Watch Your Bowling Ball Motion In The Mid-Lane And At The Breakpoint

By: bowlingball.com
Publish Date: 9/4/15

It is important to watch your bowling ball motion in the mid-lane and at the breakpoint.

We know that there are four forces you impart on your ball when making a delivery. The release of your ball at a given initial speed, with an initial rev rate, and with an initial axis of rotation and tilt.

As your ball travels down the lane, it passes through three phases and two transitions, the skid phase (the first transition from skid to hook), the hook phase (the second transition from hook to roll), and the roll phase.

During the skid phase, the force from the ball speed exceeds the force from the rev rate so you will not see a transition in ball direction.

In the hook phase, the force from the ball’s rev rate exceeds the force from the ball’s speed which is where a noticeable, slight change in ball direction occurs (the 1st transition in motion) as the ball travels toward the back end of the lane.

During the first two phases of motion, your ball’s axis rotation always exceeds the ball’s axis tilt but will lose its axis rotation faster than its tilt during the skid and hook phases.

Once the ball enters the roll phase, the ball will no longer hook.

Your bowling ball reaches its maximum rev rate at the second transition, at the breakpoint. The ball’s rev rate will always be less in the skid and hook phases than it is in the roll phase.



For these reasons, it is important to carefully watch your ball reaction both in the mid-lane and at the breakpoint to make a swift decision if you need to make some type of adjustment if your ball misses the pocket or if it reacts unpredictably.

One other factor to know if that once your ball reaches its entry angle at the second transition, the entry angle will remain the same until the ball hits the pins.

Other considerations involving your ball motion are the coverstock, the mass properties of your ball as designed by the manufacturer, and the static weight balance.

As you know, when drilling your bowling ball, the static weight balance dynamic shifts in accordance with the drilling layout pattern.

Therefore, the drilling layout is one of two final factors in achieving the desired reaction.

The other factor is your bowling ball surface texture which determines the degree of traction your ball produces on the given lane condition.