Glossary A- Z

[Pinboy]

Negative side weight
Imbalance in a ball that effectively makes the left side of the ball heavier for right handed release players, and the right side of the ball heavier for left handed release players.

Negative weight
Imbalance which causes thumb, negative side or bottom weight.

Nothing ball
See dead ball.

[Pinboy]

Off the sheet
See 'all the way'.

Ovaled hole
The shape of a hole being out of round.

[Pinboy]

Pick
See chop.

Pie
See blocked.

Pin
A small round colored pin in a bowling ball that signifies the top of the core/weight block. Usually colored the same as the engraving paint.

Pin action
The manner in which the pins react to the impact of the bowling ball.

Pin shift
The process of creating reaction in a bowling ball by displacing the pin from the axis of rotation or the PAP.

Pitch
The angle at which a hole is drilled into a bowling ball in relationship to the center of the ball.

Pivot point
Point on the ball’s surface where all track lines intersect.

Positive axis point (PAP)
Point on the surface of the ball that signifies the bowlers axis of rotation, on the positive side of the ball.

Positive side weight
Imbalance that effectively makes the right side of the bowling ball from the center of grip heavier than the left for right handed release players, and left side of the ball heavier than the right for left handed release players.

Positive weight
Imbalance which causes finger, positive side or top weight.

[Pinboy]

Preferred spin axis (PSA)
The axis about which the bowling ball wants to rotate around.

Pumpkin
See dead ball.

Punched out
See 'all the way'.

[Pinboy]

Radius of gyration (RG)
An account/measurement of the distribution of the mass in an object from the geometric center.

Release point
Point in the delivery at which the ball leaves the hand.

Reverse block
A lane condition in which the inside portion of the lane is covered with less conditioner than the outside.

Reverse pitch
The drilled hole, either finger or thumb, is angled away from the midline (center) of the grip.

Revolutions
The number of times the bowling ball makes a complete rotation about its axis during its path down the lane.

Rock
Term for a bowlingball. Also known as 'apple'.

Roll out
See dead ball.

Runway
See approach.

[Pinboy]

Safe zone
The area on the ball from one inch inside the vertical axis line to a line from the bowlers PAP to the ring finger and from the PAP to the equator, in which the pin of a ball can be placed safely without the track and holes interfering with one another.

Shell
The outer portion of a bowling ball surrounding the core.

Shiny
A ball that looks glossy. In general, shiny balls are smoother textured.

Skid
The portion of the bowling balls path in which the velocity of the contact point on the ball is greater than zero and the ball is therefore actually not rolling but is instead sliding down the lane.

Sleeper
See double wood.

Slots
See blocked.

Snap
A ball path which has a sharp, defined breakpoint. However, when referring to the actual break point, the term snap is often used as a quantifying term.

Span
Distance from edge of thumb hole nearest to the center, to the edge of finger holes nearest to the center.

Squeezer
Someone who holds on to the ball with excessive force or muscle. Also known as gripper.

Squirt
The action of a bowling ball as it hydroplanes past its breakpoint.

[Pinboy]

Stacked leverage
A layout where the pin and CG are the same distance from the bowler’s PAP.

Static weights
Measurements of forces at work in systems that are at rest. Side, finger and top weights measured on a do-do scale.

Stroker
Someone who has a smooth swing and delivery without sudden acceleratioin

Surface
The texture, both finish and hardness, of a bowling ball.

[Pinboy]

Tandem
See double wood.

Tapered
Any hole in which the upper diameter of the hole is larger than the bottom.

Thumb weight
An imbalance in a bowling ball which effectively makes the half of the ball containing the thumb heavier than the half containing the fingers, separated by the midline.

Track
See ball track, also the name of a manufacturer of bags, balls and accessoiries for bowlers.

Track flare
The result of the migration of a bowling ball from the bowler’s axis of rotation to the ball’s preferred spin axis.

Track flare management
The regulation of the position of the flare intersections and thus the amount of flare.

Tracked
See blocked.

Traction
The power, as of tires on pavement, to grip or hold to a surface while moving without slipping.

Turkey
Three strikes in a row.

Tweener
Bowler with a style between that of a stroker and a cranker.

[Pinboy]

Urethane
A plastic blend that is normally softer and more porous than polyester. A very popular coverstock before the introduction of reactive resin.

[Pinboy]

Vertical axis line
A line perpendicular to the midline that passes through the bowler’s positive axis point and the negative axis point when extended completely around the ball. Separates top of ball from bottom of ball on the bowler’s axis of rotation. Also known as midplane.