poor ball or poor bowler performance which is which?

[Judy clemons]

how can you be sure that it is the ball that needs a good soak cleaning? Is it not possible that a bowler
is just off their stance, target, or shot? how do you recognize which is which?

[J Anderson]

how can you be sure that it is the ball that needs a good soak cleaning? Is it not possible that a bowler
is just off their stance, target, or shot? how do you recognize which is which?

It can be really hard to tell especially from the bowlers point of view. Its very easy for little errors to sneak into our approach and become full blown bad habits without our noticing. So, since we feel like we're doing everything right, the problem must be that they used too much oil on the lane or the ball must be dead. It can't be my fault, can it?

Well if other people are getting a good reaction it can't be the lane. If the ball has close to a season's worth of games on it, it probably need de-oiling. If you're not sure, have a friend or a coach watch you for a few frames, to get some feedback.

[scottymoney]

If you can't figure out if it is you or the ball, clean the ball then 1 of the factors can be eliminated. I give my ball a hot water dish soap bath every 2-3 weeks.

[swingset]

It's pretty easy to tell with some experience, and also having several balls with which to compare. A ball whose reaction is well known and gradually stops reacting can be suspected, then compared against a fresher ball to eliminate the lanes/bowler/release. If it's losing its characteristics, clean it.

It's also a good idea to track the number of games on a ball and stay ahead of maintenance like rejuvination...I'd rather be 10 games ahead of getting the oil out than take it out during a league night and find it's lost its snap.

[aussiedave]

how can you be sure that it is the ball that needs a good soak cleaning? Is it not possible that a bowler
is just off their stance, target, or shot? how do you recognize which is which?

Does the ball fit well? Was it drilled for you? How long ago was it drilled for you - have you lost or gained weight since the drilling?
ad.

[ecub]

The way I judge it is by using a ball cleaner. When my bowling ball has been extracted with oil, when I use a ball cleaner, the cleaner almost gets absorbed quickly or dries up. When I wipe the cleaner off the ball, the ball has a shine to it after wiping, like he cleaner is still on, then it's time to remove the oil.

[Kobra167]

Someone once said all good bowlers adjust. You kind of learn from experience, but sometimes u just dont know. If u suspect a problem then troubleshoot the things under your control. Go practice and video tape your performance. Analyze it. Have a coach look at it and you. Check your speed to rev ratio, consistency of release etc. Clean the ball, revive it, resurface or change the surface maybe. You can't worry too much about weather, temperature, lane preparation, lane evenness fresh oil, broken down, or carry down as that's not under your control. If you can't find anything, then usually I find the conditions didn't match the ball.

I tell my students. The ball does what you tell it to do. If it's not doing what you want it to do. Reprogram it (revive, surface/layout change, etc...) or give it a different set of instructions(hand/wrist position, ball speed, axis rotation, etc..) You can blame the ball all you want. But if you miss the pocket or missed your spare, it's your fault. Everything else is....welcome to bowling