BallReviews

General Category => Miscellaneous => Topic started by: SG17 on September 17, 2011, 01:26:07 AM

Title: how to play Kegel's boardwalk and Winding road
Post by: SG17 on September 17, 2011, 01:26:07 AM
I am bowling my first sport shot league and our first 3 patterns are Kegels Dead man's curve, Boardwalk and winding road.  we bowl on each for 5 weeks.

 

while my execution is still lacking (only averaging 180) I think I have figured out DMC.

 

So, I am looking for some Intel regarding the other kegel patterns.  since I can only bring a few balls to league (limited by bag space :P) I will be dumping my virtual gravity and marvel from the bag for boardwalk but I am not sure what I should be bringing.

 

what balls are good for these patterns?  pearl, hybrid?  skid/flip or even arch?   how strong?

 

where should someone first try playing the lane?  with only 35 of oil I am assuming that boardwalk will be having some huge change in direction on the back.

 

I have a freeze with a 125 degree drilling that i am thinking may be my best bet for a ball.

 

I appreciate the feed back.


Title: Re: how to play Kegel's boardwalk and Winding road
Post by: on September 17, 2011, 10:56:44 AM
Winding Road has very little oil on the last half of the pattern so it will depend on equipment choice and where everyone else plays as to how it breaks down. I would try a pearl without polish as my first choice and go from there. Pay attention to anyone throwing a "soaker" cover ball because that will clue you in as to what part of the pattern might get torched first.
 
Boardwalk is pretty short, so playing way out might work because you will be asking the ball to cross more boards late. Again, I might start with a non-polished pearl reactive and adjust from there to weaker stuff as time goes on. Polish will help the ball cross boards late, but it will usually make the read less predictable. Watch reaction closely.
 
 


Lane Carter, Strike Zone Pro Shops - Salt Lake City, Utah
Brunswick Pro Shop Staff

www.brunswickbowling.com

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer and not of Brunswick Corporation.
Title: Re: how to play Kegel's boardwalk and Winding road
Post by: Dan Belcher on September 19, 2011, 07:53:34 AM
Boardwalk can be interesting. Because it's short, you'll be able to get the ball back from way outside. But it also has quite a high volume of oil in the front part of the lane. I've had trouble in the past with my ball over-reacting on fresh conditions on the friction. Since I'm speed dominant and don't put as many revs on it as many of the people here, I tend to use stronger bowling balls than some other people, but the principle here still applies:

 

Sometimes my best results on the fresh came from taking something really rolly and strong withs ome surface like a pin down Storm Prodigy or a pin up Virtual Gravity Nano and rolling it as straight up the outside boards as possible. (And I do mean outside -- usually around 3 or 4 at the arrows and somewhere between 2 and 4 at the breakpoint depending on how the lanes are playing) The idea behind this is to get the ball to burn up a little energy early to keep it from flipping too hard when it finds friction. I'm already going to have a ton of entry angle thanks to the short pattern, so I don't have to worry about that. I am looking for mistake room and predictability. As the front part of the lane starts to dry up and the backends start to carry down a little, I try to stay in the same spot as long as possible and use speed adjustments and different bowling balls to compensate. Weaker, shinier equipment tends to work as the shot dries up for me in general, but not always. Sometimes the ball just won't finish like it was earlier, and I'll have to make a parallel move to the left with my feet and my target, maybe playing closer to 5 at the arrows and breakpoint. Othertimes, I need to get even further right and go around the carrydown as long as possible. It really just depends on the lane surface and who else is on your pair of lanes.

 

I also make it a point to be really kind to it at the bottom of the swing. I do not try to get any extra lift or rotation on the ball. I just try to get it off my hand quickly and cleanly. If I try to grab it at the bottom to get some extra hook, the ball will get jumpy, and I'll also be very, very prone to leaving flat 10s. The less I do to it at the release point, the better.

 

If you've got some hand, urethane may be a good option on Boardwalk. I personally don't see enough friction to use it normally because of my lower rev rate, but even I have pulled it off on occasion when the lanes have seen a lot of use and they're really hooking. Again, the pattern's so short that you're going to have plenty of entry angle if you stay close to the gutter, so urethane can still carry pretty well if you get lined up with it.