Last week I closed my tip of the week with how to break down the tougher patterns as a team like the ones you see when you bowl the National tournament. This week I would like to touch on how you can make a seemingly tough shot easier.  

From my experience one thing that I believe that is key to scoring higher in tougher conditions is team work. I am talking about those team tournaments where you see the tough lane patterns and really can not figure out a way to play them.  I will cover a few things you can work on and hopefully you will see what I mean by “You can make tougher shots turn out easy”.  

Everyone knows that when they bowl the Nationals with their teammates, they will always see the same type of conditions.  A lot of bowlers I hear from say that they hooked so much in the middle, and there was “out of bounds” out by the gutter. They just couldn’t figure it out. The other thing I hear when they come back is that they didn’t have the right ball in their hands for the team event, or even that they have never seen a shot like that back home.  Well folks it is a National tournament and it shouldn’t be easy!! Now being that I am in this business, I like to think that I have an idea of how to attack the lanes with the equipment I bring, the surfaces on that equipment, and my ability to make shots. This is where I would like to pass on the knowledge.  

Let’s take a look at when bowlers say there is “out of bounds”.  Yes the bowling ball seems to hook less from the outside portion of the lane then from the inside portion of the lane.  But why is that?  It’s not that they have more oil out there, because there can’t be.  Yes I said that, it can’t have more oil on the outside portion of the lane then in the middle. Remember most National patterns comply with Sport bowling lane applications, and that means that there is a 2:1 ratio of oil placed on the lane surface.  That means that there is two times the amount of oil on the inside part of the lane then there is on the outside part of the lane. So why do bowlers think that the outside part has more oil?  That has to do with speed and distance the ball has to travel to get to the pocket.  Picture this, if you roll a bowling ball on the lane, and there is a heavy concentration of oil what will the bowling ball do?  The bowling ball will slow down.  Think of a person running through 4 inches of water or 1 foot of water.  The deeper the water, the slower the person will be. If a bowling ball is going slower on a lane, what will happen? When the bowling ball slows down it will be in contact with the lane surface longer and create more friction or hook. With less oil it can travel faster down the lane in turn decreasing the amount of friction.  So the outside part of the lane looks like it has more oil, when in fact it does not because the speed or velocity that you roll your bowling ball is greater then from the inside.  Are you following me?  When you bowl from the outside portion of the lane, the bowling ball has a greater amount of boards to cover to get to the pocket. This is also the reason why the bowling ball appears to hook more in the middle as well. If you are playing the inside portion of the lane, let’s say around the 2^nd or 3^rd arrow, which is the 10 or 15 board on the lane, where is the pocket?  Your bowling ball would only have to move a few boards to hit the pocket.  So again it looks like it is drier inside.  When you are playing further outside the lane the bowling ball has to cover more area to get back to the pocket. So how do you as a team combat this condition and make it easier?  Simple, you use surface and you all play in the same portion of the lane. Why you ask. Keep reading. 

If you have a five person team complied of a left hander and four right handed bowlers, the right handed bowlers should all start in the same location on the lane.  This will create more room on the lanes. This has been proven over the years.  If you all start in the same area of the lane, you actually increase your breakpoint area in the back part of the lane.  By doing this you create more room for error. How you may ask.  Well it’s pretty simple.  All bowlers know that carry down is evident in today’s bowling environment.  Carry down is where oil is displaced from the front or middle part of the lane to the back end or back part of the lane surface.  Imagine if you have a bowler that is swinging the bowling ball and you have one that is playing straight and you have one that is in between these two, what happens to the breakpoint?  The person that is playing the middle is transferring the heavy oil down to the backend.  The straighter player is taking the oil from the outside and pushing it further down the lane and further out as well.  Do you see where I am going with this?  If you all are playing different lines, you are only increasing the carry down, and therefore causing ball reactions to be inconsistent.  In addition displacing the oil from the front to the back will create a different ball reaction in the front or mid lane as well.  So by not working together, you have only made the condition tougher.  The front part of the lane will start to hook more, and the back ends will get tighter.  If you all start in the same area of the lane, you create the front part of the lane to be more consistent, and create the back part of the lane to be more consistent as well.  

