Marking your ball PAP permanently for ball info during use.....

[Hammer]

If you want to know what your ball is doing after each throw would it be worth while to permanently mark your PAP on your ball with white tape or whatever? At least you will know if you have a consistent release. And it will tell you if your release has changed over time for the better or worse so you can have your ball layout readjusted. Maybe using a permanent marker would be better then tape. What thoughts do you folks have on this idea?

[75lockwood]

I was actually wondering about whether my pap has changed recently, it seems like a good idea, the ball should never be tracking over your pap so i don't see an issue, that being said i don't think tournament officials would be too happy if you showed up with "an unknown agent" on the ball to mark your pap. I would say tape, but that could be an issue if it falls off at some point

[bowl1820]

When I get a ball drilled, I have my driller make a small mark on my PAP location. I then take a 1/16 drill bit and by hand bore a tiny hole on that spot (about as deep as the logo engraving at most) and fill it full with white. You would be surprised how far you can see that tiny mark going down the lane.
example: see it on the right


As for tape: tape is fine for practice, but you can't use it on the ball during league it's not legal.

Marker wears off fast also it's can be hard to see and might be a legality issue in regards to foreign substance on the surface (I'll try and look it up).

Also if you have a weight hole on your pap, you CAN'T color it with anything like say tape, paint, or whiteout.

[SmilingBowler]

Thanks bowl1820 for that idea. I may ask my pro shop to do the same. Great topic, Hammer.

[75lockwood]

When I get a ball drilled, I have my driller make a small mark on my PAP location. I then take a 1/16 drill bit and by hand bore a tiny hole on that spot (about as deep as the logo engraving at most) and fill it full with white. You would be surprised how far you can see that tiny mark going down the lane.
example: see it on the right




As for tape: tape is fine for practice, but you can't use it on the ball during league it's not legal.

Marker wears off fast also it's can be hard to see and might be a legality issue in regards to foreign substance on the surface (I'll try and look it up).

Also if you have a weight hole on your pap, you CAN'T color it with anything like say tape, paint, or whiteout.

That's quite an elegant solution, i think i will have to start doing this.

Thanks!

[sprocket]

What exactly is the benefit of having the PAP marked? Most balls will flare off the PAP after the first few revolutions. I've marked mine with tape and I can just barely catch that it's marked correctly before the flare takes it off the mark. It helps if someone else watches it for me. I could see the benefit if someone was making a video of their release, but then you could use tape anyway (in practice).

[bowl1820]

What exactly is the benefit of having the PAP marked?

Makes it easier to judge what your axis tilt and rotation is. Tell you if you changed your release.

Also a small permanent mark makes it easier to go back and put a piece of tape on the spot later if need be.