Bowling Army

We don't talk, We bowl

[tiberiusz1970-blog]

Bowling Technique: How to Throw a Straight Ball?

This is a very important bowling technique, especially for corner pin spares. But, it isn’t as easy as many bowlers would think. Notice Professional Bowler Sean Rash’s release, I believe he is going for a 10 pin. But, how can I tell?  Can you tell by this picture?

Let’s start off with the bowling ball, and what you want to do with it? If you are using a plastic bowling ball, the bowling ball has low lane resistance and easy to control. Your release isn’t as critical, because of the low lane resistance.

Now the bowling technique if you are using your strike ball, which is usually a reactive resin type bowling ball, the control will be more complicated.

Mainly because your strike ball usually curves or hooks, with your release lift. But even without lift, depending on how aggressively your bowling ball is drilled, will still have a curve or flipping motion. This is because of the bowling ball’s weight block.

For example, your right handed and you want to pick up the 10 pin, how many times has the bowling ball curved to the left, just before hitting the 10 pin?

The bowling technique is keeping your thumb up at 12 o’clock or straight up. Don’t lift the bowling ball, just let your hand stop at the bottom of your arm swing.

The third bowling technique point to remember, especially with an aggressive strike ball, is to break your wrist. No not physically, but relax your wrist, so you will not add any lift to the bowling ball.

Of course, practice will give you your own comfortable style of release, and mark locations to use. The main trick is to control the lift or curve of your bowling ball.

This is why many bowlers use a plastic bowling ball, which I found out, can be over powered and keeps sliding into the gutter.

Another way to pick up 10 pins, or 7 pins for lefties, is the backup ball. Instead of keeping your thumb up, flip your hand to the right, and rotate your thumb to the 1 or 2 o’clock location.

For left-handed bowlers, it would be 11 or 10 o’clock. This will cause the bowling ball to rotate to the right into the 10 pin. Then again practice, practice, practice will be needed to master the backup ball speed and mark location.

For right-handed bowlers that use a straight ball for your strike ball, move more to your right for added angle to the pocket. Of course left handed bowlers just flip it, and go more to your left.

No matter what type of bowling style you have, practice will give you the confidence and natural release you need to be consistent.

Remember to be yourself and develop your own bowling style. It’s not a one style fits all, as many experts want you to believe. It’s your Game, play it your way!

[tiberiusz1970-blog]

How to Increase your Bowling Balls Revs

I have a low revolution rate on my delivery. This is mainly for more control and lack of ability. Some bowlers are crankers, who have high revolutions, and must move to the extreme left side of the approach to keep their bowling ball on the alley.

Well if you think you have enough control to increase your bowling ball’s revolutions, these bowling tips are for you. First of all if you can release your bowling ball with enough lift for high revolutions, you don’t need help and I envy you.

Although, high rev. bowling style have control problems too, the extra pin carry always impressed me. Of course, some call it luck, when a pin shoots across the lane and knocks down extra pins. I call it a strong ball worthy of the extra pin count.

First, a fingertip drilled bowling ball will increase your revs, but your ball control can become an issue. Fingertip has higher revs, over conventional and semi-fingertip grip configurations. But the control issue comes in play.

Now if you roll a conventional or semi-fingertip, you may have read from some of my earlier bowling tips, that tucking you little finger under on release will add revs. This will help without reconfiguring your bowling ball. But there is another way without going to finger tip grip, because of cost of change over, control issues, or due to you the stress on your hands (we old people).

[tiberiusz1970-blog]

Well most of us know that bowling pins are made of wood, and this bowling tip gives a short version of the complicated method in which these pins are made. Also, I believe this is more intense, than making a bowling ball. Believe it or not?

First bowling tip is, bowling pins are at their best when made out of wood. Why? Durability, sound, and scoring consistency are the qualities of wood and wood only. Believe me they tried to replace wood, but for over 200 years wood is still the champ.

Oh by the way, yes the pins are made out of wood, but they are not nailed down, like some bowlers believe? Now the wood called Hard Rock Maple, or some say just hard maple, is harvested north of the the 45th parallel, which runs through the northernmost states of the United States, or as Brunswick once mentioned nothing south of Indiana.

