ball movement

Question
QUESTION: Good evening Mr. Friedl. How have you been? My question. I coach a ladies NCAA collegiate team. Besides the fact that a couple are non respectful and should not be bowling, I am trying to do the best we can with what there is to work with. It's unbelievable how little these girls know about their own game. And the fact that two were these so call high school standouts, it blows me away. Anyway, I am wanting to get the girls new performance equipment. I am planning on them receiving Slingshots for something a little more tame. Keep iin mind, these girls are as most, down and in with a little swing. couple speed dominate, one slow, 12mph off hand, one is pretty matched. At the last tournament they fell apart, balls hooking everywhere, and oh gosh, the spares missed. Also, blamed on the ball!! LOL. Do you suggest any type of equipment that would be a little more tame when the lanes are going through transition?

ANSWER: Jerry,
The Slingshots you plan on getting are about the mildest entry level ball with a core (three piece balls, and urethane not included).

To suggest something, I would require a better understanding of what the girls throw and how it's drilled. A lot of players have very simple layouts which are usually, for slower players, pretty strong. So, stuff gets too far down the lane, initially, on fresh oil, with a sometimes too strong or too late reaction. Straight players need layouts suited for their revs, axis tilt and axis rotation in addition to ball speed (not a typical Center of Gravity in their palm with the pin next to their ring finger).

If you have a disciplined team and you move them around the lane rather than have them play wherever they think they should, getting a product that could help the lane open up when the lanes are fresh so the firmer players can hit the pocket not just the slow player. Then transition to other balls when the track starts to hook, and ball down to something like Brunswick Slingshots when the track gets real dry and bump to the track or parallel in and if you miss right the lane helps get you back.

What kind of lane conditions do you bowl on? Kegel Patterns? modified house shots? PBA patterns? How much do they struggle, on fresh? on transition? on dry? and are they just getting in each others way?

If they are struggling with spares, get'em spare balls! When you throw plastic, flaws in your swing will really jump out, and from my collegiate experience, a team that can spare will beat half the field most of the time. When you're in the middle, higher (top 10, top 5) is much easier to get to.

Sorry I couldn't give you a better answer, but we're closer. Let me know more and I can pare down some choices and get closer to helping solve the problem. Thanks for the questions.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you Mr.Warren. The ladies roll 3 + year old equipment. Ex, Virtual gravity,Original Mission,Hy Road, Morich LevR,Nexus,. The lady with the Morich is very speed dominate. These balls have dual angle drills of from 28x3x40 to 32x2.75.46. All are very skid flippy. Especially my bowler that is slow, 12-13mph with rev dominance. For the most part, these girls are down and in. I have one that has a problem coming over the ball. Thats the one the I have difficulty with both bowling and attitude, sorry. Along, with one more. Great is H.S. The other ladies have high tracks and are more rolly with very little tilt. If anymor info needed please let me know. And as always, you are very helpful and right on with the comments. thanks Jerry Miles

Answer
Jerry,
Sounds like very quick reacting layouts and quite a few high performance balls. But, unless the balls are rolled on long and/or heavy patterns, or with more ball speed, you'll get the flippy reactions you see. You can tame the reaction down a little with rougher surfaces on the stuff (or rougher underneath with some compound or polish for the slower speeds so the balls don't hook too early#. If tracks are high, some of your players may be dominated by their axis rotation, where the balls read earlier and either react to soon or too strong or quit and roll out. More forward roll is the result of small to no axis rotation #0 to 15 degrees#. You can gain some tilt with pitch changes, but I'd be wary to change deep into the season, maybe for next year.

Your speed dominant player with MoRich equipment may be matched up OK, especially if she's got the close in pins and small drill angles. How does she roll her stuff? Working in matches?

But, I'd think you want equipment that works on the most likely pattern you will bowl on. Are your matches bowled on house shots?  Do they practice on house shots or tougher conditions? Wood or synthetics?

I'd suggest something like a Brunswick Slingshot, Storm Tropical Heat or Breeze for your slow, rev dominant player. The Hyroad is a great all around ball with plenty of pop for slower players, layouts become more important when the bowler is rev challenged or their skills seem to get the balls rolling too soon to be effective. Which player rolls the HyRoad?

The mid performance line from Storm #Frantic, Manic and Fringe# offer great bang for the buck and the HP 1 and 2 cousins from Roto Grip #Wrecker, Shatter, Scream and Shout) are serious hook with smoother covers for slower players. I like the MOTIV Ascents. Columbia300 has some nice choices in their Freeze line also.

Without knowing speed, rev rates and specific tilt and axis rotation numbers, it's almost impossible to choose a ball, then hope it might work on a specific lane surface with any number of possible lane patterns loaded on top. You won't be anywhere near Chicago this season will you?

I'd mention too that often as bowlers get better they assume top high performance balls are the way to go. On long and heavy patterns, speed kills, but if your girls don't have much ball speed their balls may just be too strong. Strong balls recover easily on soft house patterns, but they over hook, or hook out on shorter, dryer, broken down patterns. It's easy to tame down a strong ball, but easier to develop stronger players with weaker balls.

Thanks again, still lots of questions about your team. Can you put together a bowler profile for each and e-mail it to me? Maybe even with video??? I know I'm asking alot but I don't want to guess.