What's the difference between board coverage and hook?

[Hendu71]

Okay, good stuff. Now let me ask you, wouldn't a ball that was capable of doing what the green line did, be a very good ball to have (situationally), since most people are bowling on the the black/red lines? Or does only the back end matter?

[J Anderson]

Sooo... Cliff's Notes Version: "total boards covered" =/= "hook." Right?

Now, for something (related, but) completely different: I'm confused by the term "flare potential." What is "flare potential?" Is it the number of boards covered in the roll phase only? Such that all 3 balls in ex. 2 have the same flare potential? Or is flare potential the "measure" of total boards covered, such that the green track has a higher flare potential? Or is it something completely different?

Flare potential, assuming your release allows you to take full advantage of it, can affect the number of boards covered. Flare is determined by looking at the oil rings left on the ball after rolling down the lane. The further apart the rings are, the more flare.

[Mike White]

Flare potential, assuming your release allows you to take full advantage of it, can affect the number of boards covered. Flare is determined by looking at the oil rings left on the ball after rolling down the lane. The further apart the rings are, the more flare.

It's not quite that simple.

Flare is noticed by the oil rings, but the ball is still flaring after the end of the oil so no oil rings there to measure.

Multi oil rings is a side effect of drilling the ball such that the core is unstable.

As the PAP migrates across the ball while rolling, it causes multiple oil rings.

The purpose of the migration is to have a non oiled surface of the ball make contact with the lane in the back ends.

Clean Ball + Clean Backends = hook potential.

So flare potential is a measurement of how unstable the core can be drilled.

If you throw the ball flat, you're not going to achieve as much flare as a high rev bowler will.

If you drill the pin near the PAP, or 6 3/4" off the PAP, you're placing the core in a stable position to begin with, and it won't flare.

A low flaring ball is tracking over the oil picked up on the previous revolution, so when the clean back ends arrive, the ball doesn't jump because it thinks it's still in oil.

[Mike White]

Okay, good stuff. Now let me ask you, wouldn't a ball that was capable of doing what the green line did, be a very good ball to have (situationally), since most people are bowling on the the black/red lines? Or does only the back end matter?

The guy playing the black line will have dry area to his right, and wet to his left giving him more error room.

The Red line guy doesn't get that kind of help because his ball doesn't see the dry part of the lane until after the end of the pattern.

For him, he has wet on both sides, then after the pattern, he has dry on both sides.

It's similar for the Green line as well.

Usually you see the Red and Green guys go outside the oil pattern much earlier, and if the ball hooks back too soon, it comes back to the oil line and stops hooking and just sets in the pocket, or on the nose or wherever... but it does so fairly consistantly.

[bowl1820]

Sooo... Cliff's Notes Version: "total boards covered" =/= "hook." Right?

No

Now, for something (related, but) completely different: I'm confused by the term "flare potential." What is "flare potential?" Is it the number of boards covered in the roll phase only? Such that all 3 balls in ex. 2 have the same flare potential? Or is flare potential the "measure" of total boards covered, such that the green track has a higher flare potential? Or is it something completely different?

Flare potential isn't about how many boards are covered. It's something completely different.

[rv driver]

It's not quite that simple.

Flare is noticed by the oil rings, but the ball is still flaring after the end of the oil so no oil rings there to measure.

Multi oil rings is a side effect of drilling the ball such that the core is unstable.

As the PAP migrates across the ball while rolling, it causes multiple oil rings.

The purpose of the migration is to have a non oiled surface of the ball make contact with the lane in the back ends.

Clean Ball + Clean Backends = hook potential.

So flare potential is a measurement of how unstable the core can be drilled.

If you throw the ball flat, you're not going to achieve as much flare as a high rev bowler will.

If you drill the pin near the PAP, or 6 3/4" off the PAP, you're placing the core in a stable position to begin with, and it won't flare.

A low flaring ball is tracking over the oil picked up on the previous revolution, so when the clean back ends arrive, the ball doesn't jump because it thinks it's still in oil.

Thanks, Mike. I get it now.

[rv driver]

No



Flare potential isn't about how many boards are covered. It's something completely different.

I meant to say "total # of boards covered on the back end." Closer?

[bowl1820]

I meant to say "total # of boards covered on the back end." Closer?

Yes the backend boards covered is closer. The bowling wiki defines Hook as the amount, measured in boards and angle, that a bowling ball deviates from its original trajectory in its path down the lane.

The "deviates from its original trajectory" part would be the backend boards covered.

[rv driver]

Yes the backend boards covered is closer. The bowling wiki defines Hook as the amount, measured in boards and angle, that a bowling ball deviates from its original trajectory in its path down the lane.

The "deviates from its original trajectory" part would be the backend boards covered.

Ok. Thanks for clarifying that. I'm getting it!

Now: let me deviate a bit and throw up a shameless argument.
Looking at the illustrations, we see the black path describing a continuous curve from beginning to end. Since it is such -- or at least appears to me to be such -- what part of that continuous curve represents the "original trajectory" sine the path never deviates outside it's curve? From the moment the ball is laid down, it's all "hook," yes? the red path is obvious, the green path a little less so, but still discernible. Or is the black path not as continuous a curve in reality as it's shown in the illustrations? is there always a point where the ball is traveling a straight trajectory?

[Hendu71]

Thanks Mike.

All I can say is, if you can manage it, the green line looks awesome!

But at the end of the day it's all about the pins falling down.