So each style of bowler whether it be a cranker or stroker, will start in the same area. Each bowler will need to have a duller surface then the other because of the bowling styles, but ultimately you play the same area of the lane. The straighter players will have to use duller surfaces then the crankers, but the crankers will also need to use less shiny equipment as well. Shinier equipment will only cause the oil to stay longer on the bowling ball surface, thereby pushing the oil down the lane faster.   I hoped this has helped clear some things up and if you are still unsure of this feel free to contact me. I am always available to talk to my readers.  

T.J. Yeip is the Manager of GLC Bowling and the Lead Technical Advisor. He is an IBPSIA Advanced Certified Member and former PBA member. You can email your questions to him personally at thomas.yeip@glcbowling.com

The bowling season is in full swing, leaves are changing colors, the weather is getting a bit colder, and you and your team mates have bowled with each other for a few weeks now.  So how is your team bowling?  Are you winning most of the time, or not?  Are you bowling with new teammates this year, or is it the same group as in the past?  This week I would like to talk about how your team should work together, and how to match up the correct bowlers in the correct positions in the line up to have the most effective means of winning.  

Bowling in large has always been more of an individual sport.  Like in golf, you are the one that controls your destiny.  With team bowling, you have to count on not only yourself doing well but you count on your teammates to get the job done. So how do you create an effective team?  How do know how to actually communicate with each other.  This week I would like to cover how to set up a lineup and how to hold conversations with your teammates to help in finding the shot, or motivate the team to become winners.  

I have had the pleasure of bowling with some great teams.  Whether it was in a league or national tournaments, we all had the same goal in mind, to win.  I can’t speak for all of you but I personally hate losing.  When I lose I am not having near as much fun as when I am winning.  You do not need to have the best bowlers in your area to make a competitive team, sure it helps, but the main thing is you talk to each other, get along with each other, and still have the passion to win.  These keys are crucial when you are striving to win that league, or tournament.  To help you set up a great winning team, you first need to put the bowlers you have in the right spots in your lineup. The most common, and the one that has shown the best success for my teams, have this lineup in mind.  If you are bowling a five person team league, follow these steps to create a lineup, and I guarantee you will enjoy better success.  First, your lead off or number one position bowler should be the person that can start a spark in your team, and be the most consistent bowler on your team.  The number two position bowler should be your lower average player on the team.  The third bowler should be the one that can throw the strikes when needed but most importantly be the one that is the best spare shooter.  The forth bowler should be the set up person.  One you know that can throw the strike in the last frame, and should also be your strongest player on the team. The anchor or fifth bowler should be the one with nerves of steel.  This bowler is the one that when you need a shot to win, they step up for the challenge. This does not necessarily mean this is the best player on the team, just the strongest in the clutch.   

The line up is one step in creating a winning team, but the biggest thing I see is that there isn’t enough constructive communication between teammates.  You don’t need to be harsh and start hurting people’s feelings to get them motivated, constructive communication is all you need.  When you as a bowler are lined up and find yourself hitting the pocket and you see your team mates struggle, talk to them to see what problems they are having with the conditions, and what you are trying that may work for them.  Don’t be critical be constructive, give advice that is pertinent to how they bowl not just what is working for your style.  This is a two way street it is not just enough to offer advice you and your teammates need to be open minded and listen to your teammate’s advice.  

The last thing I would like to mention is how to actually help break down a shot with your teammates to create an easier path for scoring. If you are bowling in tournaments, or on tougher sport conditions then listen up. If you work as a team you will score higher!!  Working together on tougher patterns say like nationals where you have lane conditions that seem to have not as much hold room in the middle of the lane, and less hook on the outside portion of the lane is extremely crucial.  If you have a chance go out as a team and practice this, playing in the same part of the lane as a team will break down the shot faster and make the scoring easier.  Yes I said it.  You can make a tough shot easier.  How you may ask?  Well keep reading.  It does not matter the style player you are, if you all start in the same area of the lane, this will greatly impact the lane condition.  It does not matter if you have different styles of players, crankers, tweeners, strokers, it will work!  Want to find out how this will work?  Check back with me next week and I will explain how it works.  I have to keep you on the edge of your seat for the drama.  

