differences in coverstock

[bowl1820]

Bowl1820.

Increase the shape of the breakpoint.

Can you explain this part of your thread please?

Since Mo Pinel made that statement, He would really need to be the one to explain what he meant by that.

But I take it to mean it will make the ball little sharper at the breakpoint, because the powdered pearl gives the ball more surface roughness due to the mica flakes giving it a little more bite or at least something along those lines.

[djp1080]

One other interesting thing I've observed is something Rob mentioned about Storm's Reign On. The Reign On indeed uses the same coverstock that the Hy-Road uses; however, it's a slightly different core with similar RG and differential, but it comes with a 4000 grit matte finish vs. a polished 1500 grit shiny finish. I have both and both are laid out the same. I polished up the Reign On to see if I could get it to react similarly to the Hy-Road once upon a time, but it wasn't even close. The Reign On's BTM review has it listed as a 12 for length rating and a higher total hook rating than the Hy-Road. With polishing the Reign On pretty much became a spare ball for me. Actually as I recall it's reaction was similar to what I found with their Sky Rocket. I've sanded the Reign On back to it's 4000 grit matte finish and I doubt that I'll try going back to the polish with it. I used Storm's Reacta Shine which I've used on the Hy-Road as well. Recently switched to Motiv's Power Gel 5000 grit polish and it works pretty well in a size 16 oz. bottle.

[RobLV1]

Your observations confirm two very important points. First, the surface is the most important factor in determining ball reaction. Second, while the RG and Diff are very important factors in the core, you can't overlook the shape of the core. Very similar numbers with dissimilar shapes often yield very different ball reactions.

[djp1080]

Rob, Okay! Yep, surface definitely is likely the most important factor in determining ball reaction.
I've not read much mentioning the shapes of the cores yielding different types of reactions or I just skipped that part of the discussion.
What you've said makes me think that my thoughts on the subject weren't too far off and that the core shape makes quite a bit of difference, too. I'd sure like to understand which shapes would benefit me and my style.
I've relied on the reviews by BTM magazine and I'm glad that it still exists. I was only saddened by your decision to not write as many articles for them and retire from publishing.
I had to do another experiment with balls. I picked up a Hammer Dark Legend hybrid ball and hoped it would give me a nice ball to allow me to move farther left on the lane and target the 3rd or 4th arrow with plenty of energy to get back to the pocket; however, it wasn't a hook monster like I thought it might be. I looked at how it was prepared at the factory and after many sessions with in on the lanes, I decided I needed to make a change to it's cover. So I got out a 3000 grit pad and then a 4000 grit pad to get the Clean n'Sheen compound off of it and got it looking more of a matte finish. Previously the ball didn't have much of a reaction while targeting board 9 or 10 from a laydown of about board 14 or 15. The asymmetrical differential didn't seem to do much of anything on the backend either. Once I made the change in cover the Dark Legend came to life. I had to move farther left and the differential actually made a difference on the backend now. I was about ready to get rid of this big black rock. It became a decent bowling ball that I read about in BTM... I just had to clean the compound off and get it to around 3000 to 4000 grit on the cover. I'm still learning...

[RobLV1]

Rob, Okay! Yep, surface definitely is likely the most important factor in determining ball reaction.
I've not read much mentioning the shapes of the cores yielding different types of reactions or I just skipped that part of the discussion.
What you've said makes me think that my thoughts on the subject weren't too far off and that the core shape makes quite a bit of difference, too. I'd sure like to understand which shapes would benefit me and my style.
I've relied on the reviews by BTM magazine and I'm glad that it still exists. I was only saddened by your decision to not write as many articles for them and retire from publishing.
I had to do another experiment with balls. I picked up a Hammer Dark Legend hybrid ball and hoped it would give me a nice ball to allow me to move farther left on the lane and target the 3rd or 4th arrow with plenty of energy to get back to the pocket; however, it wasn't a hook monster like I thought it might be. I looked at how it was prepared at the factory and after many sessions with in on the lanes, I decided I needed to make a change to it's cover. So I got out a 3000 grit pad and then a 4000 grit pad to get the Clean n'Sheen compound off of it and got it looking more of a matte finish. Previously the ball didn't have much of a reaction while targeting board 9 or 10 from a laydown of about board 14 or 15. The asymmetrical differential didn't seem to do much of anything on the backend either. Once I made the change in cover the Dark Legend came to life. I had to move farther left and the differential actually made a difference on the backend now. I was about ready to get rid of this big black rock. It became a decent bowling ball that I read about in BTM... I just had to clean the compound off and get it to around 3000 to 4000 grit on the cover. I'm still learning...

The easiest way to determine what shape cores work for you is to look at the balls with which you've had the most success over the past few years. I think that you will see some consistency in the shapes of the cores in these balls. For years, I couldn't use cylindrical shaped cores to save my life!

As for my writing, I recently tried an experiment that has worked pretty well. I took a Brunswick Twist; a very, very non-aggressive reactive ball, and had it drilled like it would be for a lefty with negative side weight. The result is that the drilling took most of the very weak core out of play, giving me a reaction that is very similar to my plastic ball, but with a little "pop" at the end for carry. The ball skids, hooks, stands up to face the pins, and stays there. If I can get to the point that I can average high enough, I may start to bowl in some competitive leagues once again. If I can do that, I may be able to start writing again.

[Albundy]

I look at the lane condition class on bowling ball.com..so my hybrid is medium and my solid or pearl says med to heavy oil. So I presume my hybrid would be for the 3rd game .