Help with Ball adjustments

[bobforsaken]

I've acquired a decent arsenal with a couple of used ball additions and now have to decide how best my balls work together.

What I currently have is:

Optimus (Pin over @about 4 inches from Pap)
Fusion (Pin Over @about 4 inches from PAP)
Hyroad (Pin over @ about 3.5 inches from PAP)
Hyroad Pearl (Pin over @ about 6 inches from PAP)


How I describe the ball reactions is as follows:

Optimus.. Skid snap.. Hockey stick
Fusion Medium length with more of a arcing finish
Hyroad (Still trying to figure.. but seems like its VERY similar to the Fusion. My guess would be a bit more length but still very arcing finish)
Hyroad Pearl (More of a steady arc)

My question is, what "one-two" Punch combos make the most sense.

My optimus and fusion worked together because they were the only balls I had. I would play the fusion until I started moving inside past 25 (standing) and then switch to the optimus which had better entry angle. That worked pretty well..

I recently experimented with the two Pearls (Optimus/Hyroad Pearl) and had a fantastic game with the Optimus. When my original line with the optimus just started to come in high a touch, I switch to the hyroad pearl. To my surprise it actually came in HIGHER and crossed the face of the head pin. I ultimately went right back to the optimus with a 2 and 1 move and continued striking. Thy Hyroad Pearl is definitely two to 4 boards weaker than the Optimus on fresh conditions, so the line may have just been too burned up.

Based on all of this? what should my "teams" be ?
for lighter oil:
Team Hyroad (Hyroad/Hyroad pearl)
Team Pearl (Optimus/Hyroad Pearl)

For heavier oil:
Team Hybrid (Fusion/Hyroad)
Team MasterLine (Optimus/Fusion)


More importantly, HOW should I play the balls off of each other?

[RobLV1]

I've acquired a decent arsenal with a couple of used ball additions and now have to decide how best my balls work together.

What I currently have is:

Optimus (Pin over @about 4 inches from Pap)
Fusion (Pin Over @about 4 inches from PAP)
Hyroad (Pin over @ about 3.5 inches from PAP)
Hyroad Pearl (Pin over @ about 6 inches from PAP)


How I describe the ball reactions is as follows:

Optimus.. Skid snap.. Hockey stick
Fusion Medium length with more of a arcing finish
Hyroad (Still trying to figure.. but seems like its VERY similar to the Fusion. My guess would be a bit more length but still very arcing finish)
Hyroad Pearl (More of a steady arc)

My question is, what "one-two" Punch combos make the most sense.

My optimus and fusion worked together because they were the only balls I had. I would play the fusion until I started moving inside past 25 (standing) and then switch to the optimus which had better entry angle. That worked pretty well..

I recently experimented with the two Pearls (Optimus/Hyroad Pearl) and had a fantastic game with the Optimus. When my original line with the optimus just started to come in high a touch, I switch to the hyroad pearl. To my surprise it actually came in HIGHER and crossed the face of the head pin. I ultimately went right back to the optimus with a 2 and 1 move and continued striking. Thy Hyroad Pearl is definitely two to 4 boards weaker than the Optimus on fresh conditions, so the line may have just been too burned up.

Based on all of this? what should my "teams" be ?
for lighter oil:
Team Hyroad (Hyroad/Hyroad pearl)
Team Pearl (Optimus/Hyroad Pearl)

For heavier oil:
Team Hybrid (Fusion/Hyroad)
Team MasterLine (Optimus/Fusion)


More importantly, HOW should I play the balls off of each other?

Interesting question! The first thing that strikes me in your descriptions is that you focus all of your attention on the cover materials (2 hybrids and 2 pearls) and the layouts (3 pretty strong, 1 pretty weak) and never mention two very important factors: finish and core. In terms of finish, unless you have altered any of the surfaces, they are all pretty much identical, 1500 + Step 2 polish. In terms of cores, all are symmetrical, two have low rg measurements (2.48 Fusion, 2.49 Optimus), and two have high rg measurements: both Hyroads at 2.57. In terms of differentials, three have high differentials, and one (Fusion) a low differential.

In terms of the cores, one of the high differential balls, the HyRoad, is drilled very weak to counteract the high differential. With that being said, what you have in reality are two early rolling balls (Fusion and Optimus), one fairly non-aggressive (Fusion), and one fairly aggressive (Optimus). On the other end of the spectrum, you have two go-long balls (two Hyroads), one fairly aggressive (Hyroad), and one fairly non-aggressive (Hyroad Pearl) because of the layout). Once you learn to look at it this way, you can easily see that the pairings are going to depend totally on how much difference you want to see between the balls. For the most noticable difference, the combination of the Optimus and the Hyroad Pearl would be the combination to use. For the least noticable difference, the Optimus and the Hyroad would be the combination to use. The other combinations are somewhere in the middle.

Personally, if you haven't already done so, I would suggest playing with the surfaces on a couple of the balls (I'd suggest the Fusion and the Hyroad) to bring those two balls closer to the middle of the range, to give yourself a much broader base of options.

