Is it the BALL, or the SKILL of the Bowler

[Mike White]

I won't argue with what you said Rob! First its the skills, but to what percentage does the ball make a difference? HOW A BALL IS DRILLED is in my opinion HUGE ALSO!

You can have any ball drilled so MANY WAYS, and it makes a HUGE difference as to how that ball reacts. I think bowlers should EXPLOR different methods, JUST to SEE how a different drilling reacts to their style and delivery!

NO MAGIC BALL OUT THEIR! Raw talent number 1, then having a ball drilled to suit YOUR STYLE of bowing and lane conditions number 2, then make and model of ball!

I think most bowlers I know all go to their driller and say: ( GIVE ME A BIG FLIP, HOOK at the END!)

What many wind up with is a real jumpy erratic ball! especially as the oil begins to transition.

Try some Pin downs along with pins up kicked out to the right of ring finger......explore the difference in a ball! Any good ball can do remarkable things when you lean the secret of how to drill it to suit YOU! I say drilling is 50 percent of the goodie your going to get out of a ball.

A BALL IS ONLY AS GOOD AS IT WAS DRILLED, and then its UP to YOU! (

The ball and the bowlers skill are factors in scoring, but they pale in comparison to oil pattern.

Under the right conditions, a spray can, house ball throwing idiot can shoot big scores.

The problem I see with saying the ball makes the difference is you can't objectively say, if I throw Ball X, I'm going to do better than if I throw Ball Y.

It's not until you see what the ball does, that you can make that determination.

So the scoring determines which ball is better, so yeah, the better ball will score better once you know which ball will score better.

Circular logic.

A players skill isn't just one item. It's broken down into many sub-skills.

One player who doesn't carry well, but is deadly at spares, may score the same as someone who carry's well, but can't make a spare to save his life.

Would you call these people equally skilled?

If you change the oil pattern, it probably will help one of those two players more than the other.

Then they wouldn't be scoring the same, and would appear to have different overall skill levels.

Your question doesn't have a reasonable answer.

[Amyers]

I agree Amyers, but its also amazing what ALMOST any ball can do with the right surface! A skilled bowler, can make adjustments in his delivery, along with a different surface and make a ball adapt to many different oil conditions.

I have played with different surfaces, ( I have a nice spinner I purchased on line, best money I have spent so far on bowling, WITHOUT A DOUBT).

Also the same ball drilled 3 different ways, becomes in reality 3 different balls. I some times think that for example if a person purchased 3 IQ pearls, you could dirll that same ball 3 radically different ways, you would have ( that ONE MAKE and MODEL BALL l), handling 3 different conditions the lanes might present.

The secret is to find that MAGIC DRILLING THAT WORKS for YOU,,,, along with surface for the lanes you bowl, or pattern.

Still SKILL, and Knowledge is number ONE! Concentration, and Focus!

On some of this I agree with you drillings and surface do matter. I also agree you should experiment with different drillings but you should also keep in mind what the ball was made to do with both. I have a friend that tried a weak control drilling on a Storm Sync didn't like it. I am kind of like what did you expect this ball wasn't designed to be that. If you take things too far with surface or drillings away from what the ball was meant to be I believe you are likely to end up with lower performance. You mentioned the IQ pearl even if you put a 500 grit surface on it your still not going to get the good midland read you would with the IQ solid it wasn't designed to do that.

[RobLV1]

Everybody's right!

Regardless of the skill level of the bowler, to get the most out of that skill level, getting the ball to match up with the oil pattern is very important. The higher the skill level of the bowler, the more important the ball becomes.

There are only two elements that determine ball reaction: friction and resistence. Resistence is provided by the radius of gyration, and friction is affected by everything else: cover material, surface preparation, and how the core is orientated within the ball. Specific layouts are not magic. All the layout does is to change the actual core numbers. The core numbers, low rg and differential, reference a bowling ball before it is drilled. Once you put holes in the ball, depending on where the holes go, the numbers change. This is why I have long recommended that bowlers stick to one to three proven layouts. By doing this, you can look at the undrilled numbers of several bowling balls, and while you won't know the actual numbers, you will know that the change is consistent from ball A to ball B to ball C.

In terms of surface, the surface is very important as it is the only thing about the bowling ball that can be easily changed. For example, I am going to practice for a tournament this afternoon. I am taking seven bowling balls: a spare ball plus six. Practice today is on the fresh oil pattern. I have taken my two most aggressive balls, the Mastermind and the Mastermind Genius, and put a fresh 500 abralon surface on each. I am taking a full set of new abralon pads with me, and during practice I will bring up the surface on each until I get the reaction I'm looking for. While the two balls have the same core, the Mastermind is a solid that is drilled aggressively, and the Genius is a hybrid which is drilled with the pin in the ring finger to tone down the reaction. By adjusting the two surfaces to match up with the oil pattern, I can get two different reactions from the two balls with the same core.

[MICHAEL]

Everybody's right!

Regardless of the skill level of the bowler, to get the most out of that skill level, getting the ball to match up with the oil pattern is very important. The higher the skill level of the bowler, the more important the ball becomes.

There are only two elements that determine ball reaction: friction and resistence. Resistence is provided by the radius of gyration, and friction is affected by everything else: cover material, surface preparation, and how the core is orientated within the ball. Specific layouts are not magic. All the layout does is to change the actual core numbers. The core numbers, low rg and differential, reference a bowling ball before it is drilled. Once you put holes in the ball, depending on where the holes go, the numbers change. This is why I have long recommended that bowlers stick to one to three proven layouts. By doing this, you can look at the undrilled numbers of several bowling balls, and while you won't know the actual numbers, you will know that the change is consistent from ball A to ball B to ball C.

