Bowling Balls Can Create The Hook You Seek
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Originally Posted: 2/5/2013; Updated: 7/22/2021Modern bowling ball equipment is engineered to produce specific ball motion. In today’s high tech equipment, the core shape, size, and mass distribution effect bowling ball Differential of RG and Track Flare ratings. These ratings serve as guidelines in selecting a
bowling ball with the amount of hook potential you seek.
The coverstock composition and surface texture will also influence ball motion. You can choose coverstocks which generate a lot of traction on oily lanes or ones which increase skid and combat dry lanes.
Drilling layout options developed by the manufacturers to augment the ball core construction and coverstock technology also influence ball motion. The amount of hook and overall ball reaction you will get after drilling is a combination of all three of these important keys to controlling your
bowling ball motion.
One thing is certain in today’s world of bowling - you can vary the amount of hook by changing bowling balls. In years past, the ranges of hook motion were far less than in today’s equipment. Today, most every highly skilled player can regulate his or her delivery style, minimize the changes of wrist positions, rev-rate, or rotation of the ball and acquire a desired amount of hook potential by using the equipment to their advantage on the various lane conditions most frequently encountered.
By regulating your delivery style, you can actually choose to not rotate the ball very much at all. Rotating your fingers perhaps only 1 or 2 inches maximum from a behind-the-ball position when entering the release zone will cause varied ball reactions depending on which ball you choose, how the surface is prepared, and which
drilling layout option you select.
It can be easy to keep your game in place and avoid the risks of poor deliveries by switching bowling balls as needed. There are times when this strategy can work better than trying to put more revs on your ball or trying to rotate the ball more to gain axis tilt, all of which can jeopardize accuracy or speed control.
If you have the luxury of using a variety of bowling balls with combinations of track flare ratings, coverstock aggressiveness, and drilling layouts to influence ball motion, you can work on developing extreme consistency with your delivery style and be very, very competitive.
Truthfully, you can use a release where your hand remains directly behind the bowling ball (at the top of your back-swing) so the palm of your hand faces the pins down the lane and remain in that position until your hand enters the release zone. This technique will prevent rotating the ball too soon and getting your bowling hand to move over the top of the ball causing inconsistent and ineffective deliveries.
With your hand directly behind the ball and your arm swing very close to your body, you will be in an excellent position to rotate your bowling fingers only very slightly to produce a low axis tilt and impart a forward rolling action onto the bowling ball. The dynamics of the ball and the lane conditions will control the hook motion from that point.
The pitch angles drilled into your ball, the ball core design, the coverstock texture, and the drilling layout help you attain the hook motion you seek. In the end, there are many options to help you control bowling ball motion without changing your most effective delivery style.
