Need Stronger Ball for Full Roller

Question
QUESTION: I am a full roller. I average around 213 on a house shot but I think I need more to get more strikes to get better. I am currently throwing the Lane #1 BuzzBOMB with the pin a little left and up from my thumb hole.(7:30) I like to play down and in. I am thinking of getting the New Big Curve. I have seen two different layouts.The Label Layout which i think is what i have. Then I have also seen the Leverage Layout with the pin 3 3/8 from the PAP. This is right and and just below the middle finger according to the picture.

What would you recommend?

THANKS!
Roger

ANSWER: Roger,
You're playing at a high level, congratulations. Improving your strike percentage and consistency will certainly help.

But, I'd suggest a higher differential Radius of Gyration ball. The Lane #1 products have variations of a diamond shape as a weight block. So, the Radius of Gyration of your BuzzBomb is helpful, but a stronger Diff. will help create more flare, allowing the ball to potentially pick up friction earlier and react stronger.

You want full roller leverage, depending on your ball speed and rev rate, and expected surface preparation (rougher or smoother). A full roller player will NOT benefit from a typical drill  job. (You mention two non-full roller layouts). Weight hole placement can help some, but getting a ball with lower (less than 2.48) Radius of Gyration and higher Differential (.050 or higher) will give your style more power from the core.

Your style all ready gets the ball pretty far down the lane. It sounds like the BuzzBomb is a strong full roller layout. Is it too much hook on the backend of the lane? Sounds like not. A stronger (or rougher) cover will slow the ball down sooner and give you more friction potential, but the core "drives" the ball like the engine "drives" a car. Does your ball roll too early sometimes? Or too late? An effective coverstock (and preparation) acts like the tires of a car. If you ball rolls too early or too late a surface change could help.

Without knowing what the ball hits like and what kind of pins you leave, I can't suggest anything. There are a bunch of strong bowling balls, without knowing much more about your game, trying to wade through all that's available is daunting.

Explain what your bowling balls do as you play through three games. Does the reaction get stronger or weaker? What pins do you leave? Are they the same pin(s) (combinations) all night or do you roll at different spares as the night goes on? Do you roll the ball significantly slower as the night wears on?

Thanks for your questions. Knowing more about what's not working will help us determine what needs to happen for you. Please let me know more.


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

QUESTION: I throw between 14-15 mph. The ball gets stronger as the night goes on. I pretty much throw the ball straight down and let it hook to the pocket. I have tried both polished, out of the box, and scotch brite pad surfaces. They all basically hook, in total, about the same.(Rougher just a little earlier) I leave a little bit of everything. Although I will leave more ten pins than anything throughout a season. I will leave these mostly when the ball is a tad late on the break to the pocket.(Weak Ten) I do leave quite a few 8, 9, and stone 7's. Unfortunately they come when I am usually on a double or more. I will also leave some pocket 7-10 splits also.

I found a aggressive full roller layout for a symmetrical core by Steve Freshour. It calls for the CG to be 1" right of centerline and approximately 1" above midline. Then the Pin is placed in the 7:00 position 3 3/8" from the center grip. The fingers are drilled to a 4" depth to increase differential and a 7/8" balance hole is placed in the intended PSA 2 1/2" deep & pitched 1" away from fingers. Ball specs recommended are 4-5" pin and 2.5-3.5 oz top weight.

I am learning a lot and really appreciate your time!

THANKS AGAIN!
Roger

Answer
Roger,
The layout you suggest is full roller leverage (positioning the center of gravity as he does, is just like positioning the Mass Bias of an asymmetric ball), taking a symmetric core and drilling the fingers very deep to create an asymmetric core. The angled weight hole creates a bit more dynamics, but placed on your Positive Axis, causes the symmetric core to roll just a touch earlier. Better to start with an asymmetric core, and then the top weight is there to utilize. Can you tell me of all the balls you have drilled, do you know how much top weight was in the most effective ball? Do you have a sense, if more or less or (essentially) none has worked good, better, worse?

For slower players, top (weight after drilling) can help retain energy and create a crisper reaction and stronger hit. Higher top can also influence the ball to skid too far (so too much top may be an issue with your current ball). Especially full rollers. Unfortunately, a full roller needs a stronger rev rate when their speed gets faster. Your success seems to suggest that you match up pretty well, with potentially some tweaks needed to get the beginning of the night off to stronger start.

Drilling so deep removes some of the core and/or some/all of the top weight and creates bottom weight. Not in itself a bad thing but for a slower player I prefer you have top and keep the core as intact as you can. When removing some of the (usually) heavier material from the core it weakens the potential effect the core can provide.

If you have the time and money, and have a ball or two that you don't use anymore, lay one out with the full roller leverage layout as above, but place the pin 4 inches from center of grip, place a large shallow hole on the Positive Axis, roll the ball and if it leaves soft 10s or weak single pins, tweak the surface a level or two rougher. Remember the previous ball reaction, or use it a little before you redrill it. And, compare the previous reaction to the changed reaction with a different layout.

Gauging where to place the core is the skill and experience part of what I do. Seldom do drastic layouts work, unless you bowl on drastically different conditions. Often, when you find a core position that's effective for you, it works in most balls. Slight tweaks should give you about 5 boards more or less in the amount of hook, or 5 feet more or less in the amount of length down the lane. Different cores and different surfaces then net different reactions.

A rougher cover in itself might be all that's needed but your speed may require that you then put a slight polish or just tweak the surface for a few seconds with a very smooth (4000 grit) pad, to moderate how early the ball picks up. This last adjustment may be something you might try with your best ball (for the first game) and because it isn't quite enough, the surface adjustment should help. Abralon, Cab-block and Abranet sanding pads/disks can provide a bunch of surface options as they go from very rough (80, 120, 180 grit) to very smooth (2000, 4000) to all in between (360, 500, 600, 800, 1000, 1200).

Now is the time of year you may find a discontinued ball at a pro shop, or ask your local operator if he can get an Ebonite Lane Breaker or Raid, or Columbia Pure Swing or Bedlam (depending on the lane condition you bowl on). These asymmetric core have a variety of cover strengths. The ball should be chosen for cover strength (or weakness) on the condition you bowl on. Lane #1 has asymmetric cores, but I am not as familiar with their strengths as I am with the above. Thanks for the questions and follow-up. Let me know ([email protected]) what you try and how it works out. Bowl well.