The original reason being, wood is more dense in the colder climates, giving it the durability factor. Also, the bowling pins are made from the flooring industry’s maple wood byproducts. Since bowling pins are painted anyway, and are constructed from wood pieces, it’s a natural.

Yes, this is one case where the pieces of wood are stronger, than one solid whole piece of wood. Mainly because, it has to do with the wood grains that run through the wood being alternated around the bowling pin, so the wood doesn’t splinter and break like a baseball bat.  Wood will crack along the grain, but with several pieces glued together, the grains are like a corset around the bowling pin.

Now the bowling pin is next transform from blocks of wood by the planer and the lathe to a wooden bowling pin shape. This process gets very involved with checking weights and the drilling processes, but the main idea is to keep the weights, construction, and shapes uniform. This is the stage where the fine tuning begins, before the painting. A 4 ounce variance is the bowling pin’s weight limit.

Oh by the way, bowling pins are 4.75 inches wide at their widest point and 15 inches tall. The weigh is 3 lb, 6 oz, although in 1998 pins weighing 3 lb 10 oz was approved. Thanks a lot? The wooden pin blank is then placed into an injection molding machine, encasing the wood with a plastic material. This material protects the wood. After sanding, coats of high gross paint and the manufacturers logos decorations, the bowling pin is ready to hit the lanes, really.

The bowling tip which many bowling alleys miss is this, the bowling pins last for only 6 months. The Fall Bowling Season lasts 28 to 34 weeks, or 8 to 9 months depending on Holidays. I don’t remember the house or bowling alley changing bowling pins until after the Fall Bowling Season ends? Now speaking to industry people, a bowling pin rotation can be done every 6 months to keep the bowling pins “fresh”. I wonder, if it is done? Here, all the time I thought it was the ball’s fault?

[tiberiusz1970-blog]

How a Bowling Ball Is Made

This bowling tip looks at bowling balls evolving from wooden, rock, or even cannon balls to the bowling balls of today. I can just image, some of the creative bowling balls of the past. Of course, the bigger the better, and the heavier too, in the case of a cannon ball. So what were the rules? Were rules used? Sure, some guidelines had to be used, but what? Well thanks to the rule book, so we can point out the other bowler’s bad behavior. Who me?

But anyway, from the hard rubber ball days to the reactive resin combinations of today, the bowling ball has changed a lot in so many ways. For example, solid core rubber covered bowling balls to heavy weight block cores and high friction cover stocks of today. Who knows what bowling will be like in 10 to 20 years from now? Maybe an interactive video game you can play at home. Oh that’s right, we already have Wii?

To start with the most important part of a bowling ball, the weight block or core. This gives the bowling ball it’s turning or changing direction characteristics, which is a very interesting bowling tip. Compared with no core, like the plastic house bowling balls, to the heavy oil bowling balls with the large cores, there’s no comparison but the size of the bowling ball.  The size is 27 inches maximum circumference, 8.59 inches in diameter, and a maximum weight of 16 pounds. Bowling balls usually start at a weight of 6 pounds, but bowling balls under 11 pounds are so light in mass, that they will float in water. Now the core isn’t just dropped into the center of the bowling ball, but is correctly fitted for maximum reaction and control. The core is then surrounded by a now liquid outer core, to lock the core’s or weight block’s position in the bowling ball. The weight of the outer core determines the difference in bowling ball weights, it’s called mass density. And that little dot on the bowling ball is the pin. It tells where the core is positioned, so the finger holes can be aligned and drilled for best reaction and control.

The cover stock is the final step in making a bowling ball. It covers the outer core and gives the bowling ball it’s distinctive appearance. The cover stock gives the bowling ball traction on the bowling lanes. It’s nice to have a strong core, but if you don’t have traction, you are just spinning your wheels. Traction is why some bowling balls curve or hook on the lanes, where others keep sliding down the lanes. Manufacturers are continuing to experiment with more aggressive cover stocks, for more lane reaction and carry.

They know if their bowling ball can do it better, the bowlers will take notice with their pocket books. So my final bowling tip is build a better mouse trap.