What should you get for a ball?
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I have question.....maybe a few.
Anyway, supposed that now, we know what style we are bowling. Very early roll, probably before mid lane start breaking, all these factors.
Now, if we were to get a new ball, what should we look out for in the ball? Should it complement our style? Or contradict the style?
Because if for example, I throw a STYLE that creates a roll at the arrows, with not much hook, a smooth arc that just rolls into the pocket....would getting a ball that rolls early and hooks less be of greater value than getting one that skids more, rolls later, and hooks more?
I remember someone saying that my SZ is for length and more hook, and that my drilling(for length and stronger backend) doesn't help at all. So, afer considering the above factors in the previous paragraph, what next to decide for drilling so that we can bring the most out of the ball?
Any comments? I would like to hear cos I'm trying to get a ball, but dunno how to go about deciding. I was thinking of getting a ball that opposes the style I throw....isn't this supposed to make ur control of the ball better? -
There are no hard and fast rules to it. The idea is just to look at your current arsenal, and find out which type(s) of lane conditions are not tackled. The next ball should fill those gaps. Then when it comes to picking a ball, simply pick one that is suitable for that condition. Here's an example:
You have a ball for blocked lanes and medium/short oil patterns, but none for floods (wet) or toasted (dry) lanes. So you have two voids to fill. Which are you more likely to encounter? Let's say you decide on a ball for drier conditions.
Thus your next ball should be one that is generally meant for that lane condition. For instance, with high RG (more length), low differential (tame backend reaction), and mild coverstock (to conserve energy, as opposed to low RG, high diff., and an aggressive shell.
Based on this, the appropriate layout is selected - if you don't know, your driller should. A good one, anyway.
That's how I select a ball. I'm don't think there are "balls for certain types of bowlers only". All one has to do is to match the proper ball to the conditions one is up against.
P1
Don't take to heart what was said of your shockzone. There's no such thing as a layout that won't work. If that were the case, why do spinners bother to drill balls designed for heavy ball bowlers?
There's always a condition out there for your ball. I have a chaos (heavy, heavy oil ball) drilled with a 7" pin position with negative side weight and a heavily shined cover and I use it as my control ball on clean backends. I can carry well on those contitions, but not much else - but that was not what the ball was drilled for, was it?
Drilling is simply a way of tapping the potential of a ball. Whether or not that potential is reached is also a factor of lane condition matchup.
Finally, my personal opinion is that a stronger layout on a weaker ball would seem to bring out more potential than a weaker layout on an aggressive ball. But it's always a balance with certain trade-offs. I have a lot of strong balls with weak layouts because I desire the stronger cores of these performance balls. If I got weaker balls with stronger drillings, their weaker cores would mean that on most conditions, I would have to create angle to the pocket to carry a strike. Thus, I prefer to play tighter lines with control than a wide hook in order to obtain carry.
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so, i should get a ball that i currently do not have for a particular lane?
Well, i do need a ball for oilier lanes.
Thanks for the advice!
btw, harmzuay, can help me check if my yellow Scotch Plastic tape is in ur bag? I left it there during the last Classic Challenge...thanks -
i rememeber Fox telling me that the ball drilling, pin and all that is only a small percentage of importance. the main importance here is the surface. the rest cover like 20%? (correct me if i quoted wrong Fox)
mike believes in getting a ball to do wat it is meant to do. just towards the extreme side.
eg. u get a skiddy ball, drill it to skid all the way. u get a hooky ball, get it hook then. no point getting a skiddy ball to hook yeah? makes sense to me.
my opinion is to get a ball now that suits wat u want now. u say it rolls early, wat i see for ur shot is a nice transtition starting from the arrows or further. u may want to it skid slightly more to have a more controlled shot at drier heads. but ur shockzone does that. so wat about ur oily lanes? does ur chaos settle it? or do u need a more aggresive ball? since ur ball doesnt do so called snap/ hard arc, u may wan to consider proactives for ur flooded lane conditions.
but, easier to do, just ask Fox. ( seems to me i seem to rely on fox and mike alot, ah well... old ginger hottest.) -
the Chaos is supposed to be for oilier lanes, but it doesn't match up well enough for SilverBowl lanes.
maybe the ball is dying...i dunno.
but nevertheless, i think i should get another ball for oilier lanes because my Chaos now works well for medium lanes, and my SZ for dry to med lanes...
i read somewhere they some bowlers would drill the ball to counter the effects of what the ball would do. For eg, on a med wet lane, where the ball has maximum hooking potential, a bowler would drill a tamer backend drilling ( dunno which wan..) just so that they can control the backend. is that true?
anyway, Mike did tell me to change the thumb pitch for my next ball, so maybe I will try..discuss with Unc Sam first...
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P1
I've given you an example out of my own book in my post above. I used my Chaos.
But why are you so interested in knowing this? Ideally, when faced with a condition, one uses a ball designed for use on those general range of conditions. It doesn't not make sense (cents, as well) doing what you read about.
My example tells that it's possible and can be done, but why?? I did it only because I had gotten the Chaos as a ball for oily seasons, but it did not work out. In the end, I adapted it's properties for use as a control ball. That's all.
Logically, it does not pay to not match a ball to a lane (hence forcing one to lay a ball out to do what it wasn't meant to do).