Conflicted Bowler!

[Zothen]

Over the summer a teammate brought to my attention that my ball was rolling end over end instead of side roll. So I practiced and started to get side roll again that is until 2 weeks ago when my ex teammate brought up the same problem. I told him what happened to the pins when the ball hit and he said they all went down,I said so whats the problem,he said my ball should have side roll,so I walked away pissed! Now i'm conflicted,because I see videos and watch the 200+ bowlers and i'm like,damn I wish I can figure out how to get side roll all the time. I asked my pro shop and they said not to worry about it. This season so far I went from 150 book to a current 176 after 24 games bowling without thinking about my game,now i'm constantly thinking about side roll and its starting to bother me. I notice that 1 game can be half side roll and half end over end or all side roll or all end over end.

So the question is-Does it really matter weather a fingertip ball has side roll as oppose to end over end,if your constantly in the pocket?

Thanks for the replies!

Zothen

[striker12]

well it dose not really matter it witch way it feels better coming off your hand some days i have side roll but most of the time i have end over end but also take a look at chris barns he is a side roll but he is not always side roll he dose end over end once and awhile it just depends on how you think the lanes are and how you like it coming off your hand.

[J Anderson]

It depends on how serious you are about bowling. If you expect that 90% of your pocket hits will be strikes it matters. To have the greatest chance of getting a strike the ball has to enter the pocket at the correct angle, about 6 degrees, with enough momentum to knock down all ten pins, but not so much that the ball doesn't deflect a bit. This is going to happen when the axis rotation, axis tilt, rev rate and ball speed match up to the lane condition.

What is very frustrating for some people is that bowling on a typical house shot its easy to hit the pocket. They see the ball hit the pocket and think it should be a strike regardless of how badly they missed their target. They don't realize how much the angle changed because they skidded through the heavy oil on a pulled shot, or how much energy the ball lost on a miss to the outside that gets into the dry too early and rolls out before hitting the pocket.

[Greenday]

how much energy the ball lost on a miss to the outside that gets into the dry too early and rolls out before hitting the pocket.

This is the problem that has been plaguing me. I'll hit the pocket, but my ball uses up all of it's energy too early. Leaves a lot of ten pins. I've been working on staying on top of the ball. It's been rough, because I've been throwing slowly when I focus on it. My coach asked me to throw it as if someone asked me to get as much hook as possible. Chucked it harder, ball got a lot more skid, then snapped hard into the pocket destroying all ten pins. Too bad this was the end of practice today and I had ripped some skin over where I had hand surgery.

[Zothen]

Unfortunately I never really paid attention to how the ball came off my hand,now I constantly watch the ball roll and I know it's affecting my game. I've had shots were the 7 pin will wobble on what everyone thought was a solid pocket. last night I had a end over end pocket that sent the 8 pin spinning and wobbling only to be left standing. I guess tomorrow I practice trying to get side roll.

Zothen

[billf]

I've been working on staying on top of the ball.

On top of the ball? Are you sure you typed that correctly?

[billf]

I guess tomorrow I practice trying to get side roll. Zothen

Given your knowledge of the game I assume you know how to get side roll but figured I would be sure. Do you know how you normally obtain side rotation? How much rotation are you trying to get?

[Greenday]

On top of the ball? Are you sure you typed that correctly?

Yea. It doesn't mean literally on top of the ball. More like instead of my hand being behind the ball, to keep my wrist more straight.

That's how my coach words it anyway. "On top of". My hand usually is bent backwards at the wrist so I've been working on it.

[billf]

Behind the ball the wrist has to be straight. Under, it's cupped. On top, it's bent backwards. Now I'm more confused than before but whatever, as long as you two understand what he means that's all that matters.

[bowl1820]

Behind the ball the wrist has to be straight. Under, it's cupped. On top, it's bent backwards. Now I'm more confused than before but whatever, as long as you two understand what he means that's all that matters.

That's how my coach words it anyway. "On top of". My hand usually is bent backwards at the wrist so I've been working on it.

Relaxed Wrist:
The weakest position in terms of the potential energy that may be imparted to the ball is relaxed wrist. The relaxed wrist places the hand on top of the ball. With the hand located well above the equator of the ball, the fingers exit the ball earlier, limiting the amount of energy and opportunity to generate revs to the ball.