same as when using the coverstocks, not the RGs.
Now, I know the best way to see what hooks first is to watch him throw them…but this aint a guy thats gonna come in for practice and get videotaped. This is a guy that shows up about 10 minutes late for league night and only bowls once a week.
The other frustration is, he is a bowler with rather excessive speed. I'd say he's in that 19-22mph range. So…before even looking at this…I was well aware that if he didn't "slow his roll"….he may not see much difference in ANY arsenal.
So do any ball experts and/or those that have used the balls above have any input into the progression? I know most bowlers use "feel" rather than numbers to determine progression…but do any that use numbers come across this problem as well? And for the coaches/veterans…is it likely that at such a high speed a person likely won't see any difference ball to ball or arsenal to arsenal? Would a high speed player sand their equipment to get "some" movement before skidding past the breakpoint? Or would sanding the balls cause the balls to start into their roll sooner but burn out too fast?
Well, he has no real bowling ball IQ. He knows virtually nothing about bowling ball technology. So he usually tries a ball…if it works he uses it. Then if it hooks too much or not enough…he goes and randomly grabs another one and tries that one.
His current arsenal is:
DV8 Ruckus Feud, Brunswick Mastermind Genius, Storm Optimus, and Motiv Jackal.
Now, in my initial attempt to analyze his arsenal and figure out a knowledge-based progression…I looked at what ball hooks soonest and the RG which is suppoed to be indicitive of that. Going simply by the RGs:
The Jackal should hook soonest (2.46), then the Optimus (2.48), then the Genius (2.532), and then the Feud (2.566).
BUT…there are two problems when you dig deeper into the balls in question:
1) The Jackal's coverstock seems to be designed to go a bit further than it's RG would indicate. It's also the newest ball in terms of coverstock technology.
2) The Genius, when reviewing ball path diagrams, seems to be suggested to use more on the outside (of 10) which a strong backend. The other 3 balls show paths that open up the lane a bit more. Not a reliable metric by any means….but it's still a thought.
The problem with using RGs is they involve the core and the coverstock has been proven to be far or at least slightly more relevant to ball motion. Using that logic, a Solid cover will hook soonest, followed by a hybrid, followed by a pearl.
Using that logic, the progression is the exact opposite: Feud (solid), Genius (hybrid), Jackal (pearl/matte), Optimus (pearl/1500polished).
:confused:
Now…one thing I've found useful in arsenal dilemmas when you have this type of conundrum is to use the bowling ball.com PerfectScale rating (if they've rated the ball which for most they have). I don't think it's a good first tool to go to…I think coverstocks and RGs and understanding those is more important. But, the perfectscale usually is pretty good as a tiebreaker. And I think it's a good leveler of the playing field that takes into account different companies bias as well as being a built in measure of how technology changes over time.
Using that logic…the progression should be the same as when using the coverstocks, not the RGs.
Now, I know the best way to see what hooks first is to watch him throw them…but this aint a guy thats gonna come in for practice and get videotaped. This is a guy that shows up about 10 minutes late for league night and only bowls once a week.
The other frustration is, he is a bowler with rather excessive speed. I'd say he's in that 19-22mph range. So…before even looking at this…I was well aware that if he didn't "slow his roll"….he may not see much difference in ANY arsenal.
So do any ball experts and/or those that have used the balls above have any input into the progression? I know most bowlers use "feel" rather than numbers to determine progression…but do any that use numbers come across this problem as well? And for the coaches/veterans…is it likely that at such a high speed a person likely won't see any difference ball to ball or arsenal to arsenal? Would a high speed player sand their equipment to get "some" movement before skidding past the breakpoint? Or would sanding the balls cause the balls to start into their roll sooner but burn out too fast?