No hook at all

Question
Hi Warren and thanks for taking the question.
I own a Virtual Gravity. I bought it from a Pro shop in Farmington hills, and they have wood lanes. The pro shop very nice. They set the pin up and to the left of my middle finger, I am right handed. Mass bias in the strong position, and the cg in the center.  This handnt dawned on me till just recently. The way I throw it is this. Ball starts out with my thumb at about 3, and it sits in the palm resting on the index finger. at release my thumb goes to 12. The ball is sanded 1000. I see the ball rotate, but never any hook to the pocket, just a slight flip.

I went to a closer pro shop, and he suggested that I have it set for 4x4, and the pin to the right. let him do that and the ball got worse. He says that I may have gotten a "blem" even though I bought it new.  I looking for the ball to have a nice arc, and the drilling sheet shows that it should be that way...HELP???:<

Thanks Sandyk

Answer
Sandy,
You should have quite a bit of hook. Do you bowl on wood lanes or synthetics? You are right handed correct? Do you know your Positive Axis Point? Ball speed? An details of your delivery (rev rate, axis tilt, axis rotation)? What weight is the ball? Do you have any idea of how much top weight and imbalances (finger or thumb and side weight) is in the ball? Why was the ball dulled more than it's normal out of box finish?

What ball were you rolling before the VG? How was your other equipment drilled (where was the pin, etc on a previous ball, were they dull too?) and how did the ball work? Where do you play on the lane (1st arrow, 2nd? 3rd?)? Did the new Virtual Gravity get a new fit or did you just have the store take the fit off of an old ball? How does the ball fit? Finger grips? If so what style? Pitched?

Sounds like the second shop moved the pin from 5 plus inches from your axis to 4 inches, while swinging the cg/mass bias further right of your thumb, is this accurate? What is happening that it got worse? Where do you see the oil track (in relations to the finger holes and thumb hole) when the ball comes back after a shot?

Several things (or combinations of things) could be going on. The ball may have gone from skidding too much to rolling too early. Your description sounds like a full roller ball reaction, but your description of your release doesn't fit that roll. Please forward as much more info as you can, and we can get to the bottom of the problem. The drill sheets reflect typical tracks and deliveries, I suspect you may be rolling the ball very fast or very slow, and/or your swing may cause the ball to track badly, while the pin, mass bias and center of gravity seem to be where the drill sheet suggests, your roll, hand action/delivery and speed may have things working against you. Let me know more. Thank you for your question.