Drilling balls this week were based on shape and surface friction. I was looking for a ball reaction that hooked half as much or less than what a bowler normally looks for. Getting line up to a ball reaction that was too much was sure death. There are several ways to create less hook down lane and one would be an easy trap this week for many.

Often we try and control shape by having the ball slow down in the front part of the lane. One of the ways we do this is to use use surface friction. That is a good idea this week but many of the balls in a bowlers bag or on the shelf are designed for lower friction synthetic surfaces. I know there will be several bowlers who will get a look early in the week with higher friction cover-stocks that, will be frustrated as the week progresses. As the lane becomes cleaner and cleaner from the frequent striping of PBA lane maintenance, the ball will look worse and worse. This is very common of bowlers with higher ball speeds or lower rev rates.

With cover-stock friction there is a point of no return that a bowler needs to understand. Once a bowler goes beyond this point they are in a foul line trap. It is very hard to see it from the foul line but the score board will show a lot of nines usually a move off a 4 pin will be a ring or flat 10. Ring 10 means the bowler is using too much reaction down lane. Flat 10 means the ball reaction is slowing down too much. I can preach it all I want but I promise you it will happen to some very good bowlers this week. Their instinctive moves to less down lane hook will be more cover-stock friction.

The other consideration this week is the track. The track area in this house is very wide. I am afraid many bowlers will not get deep enough fast enough if they want to use the track. The fronts won't tell them to move deeper and the move down lane will tell the bowler to open up their angles. As soon as they do that from a zone too far right their ball reaction will be similar to the 4 pin / 10 pin trap of the bowlers opting for too much surface except it will be magnified into a 2-10 - Big 4 look.

I expect bowlers to start just left of the track and try to get lined up throwing it through the track and trying to get it back from a zone too far right and too far down the lane. To play the track a bowler will likely have to be 2 arrows right of where the head oil tells them to be. Another way to attack this pattern will be steeper angles and earlier break point for speed/rev rates that can control this part of the lane. The slower ball speeds will find it difficult to do this as the ball will be DOA (Dead on Arrival).

Layouts will vary greatly but should allow the bowler to cover fewer boards avoid too quick of a response to the friction. I am leaning towards cover-stocks and lay outs that will not force me to shine the ball because I expect the break point window to get tighter as the week progresses (especially on match-play Friday) A slight tweak in cover-stock will make a huge difference this week.

I always say "good ball reaction never changes...how we accomplish it changes every week." That will be very true and very important this week. If a ball reacts too quick to friction don't waste time trying to get lined up to it or you are inviting trouble that is more than willing to show up. The wood surface will fool people this week because being too quick on wood doesn't look the same as it does on synthetic. Wood is always smoother and it takes away a lot of the jerk that can be seen with bad ball reaction on synthetic panels. It will look smooth enough from the foul line, but half a game later the open frames will tell you something is wrong.