Lets Talk About Midlane Roll
 
Most of us know where the midlane is located. However for those who forgot or do not already know. The midlane is located between the heads/arrows (foul line to 18 feet) and the backends (45 to 60 feet). The midlane is the part of the lane where the bowling ball begins to reduce its speed and axis of rotation, but has yet to end its trail away from the head pin.
 
Midlane roll is crucial to correctly foretell the ball's path from the time of release to the time of impact. Lane conditions are different in every center and quite often the same center will vary their house shot. With this in mind finding the right amount of midlane roll is vital to producing higher scores. The incorrect amount of midlane roll can be seen when the ball launches past the breaking point making the ball hook late requiring the perfect release to make the appropriate reaction. Most often when lanes that display heavy front loads, wet/dry environments, excessive carrydown and longer oil patterns these are the times when more midlane roll is desirable.
 
There are four major components that can be used to increase the ball's midlane roll potential. The most influential component to the midlane is the ball's coverstock. The coverstock has microscopic surface texture, which can be manipulated and altered with numerous reactive base chemicals called polyols to create different reactions with the reactive resin coverstocks. By placing particles in the reactive coverstock increases the texture to create more traction. Simply more texture equals more midlane roll.

The asymmetric core is another major component to increasing your potential midlane roll. As well as, the Radius of Gyration or RG will aid in the midlane roll potential. RG numbers range from 2.430 to 2.800, but some companies have converted them to a 1-10 scale to simplify the numbers. Mass distribution numbers describe the distribution of mass in the bowling ball. High RG numbers indicate that the ball's mass is distributed more towards the cover (cover heavy) which promotes length through the heads of the bowling lane. Low RG numbers indicate that the ball's mass is distributed more towards the center (center heavy) which promotes an earlier roll through the front part of the lane. All of these components are considered to attain the desired ball performance. However, having these components incorrectly combined can cause serve adverse effects. So, be sure to consult your ball driller to ensure the correct mapping out of your bowling ball.
 
Some bowlers may have difficulty with midlane reaction are those whose shoot makes excessive skid. Excessive skid is caused by those with a high degree of axis tilt causing smaller ball tracks made by spinning the ball, and fast ball speeds with both cause excessive skid. Bowlers with a hard and straight throw can shorten the length of the approach and the arm swing, adjusting both keeps timing in tune. Bowlers with lower ball tracks make the high axis tilt during the down swing by turning the thumb early. This situation is rooted in leading the arm swing with the shoulder when the shoulder becomes parallel before the ball. The key to fixing this is to focus on waiting for the ball to drop down from the top of the back swing before any movement of the arm swing shoulder.
 
Ball drillers have several options that influence midlane roll when punching up bowling balls. Some of these include balance holes, pin position and mass bias location in asymmetric balls. Positioning the pin in various distances from the Positive Axis Points (PAP) is really just exploiting the use of the RG values within the ball's core. Getting a strong midlane reaction from a ball a medium to high flare is desired along with putting the pin in a lower RG location. To be able to do this the pin position should be between 2 1/2 to 4 inches from the bowler's Positive Axis Point. The mass bias situation placing the mass bias in a strong location where the angle of the mass bias is at 35 to 60 degrees allows for added midlane roll. Also adding a balance hole will help to increase midlane roll. The larger and deeper the balance hole the greater the mass shift from the positive side to the negative side of the ball. The more weight taken out by the balance hole the earlier the ball will move in the midlane. The balance hole will also determine the extent of continuation in the backends and the shape of the break point. To create a smoother and more continuous backend hook have the balance hole drilled at or near the PAP. For a stronger burst of energy having a more hook/set reaction in the backend drill the balance hole in the thumb/positive quadrant. This type of balance hole is more commonly called a rev leverage balance hole. Everything in this article should illustrate what is needed to conquer the midlane and more than one ball with a different layout may be needed to prepare for different lane conditions.