T.J. Yeip is the manager of GLC Bowling and a certified Advanced IBPSIA member. You can email your comments or questions directly to him at Thomas.yeip@glcbowling,com.

By Mo Pinel, MoRich Ball Designer and Advanced IBPSIA Cerification Lead Instructor 

As an industry we have promoted the importance of the mass properties (RGs and differentials) of undrilled balls for years, but how much do those specs really matter to the motion of a drilled bowling ball as it rolls down the lane.  NOT A LOT!  What really matters is the characteristics and the surface preparation of the coverstock and the mass properties of the drilled ball (the RG of the Positive Axis Point and the intermediate and total differential). 

The coverstock characteristics are controlled by which coverstock you choose and what surface you choose to use on it.  Unfortunately, that’s mostly trial and error after assimilating all the marketing material you can find about coverstocks.  That’s a subject for an entirely different article which needs to deal with the science of coverstock technology and a discussion about the truth in marketing.  This article will discuss the effect of drilling layouts and weight hole size and location on the mass properties of drilled bowling balls and, therefore their ball reactions. 

Are there any people who care about how undrilled bowling balls roll?  I THINK NOT!  The decisions made about the layout and the size and location of the balance hole have a very significant effect on the reaction of the drilled ball. A complete layout of a bowling ball consists of two components.  They are the drilling system used and the balance hole size and location.  The drilling locates the pin and the Preferred Spin Axis in relation to the bowler’s PAP.  This represents about 35 to   40 % of the drilled ball’s reaction controlled by the mass properties.  The remaining 60 to 65% of the drilled ball’s reaction attributed to the mass properties is controlled by the size and location of the balance hole. 

The drilling can be done accurately by using either of two systems.  By swinging arcs from the pin and the PSA to the bowler’s PAP and the Vertical Axis Line is one way.  The other way is to use the “Dual Angle Layout Technique” which can be found on www.morichbowling.com.  This is the system that I prefer.  Any accurate drilling system must take into account the location the pin (low RG axis) and the PSA (high RG axis) in relation to the bowler’s PAP and the VAL. 

I suggest using the “Gradient Line Balance Hole System” for controlling the ball reaction by locating the balance hole properly.  It can also be found on www.morichbowling.com.   The closer the balance hole to the PSA, the stronger the resulting ball reaction.  The bigger the balance hole, when it’s located near the PSA, the stronger the reaction of the drilled ball. 

We prepared the following chart for the MoRich FRENZY to show how much the mass properties of drilled balls change from those of the undrilled ball by using different drillings and balance hole locations.

The layouts used in the chart are “Dual Angle Layouts” and the balance hole locations are “Gradient Line Balance Hole” locations. If you look at the chart carefully, you will notice how much the differentials change from layout to layout and from the drilled balls compared to the undrilled ball. Bear in mind that the total differential controls the amount of flare of the drilled ball and the intermediate differential controls how quickly the drilled ball reacts to lane friction.  The larger the total differential, the more the ball flares causing the ball to react sooner.  The larger the intermediate differential, the quicker and sharper the ball reacts to lane friction when it encounters it.  Let’s look at these drillings.  The 80x2.25x50 layout with no balance hole has both the lowest intermediate and total differential of all the drilled balls, therefore, it will be the smoothest and least hooking of the drillings listed.  The 85x3x40 layout with a P2 balance hole has slightly larger differentials and, therefore, will produce a medium ball reaction.  The other two drillings have substantially larger differentials and, therefore, will produce much stronger ball reactions.  The 30x4.25x20 layout with a P4 balance hole has the largest total differential and will, therefore, react the soonest of the drillings listed.  The 65x4x30 layout with a P4 balance hole has the largest intermediate differential and will have the sharpest breakpoint of all the drillings listed.  There will be a VAST difference in reaction between these four drillings. 

Keep in mind that adjusting the surface of the drilled ball to change the surface roughness of the ball will allow you to move the break point closer to the foul line or the pins in order to change length of the skid phase of the ball.  The shape of the breakpoint is due to the ball chosen and the drilling used and the balance hole size and location employed.   

