But that's the point Bowl1820!
At what point is a "truck" a "car"? At what point is a dog a wolf? What is "heavy" vs "light"?
Most people in every bowling thread on the internet seems to think specifications actually MEAN something....yet nearly all of them are in agreement that everything is just variable and it's hard to say and sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't, etc... Nobody wants to actually define anything....which makes specifications useless.
For example, lets say I start a bowling ball company and claim my bowling balls go longer and snap harder than any other balls on the market. Then a bowler buys them and I get a customer complaint saying my bowling balls don't work as advertised. I simply respond that using my specific release, drilling, lanes, oil conditions, humidity, and speed...my claims are true. How does a person refute my claims....if my claims are based on nothing? How can a person argue that a core plays a certain role in a ball's motion....if we can't define what a core does and what a core does not do?
I'm working off the assumption....that bowling ball companies are not just making things up. I assume they actually believe core and RG and differential and cover stock....that these things MATTER. And most people would agree they do. But when I say, "Okay...then the IDEAL skid/flip ball would be "INSERT IDEAL SPECS"....everyone gasps and says, "Whoa...whoa....I throw a Rotogrip Poopmaster and it's way more skid/flip than the Storm Stinkvomit! Those stats don't mean anything!"
IF stats mean something...then there must be an ideal for a certain reaction. Anything, any stat, any spec....that is not that ideal....is less than ideal. It can't be both ways. I can't sand a bowling ball and claim I'm trying to make it go longer. I can't polish a bowling ball and try to make it hook sooner. Likewise, I can't say a solid, sanded ball is "skid/flip"....when sanding it or making it out of a solid cover....causes it to hook sooner....because then it's not "Skidding". If an RG makes a ball hook sooner....then a low RG ball...cannot be "skid/flip". If a symmetric core is designed to smooth out the ball motion....then that's not "flip"....that's a "skid/curve" ball.
I find it odd that most people claim "PerfectScale" is useless...yet they believe cover stocks....they believe RGs....they believe in surfaces....all of which are taken into account with the PerfectScale. Most bowlers agree that the core does something....they just can't tell you exactly what it does.
I believe a true "skid/flip" ball MUST be a polished, pearl with a high RG and an assymetric core. Anything less than those....detracts from it's ability to truly "skid/flip". I believe, this is also why many people (Rob, Amyers, etc...) have said that they feel Brunswick struggles with making a "skid/flip" ball....which makes sense because Brunswick covers are considered by most to hook sooner than other ball makers. So a Radical, Brunswick, or DV8....would not be "ideal" for a skid/flip ball. But that's just my "theory". I'm sure many of the DV8 guys will argue that they've had some very good "skid/flip" balls. Unless we have the robot help us...truly defining these things gets lost in a cloud of "well, his release is....*****....on **** lanes....as a tweener....throwing at that speed...etc..."
One thing I find frustrating is watching the ball videos. You see guys throwing these balls...and they are all going long and snapping. Even the strokers/tweeners seem to be generating 400rpms....and it looks like the breakpoint on the lanes has been sanded or something....the balls hit the breakpoint like a golf ball hitting a cinder block. Then all us "dummies"....see those videos and go, "Oooooo! That ball really turns the corner!! I need to get THAT ball!! Then even my horrid release can result in Jason Belmonte type of carry!!!" Then we buy it....the ball does nothing but make a tiny move on the backend...and we think it's "broken".
I'm very worried about my next arsenal. I have a LOT of polished pearls with low RGs...and I want to start throwing the Defiant Edge. But the logical part of my brain is asking, "Why throw a polished pearl Rotogrip ball....with an RG that is going to try and get it to hook sooner....while the cover is trying to make it go longer?" Maybe...it'll be a pleasant surprise....maybe the cover/surface allows it to clear the heads...retaining power...and the core then overcomes my higher speed...to get the ball to make a definitive move to the pocket. Maybe. Or....I might be disappointed....because the ball will have no energy downlane...because the core wants to hook before the ball ever 'grabs' or find friction.
The opposite is true for the Bullet Train I plan to un-retire. I have a feeling that the core is going to save up energy...higher RG...but that dam S79 cover...even if I get it surfaced to 3000 and polish the heck out of it....is going to want to grab as soon as it finds any friction. That will result in two balls....neither of which can carry...so I'll be using a Track300A and constantly cussing up a storm because that ball isn't going to make ANY move...ever...so I'm going to subconsciously "try" to make it move...and then I'm back to square 1.
Mudpuppy Cliff Notes: Second worst post ever. Bowl 2-handed and the ball won't matter.
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