In terms of surface, the surface is very important as it is the only thing about the bowling ball that can be easily changed. For example, I am going to practice for a tournament this afternoon. I am taking seven bowling balls: a spare ball plus six. Practice today is on the fresh oil pattern. I have taken my two most aggressive balls, the Mastermind and the Mastermind Genius, and put a fresh 500 abralon surface on each. I am taking a full set of new abralon pads with me, and during practice I will bring up the surface on each until I get the reaction I'm looking for. While the two balls have the same core, the Mastermind is a solid that is drilled aggressively, and the Genius is a hybrid which is drilled with the pin in the ring finger to tone down the reaction. By adjusting the two surfaces to match up with the oil pattern, I can get two different reactions from the two balls with the same core.

when using your abralon pads by HAND, don't you find it hard to apply the surface evenly? When I use the spinner I do so much pressure, on four sides, for the same amount of time. When doing it by hand, what method do you use???

[Aslan]

It's kind've a silly question.

I'd say bowling is somewhere between soccer on the one end of the spectrum and Nascar or horse racing on the other side pod the spectrum.

Equipment obviously plays more of a part than in many sports like basketball, baseball, and soccer. But even if so, it's still probably 91% skill over ball.

But due to modern technology and how it's changed the game…we can't just say " it's all skill" because we're seeing SO many players bowling in the 200s that if they had to use urethane or rubber balls of the old days would probably not average 150. We still see bowlers averaging 221 that go try a sport pattern or USBC open and can't break 165. So OBVIOUSLY equipment IS more of a factor.

I recently read an article talking about the bowlers most affected by the change from urethane to resin. The interesting part of the story (for me anyways) was that reactive resin didn't HURT anyone…it just minimized the advantage some guys had. If you were a cranker in the urethane days…you had the same advantage that a 2-handed bowler has today. When reactive resin came along…suddenly strokers got the same advantage (entry angle, pin carry) without needing to develop a high rev release. So the more ACCURATE bowlers got the advantage of entry angle…and the less accurate bowlers who were relying on generating the revs/angle…suddenly lost their advantage.

Thats why I don't think 2-handed will ever become dominant as a style. Even though it offers some advatanges in terms of entry angle and pin carry…as balls continue to develop that give the average bowler better and better angles to the pocket…..the difference between 1-handed and 2-handed will continue to be minimized.

[RobLV1]

Michael: Using a spinner is almost mandatory in terms of taking the surface down to the roughest. There are three elements involved in adding surfact: abrasion, pressure, and time. That is exactly why I took the surface on my bowling balls down to a fresh 500 on a spinner, and intended to finish them off by hand. When you finish it off by hand, you use circular motions to give a clean, even surface over the spinner surface.

Aslan: My prediction: in 20 years, 95% of the bowlers on the professional tour (if there still is one) will be bowling with two hands. BTW, if I'm right, donate some money to a charity because I will most probably be dead, or very close to it.

[Shaneshu87]

i still have to say it's all skill and experience, while new technology is changing the game for the better, you still have to KNOW the right ball for the right shot, you cannot roll the same ball on every PBA shot and expect the same results, for one if you do then i would question your sanity lol. while the average joe can pick up a high end ball and make it hook the house and carry a 200+ avg does not make him a great bowler, especially if he is shooting on the same exact house shot each week, the only thing he learns is what arrow to hit every time for a strike, change that and you screw up his whole world lol i've seen this happen. what make you a great bowler is actively getting out of your comfort zone and learning how to adjust to a different shot by making the necessary equipment changes. so yes the right equipment on the right shot can equal success, but it's 100% skill of the bowler to determine the right equipment for the right condition.

[Aslan]

Aslan: My prediction: in 20 years, 95% of the bowlers on the professional tour (if there still is one) will be bowling with two hands. BTW, if I'm right, donate some money to a charity because I will most probably be dead, or very close to it.

I'd take that bet if you weren't too dead to pay up. For that to be true…we'd have to be seeing about 95% of youth bowlers bowling 2-handed…since in 20 years our current youth will be at the pro level. Of matter of fact, there's MORE of a chance that the PBA won't exist in 20 years than there is 95% of PBA bowlers will throw 2-handed.

Not gonna happen. As balls become stronger and stronger…2-handed will lose it's advantage. Will you see MORE 2-handers in 20 years? Absolutely. It's a popular fad right now and many youth are taking to it. But in 20 years? I'd be shocked if it was 40% much less 95%.

[Mike White]

But due to modern technology and how it's changed the game…we can't just say " it's all skill" because we're seeing SO many players bowling in the 200s that if they had to use urethane or rubber balls of the old days would probably not average 150. We still see bowlers averaging 221 that go try a sport pattern or USBC open and can't break 165. So OBVIOUSLY equipment IS more of a factor.

Not so obvious.

The same person (skill), using the same equipment (ball), the only difference is the oil pattern.

Looks to me like the oil pattern has the most significant effect on scoring.

If I had to rank the effects on scoring, it would be lane condition (oil), player skill, equipment.

[RobLV1]

Not so obvious.

The same person (skill), using the same equipment (ball), the only difference is the oil pattern.

Looks to me like the oil pattern has the most significant effect on scoring.

If I had to rank the effects on scoring, it would be lane condition (oil), player skill, equipment.

I agree. The lane condition dictates the equipment that is to be used, and the player's skill level determines how successful he can be with the right ball in his hand, when playing the correct line for the pattern. The best players can do three things: figure out how to play the pattern, figure out what ball will do the job, and change the rotation on their ball to create the most area to carry the most corner pins. This, along with their ability to consistently repeat shots is what makes them the best bowlers.