Okay, this is possibly off my own topic, but it's now got me curious. I threw the rogue in league last night & noticed something that I've never noticed on a ball before. when the ball came back from the return, I grabbed it to see how much flare it was getting. It had about 6", each ring about 1/2 - 3/4" apart. But the odd thing was that there was a separate set of "burn marks" on the right side of the grips, about 60 degrees from the c/l of my drilling. That set of flare rings was about 1.5" wide. I'm assuming that that came when the ball hit the dry, but I've never seen it on any ball I've thrown before!!  Is that normal?
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Unofficial Member Of The Canadian National Beer Drinking Team    

yeah, i don't know my actual rev rate, axis tilt etc.  sorry.  what I wil do though is try & get a short video of the ball when i go to practice tomorrow.  the shot won't be 100% fresh, but it should still be able to show what you're looking for...

will post tomorrow!
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Unofficial Member Of The Canadian National Beer Drinking Team    

DISCLAIMER:

The lanes were league leftovers of our 42ft. THS with ome carrydown.  So the ball isn't quite as snappy as it was on the fresh shot monday. If I can, I will try & bring the camera with me to league next week.  

I am not a pro bowler by any means so I know my form etc. isn't perfect. I welcome any constructive critisizm but the video's intent is to show the ball not me.

The bumpers are up because my kids were bowling with me not cause I need them...  LOL!


http://s62.photobucket.com/albums/h95/Lower_Level/?action=view¤t=roguecell10001.flv
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Unofficial Member Of The Canadian National Beer Drinking Team    

LL:

I have a few comments, and please understand these are intended to help you and minimize frustrations.

1) I don't believe your layout is a 6" x 4".  While I can see you track high, that pin position would make your horizontal axis coordinate something like 6-1/2".
My advice: Never let any pro shop drill another ball for you without them knowing your PAP,physical game, and what you want out of the ball.  It's unfair to you to plunk down that kind of $$ to not understand what your stuff is intended to do.  They need to be better at helping you on this.

2) I don't think that your game is suited for sending too far away from the pocket in a "swinging" fashion.  You thumb the ball down at the release and you are past the leverage point when the thumb comes out which makes your ball track higher.  Meaning your stuff reads the front, not the backs, forcing you to play straighter.  Even if you had the most whippy ball available, you would get enhanced motion, but not like others get who you bowl with.
My Advice: PM me and I'll give you a trick I use on my students that helps get them to track lower (in this scenario).  When done correctly, you'll do less work and get more out of the ball.
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Steve Richter

Edited on 3/20/2009 8:15 AM

LL,

Steve Richter said exactly what I would say.  After watching you bowl I have a hard time beliving that layout is a 6 x 4.  I am also going to guess that you have a high track PAP similar to what Steve mentioned.  That layout looks more like a 4.5 by 4.5 or even a 5 x 3.75 kind of drill.  I also agree with Steve that for your style of play you may not be able to open up the lanes as much as you'd like, which is by no means a bad thing.  A straighter game really is a better game and you've got a great style for that.

One thing to note is that you have your pin positioned above the fingers and the CG slightly kicked to the right.  For a high track bowler this would create a greater angle to the val which will tame the backend of the ball.  Working off of what Steve said if you have a style that already doesn't have a huge backend then now you've completely tamed what the ball will do in the last 20 feet of the lane.  I think the CG and MB are actually in very good positions, by my estimate your drilling angle is something around 50 degrees or so which is not terrible, although if you really want the ball to read early that should be < 45.  

In my opinion what you have is a very versatile ball for moderate to heavily oiled patterns but you'll have to go straight up the outside part of the lane.  I would personally use this ball with that layout on a shot like the cheetah, viper or even chameleon, gives good midlane read with a tamed but consistent back end.

It's not that you drilled a dud, just that the reaction characteristic is not what you were intending.  Try out some more straight up outside lines on heavier shots (fresh ths, tournament, etc) and see if it gives you the nice look that I and possibly others would expect.  The best part about a layout like this is you can polish it and it becomes a great THS ball with some snap on the backend.