I joined a league this year with my wife for fun and I want to get better. My ball goes completely straight and I see almost everyone throwing a curve. I use a house ball and want to get my own ball. What ball should I get and how do I get the ball to curve?
Paul – Phoenix
I would recommend an entry level reactive resin ball to start. Balls in this range will slightly magnify the spin you put on the ball, but it will not be uncontrollable. A Tropical Storm, Columbia Scout, Ebonite Tornado, or a Brunswick Slingshot would be an example of an entry level ball. If you want to learn to hook the ball, make sure it is drilled with a fingertip grip as opposed to the conventional grip that you are used to using with the house ball. Hopefully you are fit with a more relaxed grip. A relaxed grip should allow you to hold on to the ball easily without over squeezing the ball. A relaxed grip can also prevent a lot of wear and tear on your hand over time. If you are young and flexible, you will be able to adapt to however someone fits your hand. It doesn’t mean it is the best grip for you. You can develop very poor habits from a bad grip as well as other physical problems (major callusing, blistering, hand pain, arthritis),
There are many ways to make a ball spin, but for beginners, the football analogy is usually the easiest for people to grasp. You will want to be able to keep your wrist in a stable position throughout the swing with the fingers feeling like they are underneath the ball. Your release motion will be as if you were tossing an underhanded spiral with a football. Your thumb should not turn past 12 o‘clock. While doing this motion, the inside of your elbow should always be facing towards the 10 pin. The release motion should be independent from the elbow/arm. Pic 1 shows the proper position for your wrist and hand throughout the swing. Pic 2 shows what your hand would look like after the release. Pic 3 shows a poor hand/wrist position throughout the swing. Pic 4 shows a poor finishing release position. From the wrist/hand position in Pic 1, you can roll the ball a number of different ways with generally better misses when you don’t release it well. If you can get the ball into a roll, the ball will hook easily. From the position in Pic 3, you will generally spin the ball more like a top and have worse misses. If it is spinning more like a top, there will need to be a significant amount of friction to make the ball transition from a spin to a roll. Before practicing this on the lane, try practicing this just rolling it off your hand on the carpet. It is much easier to practice this release without a full approach to get a feel for it. Come see me and I will be happy to help you.
I have been bowling for about 4 years. I’m older (67) and a friend I bowl with talked me into buying a Reign of Fire and it doesn’t hook. I also have a Tropical Storm and it hooks much more than it. I was told that the Reign of Fire hooks more but it doesn’t for me. It is drilled with the yellow dot (Pin) just to the right of my fingers. Did I get a bad ball? Is it drilled wrong?
Steve – Sun City
Steve, without seeing you bowl, I have to guess at what your issue is. The ball is a very good ball, one of the more aggressive hooking balls out at the moment. The problem could be one of a few different things. If you haven’t done anything to the ball since you got it, it is hooking, but hooking too early. The Tropical Storm you have is probably going farther down the lane before it’s hooking so you are SEEING the ball hook down the lane. The Reign of Fire is very dull when you first get it, causing it to roll as soon as it encounters any type of friction on the lane. That, combined with possibly a lower ball speed, could make the ball roll very early and have nothing left when it gets to the backend of the lane. You would probably SEE the ball hook more if you were bowling on a lot of oil or if you polished the ball.
It is drilled with a standard strong layout which could be another problem. If, when you got the ball, you told your ball driller that you wanted it to hook a lot and he hadn’t seen you bowl, then this would probably be the result. If you want to be able to use it more frequently, I would first have your pro shop sand the ball with a higher grit (2000 or 4000) and then polish it. This should make the ball skid much farther before it hooks. You could also just wait until the lane condition has much more oil and allows you to use the ball.