At the risk of raising the dreaded talent vs. knowledge thing, the fact that you rarely see league bowlers adjusting surfaces during practice time speaks volumes, IMHO.
Your right the majority of player's don't adjust surface's during warm up, That's why typically you also have more player's complaining about their ball reaction.Originally Posted by Tony
Right handed Stroker, high track ,about 13 degree axis tilt. PAP is located 5 9/16” over 1 3/4” up.Speed ave. about 14 mph at the pins. Medium rev’s.High Game 300, High series 798
"Talent without training is nothing." Luke Skywalker
At the risk of raising the dreaded talent vs. knowledge thing, the fact that you rarely see league bowlers adjusting surfaces during practice time speaks volumes, IMHO.
It's both the knowledge required and the extra effort required, there are also the guys that use changes in finger position, or release to adjust to the lane condition, you could argue having the knowledge and ability to make small adjustments with finger position might be more valuable since it's use isn't restricted to only pre-game adjustments.
They might also have balls setup for varied conditions and simply change balls instead of changing surface.
The other thing to consider is it's just a lowly house shot that's relatively forgiving, and stays closer to the same, so surface adjustments have been made, and don't require changing every game.....
Just to add my 2 cents...
...it's also a matter of practicality. You only get 10 minutes to throw practice shots. If you have 4-5 bowlers per team and all 8-10 are throwing practice shots...especially when they are throwing 2 balls if they don't strike (sometimes teams do that and sometimes they don't...and for house/fun/handicap leagues nobody really wants to make a stink about it either way...it's possible you only get 1-2 shots per lane in practice. If you're warming up...and your first shot on each lane isn't very accurate or a 'good shot'...then you essentially have one shot per lane to figure out whether you want to add surface or not.
And, like Bowl1820 pointed out earlier regarding adding surface vs. polish...I'm not sure how good a job of surfacing a person can do in the 1 minute between practice ending and the first person takes their shot when you're trying to surface a ball by hand. And, taking away surface (buffing compound, polishing, etc...) by hand I would think would be even more difficult.
I used to carry abralon pads in my bag in case I needed to do something like what everyone is discussing...but I ended up doing more harm than good (I think) because I didn't understand the concept of a ball "burning up/out"...so I was essentially throwing a ball, it was losing energy...but I was seeing it miss right of the headpin and thinking I needed MORE surface....which, you guessed it, led to the ball losing even more energy. I still feel that my biggest weakness (non-physical) is my inability to tell the difference between a ball that misses right because my angle is wrong or the pattern is longer or oil has been pushed down the lanes.......versus the ball burning out and losing energy.
A lot to learn nowadays...
In Bag: (: .) Motiv Trident Odyssey; (: .) Hammer Scorpion Sting; (: .) Brunswick Endeavor; (: .) Radical Outer Limits Pearl; (: .) Ebonite Maxim
USBC#: 8259-59071; USBC Sanctioned Average = 186; Lifetime Average = 171;
Ball Speed: 14.4mph; Rev. Rate: 240rpm || High Game (sanc.) = 300 (268); High Series (sanc.) = 725 (720); Clean Games: 181
Smokey this is not 'Nam', this is bowling. There are rules. Proud two-time winner of a bowlingboards.com weekly ball give-away!
Surface could be about adjusting to the lanes right before competition. It could also be about setting up your arsenal so that each ball fits a role and you know what to grab when the need arises. The other note about surface is that you need to keep it fresh. The ball returns quickly take balls to a fairly uniform roughness, so if you are counting on surface to be the difference maker, you should have any ball resurfaced after use.
Something to consider here also is the bag being setup for sport shot tournament play or for THS league? To a certain extent having a balanced bag isn't as necessary with THS. For the most part on THS whatever surfaces fit your game will work I like to be prepared for a tournament or lane machine malfunction myself so I generally try to keep something that will handle a slicker shot (more surface) and something that will handle a dryer shot (less surface in the bag)
You've mentioned skid/flip and surface a few time for that reaction the balls will typically have less surface (3k,4k, polished) but don't necessarily have to be polished. That shot can play very over/under so sometimes a little surface is a blessing. For example the green Quantam from Brunswick and the Ridiculous by radical aren't polished and I think most would agree they fit the bill for that type of reaction.
I am a proud member of Bowlingboards.com bowling forums and ball contest winner
Current arsenal
900 Global Badger Claw - Radical Ridiculous Pearl - Spare Ball Ebonite T Zone
If you aren't able to get an idea about changing surfaces during ten minutes of practice, you may be looking for the wrong things. The idea is not about getting the ball to the pocket, or even about carrying the corners. The idea is to control the skid/hook/roll phases which you can see on every shot you throw in practice if you know what to look for.
Carrying on with that idea what is the range of roll you should be shooting for ? How close to the pocket should your ball be when it stops hooking and goes into a roll.
When the ball first finishes getting into a roll, it is at the peak of it power. I can only speak from what I can estimate from the foul line (which is probably shaded by the fact that I am having cataract surgery next Monday), which looks to be somewhere between 5 and 8 feet from the pins. I don't know of any studies that can prove or disprove that estimate, but that's my best guess.
I read somewhere, can't remember where, that you want the ball to ideally go from hook to roll phase at the exact same time it hits the pocket. But, have no idea if thats true or not.
I DO remember a teammate...when I first started bowling that was using a Storm Sync. It was back when Storm was just dominating the marketplace. And this guy had a SYNC with what looked like a good deal of surface...a release that was very much up the side of the ball versus behind the ball...bowling on wood lanes...and it seemed to enter the roll phase way, way too early...like 15-20 feet before the pins....enough that it was really noticeable.
At the time, I didn't understand the 3 phases of ball motion so I just kinda watched the ball hook and start rolling and thought, "That's a weird ball motion." I hadn't seen a ball do that before...and I rarely have seen it since.
I don't know much about the topic...but it seems like when I've seen balls that hit the pocket before the ROLL phase...it's usually the high rev players and they end up either striking or leaving weird spare combinations. But, when I see a ball start rolling noticeably early...the ball doesn't seem to have very much power at all and hits like a marshmellow.
Rob mentioned his struggles using Rotogrip balls and I have a very similar opinion. Both Rotogrip balls I've tried to use, the Asylum and Defiant Edge, seem to enter the roll phase really, really early...and just "flop" into the pocket. I thought maybe with the Asylum it was just that I had it drilled wrong...and I had high hopes for the Defiant Edge (because the Defiant series was rather popular)...but it was the same thing. I replaced the Defiant Edge with the Hammer Scandal Pearl and the Scandal Pearl is probably the best ball I've ever thrown and hits like a juggernaut.
I don't really understand "why"...because most bowlers have had a lot of success with Rotogrip....probably the most common ball thrown in this area...and I've gotten more than my fair share of *** whippings by bowlers throwing Hyper Cells. And...I don't really understand how the Scandal Pearl hits so darn hard and makes such an angular motion when it has a relatively lower differntial (compared to my Reax Pearl)...but...that's modern bowling unfortunately. 4-12 "specs" that when all combined...tend to be more confusing than anything.
I was going to go to Part IV: Core Symmetry....and discuss my "Scandal Pearl Phenomenon" there...but this 2nd attempt at talking progression/specs has gone rather "south" compared to what I envisioned...just a really, really confusing topic in a sport where there are SO many different variables and styles and factors....it may be a lost cause trying to put some type of progression/arsenal guide together.
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