I hope this article gives you an insight into how differently the same type of ball will react with different layouts and balance hole locations.  These are your tools for dialing in the ball for each bowler and, therefore, increasing their enjoyment of the game.

On the lanes…

GLC’s “Out of 5 Stars” Rating…

Appeal: 4.00 Length: 4.50 Back End: 4.00

All balls were equipped with Turbo Insert products including the #1 selling interchangeable thumb insert, Switch Grip. For details on their premium line of insert products and accessories, visit www.turbogrips.com

Every week I write about how to help correct flaws in your game.  Whether it is a hand position, your footwork, or even what type of bowling ball to use I have offered suggestions.  Heck I even talked about spare shooting. Not once but TWICE!!!  I would like to know how many people actually know about the sport of bowling.  How many of you know why there are dots on the approach?  How many of you even know why and what reasons are behind those arrows on the lanes. How many of you know how many boards are on the lanes or even what the lane surface is made up of?  This week I would like to actually talk about the bowling environment and what is behind all those common everyday things you see at a bowling center. 

Bowling is the number one participation sport in the country.  With all these people bowling then everyone should be aware of all the things that help make up the great sport?  Well that is not entirely true.  Let’s break it down a little bit.  In bowling your main objective is to knock as many pins down as you can on your first attempt.  If you do knock them all down, then that is called a strike.  If you manage this twelve consecutive times in a game then you have bowled a perfect 300 game. That is the goal of many people that bowl.  If you do not knock all the pins down in the first shot, we give you a second chance to pick up anything left and that is called a spare. If you are a recreational bowler and want to go out and have a good time, then you would still need to know some basics of bowling before you go and actually do it.  I know for myself I need to do reasonable well at something in order to have a good time.  I think I can say most people feel the same way. So this week I would like to help you, the bowler, better educate yourself and hopefully give you the tools needed to go out and have some fun.  

First let’s start with the approach.  The approach is the portion of the wood surface that is used for the bowler to actually walk to the foul line and deliver the bowling ball to the lane.  Approaches have typically two sets of dots in a straight line.  One near the back portion and one further up on the approach.  They usually are made up of five dots. T he dots are reference points to the actual lane itself.  That big dot in the middle is directly in line with the center of the actual lane.  Each dot is exactly five boards between each other, or five inches.  Using these reference dots, helps you the bowler start in the correct position.  If you are a right handed bowler and you want to deliver a straight bowling ball release down the center of the lane, then you would typically stand with your left foot on the center dot.  Each bowler will have to adjust accordingly, but you should do so with small adjustments first.  One or two board moves on the approach are sufficient enough to help dial you in to knocking down pins.  

Now let’s talk about those arrows. Arrows are located 15 feet from the foul line on the lane surface.  The arrows are reference points on the lane that line up with the bowling pins.  The arrows help the bowlers with a target to deliver the bowling ball too.  It’s much easier for a bowler to target something that is located 15 feet down the lane surface, then looking at the actual pins that are 60 feet away.  If we drew a line from the middle arrow to the pins it would be directed straight to the head pin.  If we took a line and drew it from the arrows back to the approach, then the middle arrow would be a perfect straight line to the middle dot on the approach.  The markings are guides to help aid the bowler to perform better.  Now each arrow is also located five boards, or inches apart from each other.  Do you see a trend starting?   

Let’s recap what we have talked about today.  Arrows and Dots help in the aid of targeting to a bowler. Each dot or arrow serves a purpose to help you, the bowler, achieve the main objective in the sport of bowling; knocking as many pins down as you can in a shot.  I hope this has been helpful and somewhat insightful.  So the next time you go out and bowl with your friends or family, you will hopefully know a little bit more then you did before, and have more fun, and knock down some more pins.  Maybe this time you can beat that one person that you always seem to lose to.  Until next week, enjoy the sport, have fun, and I look forward to next week.  

T.J. Yeip is the Manager of GLC Bowling and the Lead Technical Advisor. He is an IBPSIA Advanced Certified Member and former PBA member. You can email your questions to him personally at thomas.yeip@glcbowling.com