When they say “a ball goes longer”

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soupy1957
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When they say “a ball goes longer”

Post by soupy1957 »

When they say “a ball goes longer,” ......What are they really saying? Are they saying that it travels down the lane further before it begins to hook? I haven’t figured out the different ways that they describe the reaction of a bowling ball, other than the way it spins on the oil, and the way it hooks.

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Re: When they say “a ball goes longer”

Post by Nord »

soupy1957 wrote:When they say “a ball goes longer,” ......What are they really saying? Are they saying that it travels down the lane further before it begins to hook? I haven’t figured out the different ways that they describe the reaction of a bowling ball, other than the way it spins on the oil, and the way it hooks.

So much to LEARN!!!!
Yeah, a lot of confusing terms have cropped up over the years and a kind of jargon has developed in bowling that new bowlers find themselves scratching their heads over like these people are speaking a foreign language.

He put "surface" on a ball. As if a ball has no surface until he put it on? Meaningless.
The lanes are "Tight." Huh? That means nothing to a layman.
My bowling ball "wiggled" when it got downlane. Huh?
And so on...

To your question:
My understanding of "Long" means that a ball skids further through the oil before getting traction.
This results in a ball that hooks later and has a later reaction.
If the ball is an aggressive pearl then it will flip very violently once it gets friction.
If it is a ball that has a higher grit surface, is plastic and/or is friction challenged, then it may hook so late it cannot get into the roll phase and will deflect off the pins.

The goal is for a ball to go through all phases of ball motion:
Skid
Hook
Roll

When you first release the ball it is rotating and skidding though the oil in the front of the lane.
As the ball gets further up the lane it starts to grab the lane and as it does it begins to turn towards the pins.
This is called the hook phase.
Once the ball fully grabs the lane and is no longer "spinning its wheels" it is in what is called the Roll Phase.
Now the ball is rolling with full traction and will drive into the pins strongly with little deflection.

A bowling ball is like car tires.
Imagine you gun it and you are driving on ice.
The tires spin but get no traction.
This is the "Skid Phase"
Now imagine that the car starts to leave the ice and just starts to hit the road, but the road still has some very thin ice on it, but the tires are just starting to grab.
This is the "Hook Phase."
No imagine the car finally hits the dry road and those spinning tires suddenly grab and the car jerks forward hard.
This the "Roll Phase."
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Re: When they say “a ball goes longer”

Post by snick »

I often place a piece of tape on the PAP. If the tape is stable well past the arrows, I'd say the ball going long before hooking.
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Re: When they say “a ball goes longer”

Post by soupy1957 »

Thanks.....that helps!!
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Re: When they say “a ball goes longer”

Post by TonyPR »

Some clarifications:

Putting “surface” on the ball is meaningless until you specify which grit(s) and sequence was used. For example: “I brought down the surface from 500/2000 to a straight 500 grit.

A pearl coverstock will not necessarily skid more and snap harder. The skidding comes from the polished finish they usually come in. Try sanding a pearl to 500, it will probably read earlier than it’s solid counterpart.
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Re: When they say “a ball goes longer”

Post by Nord »

TonyPR wrote:Some clarifications:

Putting “surface” on the ball is meaningless until you specify which grit(s) and sequence was used. For example: “I brought down the surface from 500/2000 to a straight 500 grit.

A pearl coverstock will not necessarily skid more and snap harder. The skidding comes from the polished finish they usually come in. Try sanding a pearl to 500, it will probably read earlier than it’s solid counterpart.
Possibly, but Pearls have mica bits in them to make them slide longer than solids, right?
So even if you take the finish down in grit, it should still be longer than the same core and coverstock without the mica particles.
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Re: When they say “a ball goes longer”

Post by TonyPR »

Nope.
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Re: When they say “a ball goes longer”

Post by Nord »

TonyPR wrote:Nope.
More details please...
What is the purpose of mica particles in a Pearl?
Why are they there and what do they accomplish?
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Re: When they say “a ball goes longer”

Post by TonyPR »

http://wiki.bowlingchat.net/wiki/index. ... Coverstock" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: When they say “a ball goes longer”

Post by bowl1820 »

Nord wrote:He put "surface" on a ball. As if a ball has no surface until he put it on? Meaningless.
Someone saying they put “surface” on the ball isn't totally meaningless, It's just doesn't tell the specifics like Tony said.

It's just a player saying they put a coarser surface on the ball than what it had before. Which depending on the conversation might be all he needed to say.
Possibly, but Pearls have mica bits in them to make them slide longer than solids, right?
So even if you take the finish down in grit, it should still be longer than the same core and coverstock without the mica particles.
MO:
"There are at least 2 ways to pearlize a ball.
1: If you use powdered pearl, you will NOT add length, just increase the shape of the breakpoint.
2: If you use liquid pearl (mother of pearl), you will definitely add length. "


MO:
"Pearl in the coverstock name refers to the presence of mica flakes in the coverstock. Mica is a 6:1 aspect ratio metal flake. There are different size mica flakes available and pearl comes in different forms. Pearl is available to me in two forms, one is powder and the other is a paste. I get a different ball reaction depending on which one I use. One acts like a performance additive and the other yields brighter colors without adding performance. This is very complicated chemistry and there are no rules here."

purduepaul:
"Pearlized coverstocks are the same as solid coverstocks with the addition of Mica flake which is a particle that fractures only in one direction. The Types of coverstocks are the following:

Polyester
Urethane
Solid Reactive
Reactive with Particles
Epoxy

Those are all the unique chemistries. But remember looping all particle balls in a category though is misleading since every particle provides a unique reaction!"


Also Solid vs Pearl
While you can polish a Solid and make it act more like a Pearl, you won't turn it into a Pearl.
Just as you can sand a Pearl and make it act more like a Solid, You won't make it into a Solid.
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Re: When they say “a ball goes longer”

Post by Nord »

bowl1820 wrote: Also Solid vs Pearl
While you can polish a Solid and make it act more like a Pearl, you won't turn it into a Pearl.
Just as you can sand a Pearl and make it act more like a Solid, You won't make it into a Solid.
This was the point I was trying to make.
Thanks.
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Re: When they say “a ball goes longer”

Post by TonyPR »

A polished ball will always go longer, no matter if it’s pearl, solid or wood for the matter, it’s all about friction.
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