[bobforsaken]

Thanks Rob.. Optimus/Hyroad Pearl is what I've decide to go with for my league today. Its a house condition and fairly long (42 feet). On fresh conditions the Optimus/Fusion worked well and wasn't too over powerful for me. But I should explore the Optimus/Hyroad as a team a bit more. Unfortunately, my league today does not have fresh conditions.. We have whatever was left-over from the Youth league and Saturday night Glow bowling. Also last night someone with a reactive ball was practicing on ONE of the two lanes we are playing on. You never no what you are going to get so the "Biggest difference" may give me the best chance to find something that works. Once I get to learn the way the fusion and hyroad relate a bit more, I may change the surface on one of them.

Thanks again for the input!

[bobforsaken]

This may be a loaded question.. but HOW would you play, say, the optimus and hyroad pearl off of each other. I guess I don't understand fully how different shot shapes and lengths can help you. In other words, if the Optimus starts reading too early and going High, why do I switch to the Hyroad Pearl (and what adjustment do I make) vs moving left with the optimus with a 2 and 1 move?

[RobLV1]

This may be a loaded question.. but HOW would you play, say, the optimus and hyroad pearl off of each other. I guess I don't understand fully how different shot shapes and lengths can help you. In other words, if the Optimus starts reading too early and going High, why do I switch to the Hyroad Pearl (and what adjustment do I make) vs moving left with the optimus with a 2 and 1 move?

This is a complex question and I don't have a lot of time before I have to leave to bowl a tournament, but at least we can get started. First off, you need to understand that there are two forces at work to create ball reaction: friction and resistance. Friction is easy to understand, it's simply the amount of "drag" that is created between the ball and the surface of the lane. Friction depends primarily on the cover of the bowling ball, along with the surface that's applied to it, in relation to the amount of oil on the part of the lane that you are playing. Resistance is more complicated, but just as important to a great majority of bowlers. Because it is more complicated, many bowlers choose to ignore it, rather than to take the time to learn about it.

Resistance is created by the core in the bowling ball. Each ball has a measurement called the low rg (radius of gyration). That measurement is provided on the shelf talker in the proshop, as well as on the manufacturers website. The higher the low measurement is, the harder the ball must work to rev up, and the longer it goes down the lane. Low rg balls are center-heavy, where balls with higher low rg measurements have more weight out near the cover. If you have the desire to understand it more fully, please let me know, but in the meantime just learn the concept.

In terms of making a ball change, considering the wide range of possible lane conditions that you could be facing, the most important thing for you to do is to get rid of the preconception that you have to start with the stronger ball and "ball down" to the weaker ball as the lanes break down. If you are bowling on a lane that has been destroyed with open play with plastic house balls, and extended practice with reactive balls, you cannot assume anything. Yes, if you start on fresh oil, most bowlers will start with a more aggressive bowling ball, but what if you start playing a line where, once it starts to dry up, a two and one move left puts you into a drier area yet, and another two and one left does the same? If you had found a line with the weaker ball first, you could make a large jump left, four and three for example, and switch to a more aggressive ball to help you to get it back from deeper inside.

Sorry, I have to leave, but if you're interested, I'll try to post more later.

[bobforsaken]

Thanks again Rob.. Good luck in the Tournament.
I do understand RG and how it relates. Like a figure skater who brings her arms in during a spin she is lowering her RG so spinning faster for the same amount of rotational force she applied originally. I'm not seeing a huge difference in the balls from one line to another, and that may be because of the similar surface as opposed to the differences in RG or differential. The differences I notice are more in the shape of the shot. So put another way, when is another shot shape more advantageous?

My experience, limited as it may be, is that the Optimus has a great margin for error to the right and really crushes the pins as long as I know what I'm getting with the lane such as a fresh lane condition. However when lines are burned and missing slightly left or right puts me in unexpected Bone-dry parts of the lane, it gets me in trouble, I would switch to the Hyroad Pearl because its shot shape is more forgiving. If I miss, I'm less likely to miss the pocket entirely.

However, in shorter patterns the skid snap reaction forces me to play deeper than I like to play so starting with the Hyroad pearl or a more arcing shape like the fusion may be easier to play in my comfort zone, but as i'm forced to move deeper the Skid Snap of the optimus excels where the Fusion or Hyroad Pearl may not be as successful.

Does this type of thinking make sense or am I looking at things wrong in terms of where a ball change makes sense.

The way I look at my balls is that the Hyroad Pearl and Fusion work better in the track area or outside where the Hyroad and Optimus work better as I get deeper.

[RobLV1]

The only thing that I think you are missing is the fact that you shouldn't use any ball to get to the pocket. You should be able to find a line to get to the pocket with any ball. Where the different shot shapes come into play is in creating more miss room, and better carry. Having the right ball in your hand and playing the correct line means that you don't have to be perfect. You should really have two goals: to learn to see ball motion clearly (all the way through the pins), and work to clear the term "my comfort zone" from your vocabulary.

[bobforsaken]

Thanks.. This is a very helpful article on the subject for anyone else reading this thread.

http://www.bowlingthismonth.com/arti...and-el-diablo/