Bowling Ball Layouts and Lane Play Class
First off, I would like to say the facility and all the instructional materials are top notch at powerhouse training clinics. The equipment in the shop is the best available in the pro shop business. And who doesn’t like drilling two new bowling balls? The class provided me with a lot of answers as to why certain things happen with layouts for example 3 3/8 pin to PAP. Also, why it is physically impossible to change this characteristic given a specific layout. The ball construction part was good but a lot of that information is available on-line and that section does not take to long. Lane construction and surfaces was the next topic. This is where I had several questions and all of them were answered. All the different lane surfaces, what is the characteristic of each, how is the surface installed, ect. There is more information in this section than you would think and all of it is relevant to ball reaction.
The lane play section was also very interesting; this system really allows you to have a game plan of where you should look to play first when you get on the lanes. Finding the correct spot to play down lane is half of the battle in bowling. Next we went over to Galaxy lanes and bowled. They laid down some fresh patterns and we threw shots on each trying to identify the difference in pattern length. After we bowled for a why, we went down to the end of the lanes to see the pattern length and placed a visual mark at the end of the pattern. This was helpful in seeing where your reaction was in respect to the end of the pattern. The perception of how long a pattern is from the foul line was deceiving but very interesting. Also we found our positive axis point that everybody needs to know to layout your equipment. The other methods of finding a PAP are also shown in the class. One thing I would have like to known before I came down was Norm Titus runs the pro shop at Galaxy lanes and they have a CATS lane there. I would have loved to have gotten some time on that lane with Norm while I was there but that may have been too much information to handle in 2 or 3 days.
Next was ball layout section, Jeff teaches his method and explains why it is the easiest to use. This is where the guys with pro shop experience get a little bit ahead and have some time to work on your equipment in the shop area. We also looked at several videos where the bowler had a variety of ball reactions from poor to pretty good. The scenario was given and students had to come up with a suggestion of how to fix the ball reaction without changing how the ball was thrown. Very good information in this section and these visuals will help the bowler make the right decision when he sees that kind of ball reaction. Then we laid out our new stuff, Jeff then did our arsenal analysis then looked at the layouts on the new balls and made suggestions to what he thought the ball reaction would be. Knowing your PAP, looking at your current arsenal and after watching you bowl the day before, he very helpful in selecting the layouts for our new equipment. I had Jeff drill my new equipment using the top of the line Ebonite mill/drill. I have never seen this type of ball fixture in person and after watching Jeff drill my equipment on it, I am tempted to find somebody in my area who has one. The ball never gets unclamped and the angle of my oval thumb and fingers are all perfect in relationship to each other. Also, the milled holes have almost no ridges left after drilling so working out the balls was done in a couple minutes.
The ability to purchase any of the products out of the Ebonite/Robbie’s catalog at a reduced price plus no shipping was a huge perk. All in all I was very impressed with the class. So many questions that I have been wondering about are now answered and I feel more confident when I bowl. Now I know that I can find the area where I need to play and I can see the ball reaction that will allow me to score by creating area. Knowing good ball reaction when you see it or bad ball reaction is more than half the battle. I now feel I can match up on almost anything the lane man throws at me.
