mishatx
01-06-2018, 08:47 PM
While rewatching video from a recent pair of games, I went off in search of information about the location of the downlane range finder boards on the brunswick lanes.
I came across the marketing materials for Pro Lane and Anvilane and noticed this:
Determining Hook Power
Pro Lane’s board lines and alternating light/dark boards help bowlers to determine their “hook power,” or how many boards their ball covers from the foul line to the pins. This simple equation helps bowlers at any skill level to consistently hit the pocket.
It goes on to give examples of hook power - a ball released on 10, breaks at 10 and and hits the pocket at 17 has a "hook power" of 7. Similarly, a ball that is released at 16, breaks at 13, and hits at 17 has a "hook power" of 7. In essence, it's (number of boards right to breakpoint + number of boards left to pins) [flip left and right as appropriate].
Now this might not be new information for most of you - but for me it was very interesting. I went back and looked at every shot, and despite feeling very inconsistent in my release, my target, etc, I had a "hook power" of about 8-10 on every shot - even the ones I got hung up in and sent all the way off to the left - if you discounted the boards covered to the left before the breakpoint, the ball was breaking 8 or 9 boards further left after that. I was able to pause each shot at laydown and at the break point, and predict within a board where it would hit the pins, based on where it was at those two points.
One thing I've been disappointed about is that when I miss to the right, it's like my ball doesn't react - but with this "hook power" in mind, I see that the ball is reacting the same amount. A strike shot might lay down at 13 and break at 11, then hook back over to 17 to hit the pocket with a hook power of 8. A miss might lay down at 14 and get lost out to 9, and with only 3 or 4 boards of hook power left makes what looks like a weak move and is lucky to even land a light hit on the 3 pin. So while I had been disappointed that I was not getting enough revs on those shots to get back to the pocket, I see instead that I might just be struggling with aim and hitting the breakpoint correctly.
This concept has also helped me to better conceptualize why a miss right necessitates a move right and a miss left a move left. In essence, you're working how much "hook power" to burn before the breakpoint and how much after.
I thought this was an interesting concept and I hope it helps me develop. I see some possible issues: while it appears that "hook power" is an attribute of the bowler, it looks like it's highly dependent on lane condition, ball, and probably other factors, and could change from venue to venue, lane to lane or even day to day (or maybe even board-to-board, based on pattern shape?). It does seem, though, if you can work out the "hook power" for a particular ball for you on a particular night, use the rule of 31 to find the exit point, you can get an idea for a line to play.
I came across the marketing materials for Pro Lane and Anvilane and noticed this:
Determining Hook Power
Pro Lane’s board lines and alternating light/dark boards help bowlers to determine their “hook power,” or how many boards their ball covers from the foul line to the pins. This simple equation helps bowlers at any skill level to consistently hit the pocket.
It goes on to give examples of hook power - a ball released on 10, breaks at 10 and and hits the pocket at 17 has a "hook power" of 7. Similarly, a ball that is released at 16, breaks at 13, and hits at 17 has a "hook power" of 7. In essence, it's (number of boards right to breakpoint + number of boards left to pins) [flip left and right as appropriate].
Now this might not be new information for most of you - but for me it was very interesting. I went back and looked at every shot, and despite feeling very inconsistent in my release, my target, etc, I had a "hook power" of about 8-10 on every shot - even the ones I got hung up in and sent all the way off to the left - if you discounted the boards covered to the left before the breakpoint, the ball was breaking 8 or 9 boards further left after that. I was able to pause each shot at laydown and at the break point, and predict within a board where it would hit the pins, based on where it was at those two points.
One thing I've been disappointed about is that when I miss to the right, it's like my ball doesn't react - but with this "hook power" in mind, I see that the ball is reacting the same amount. A strike shot might lay down at 13 and break at 11, then hook back over to 17 to hit the pocket with a hook power of 8. A miss might lay down at 14 and get lost out to 9, and with only 3 or 4 boards of hook power left makes what looks like a weak move and is lucky to even land a light hit on the 3 pin. So while I had been disappointed that I was not getting enough revs on those shots to get back to the pocket, I see instead that I might just be struggling with aim and hitting the breakpoint correctly.
This concept has also helped me to better conceptualize why a miss right necessitates a move right and a miss left a move left. In essence, you're working how much "hook power" to burn before the breakpoint and how much after.
I thought this was an interesting concept and I hope it helps me develop. I see some possible issues: while it appears that "hook power" is an attribute of the bowler, it looks like it's highly dependent on lane condition, ball, and probably other factors, and could change from venue to venue, lane to lane or even day to day (or maybe even board-to-board, based on pattern shape?). It does seem, though, if you can work out the "hook power" for a particular ball for you on a particular night, use the rule of 31 to find the exit point, you can get an idea for a line to play.