"Hook Power"

[mishatx]

While rewatching video from a recent pair of games, I went off in search of information about the location of the downlane range finder boards on the brunswick lanes.
I came across the marketing materials for Pro Lane and Anvilane and noticed this:

Determining Hook Power
Pro Lane’s board lines and alternating light/dark boards help bowlers to determine their “hook power,” or how many boards their ball covers from the foul line to the pins. This simple equation helps bowlers at any skill level to consistently hit the pocket.

It goes on to give examples of hook power - a ball released on 10, breaks at 10 and and hits the pocket at 17 has a "hook power" of 7. Similarly, a ball that is released at 16, breaks at 13, and hits at 17 has a "hook power" of 7. In essence, it's (number of boards right to breakpoint + number of boards left to pins) [flip left and right as appropriate].

Now this might not be new information for most of you - but for me it was very interesting. I went back and looked at every shot, and despite feeling very inconsistent in my release, my target, etc, I had a "hook power" of about 8-10 on every shot - even the ones I got hung up in and sent all the way off to the left - if you discounted the boards covered to the left before the breakpoint, the ball was breaking 8 or 9 boards further left after that. I was able to pause each shot at laydown and at the break point, and predict within a board where it would hit the pins, based on where it was at those two points.

One thing I've been disappointed about is that when I miss to the right, it's like my ball doesn't react - but with this "hook power" in mind, I see that the ball is reacting the same amount. A strike shot might lay down at 13 and break at 11, then hook back over to 17 to hit the pocket with a hook power of 8. A miss might lay down at 14 and get lost out to 9, and with only 3 or 4 boards of hook power left makes what looks like a weak move and is lucky to even land a light hit on the 3 pin. So while I had been disappointed that I was not getting enough revs on those shots to get back to the pocket, I see instead that I might just be struggling with aim and hitting the breakpoint correctly.

This concept has also helped me to better conceptualize why a miss right necessitates a move right and a miss left a move left. In essence, you're working how much "hook power" to burn before the breakpoint and how much after.

I thought this was an interesting concept and I hope it helps me develop. I see some possible issues: while it appears that "hook power" is an attribute of the bowler, it looks like it's highly dependent on lane condition, ball, and probably other factors, and could change from venue to venue, lane to lane or even day to day (or maybe even board-to-board, based on pattern shape?). It does seem, though, if you can work out the "hook power" for a particular ball for you on a particular night, use the rule of 31 to find the exit point, you can get an idea for a line to play.

[djp1080]

Thanks for posting this!
I was looking at the Brunswick web site just a few days ago and was reading the same information that you mentioned. Also, I've read that many times before. Being senile I didn't quite get it after the first few times of reading it, but now I get it. At least a little bit.
I've been paying attention to where my ball passes at the range finders down at 34 to 37 feet on board 15 and 40 to 43 feet on board 10 for a long time. Many of the balls I tend to use have pearl coverstock or hybrids and I think many of them don't start their break until the 40 foot mark. The solid or Storm Nano covers pick up a bit earlier.
Perhaps I ought to get a video of some of the reactions and examine them more closely than my naked eye. I'm likely missing a lot of key stuff to try to pay attention to.
Good luck!

[bowl1820]

Just to throw this in:


In regard to how strong a ball is has a lot to do on how players see the ball react on the lane. is it "front to back" or from "side to side" /

You have:
Frontend Boards Covered (FBC): This is the number of boards crossed from the laydown point to the breakpoint.

Backend Boards Covered (BBC): This is the total number of boards crossed from the breakpoint to the entry board at the pocket.

(In essence, it's (number of boards right to breakpoint + number of boards left to pins) [flip left and right as appropriate].)

Total Boards Covered (TBC): This is the total number of boards crossed from the time the ball contacts the lane until it enters the pocket.


Here's a simple example:
The illustration is not remotely to scale and so the ball paths are slightly distorted and would look different on a actual lane.


Which ball hooked more?

Most would say the Red ball "Hooked" more because they see it make that dramatic angle change, It went long and snapped hard. But both balls (Red & Black) have covered the same amount of boards, The main difference was just where the ball made the change in direction (How early it "hooked").

As you see here the black ball reacted earlier and the red ball later.

Heres another one:


Now most would say the green ball "Hooked" more here. Because it made that big angle change turning back toward the pocket.

But while The Green ball has covered more total boards, as for the backend it has covered the same amount of boards as the other two.

[bowl1820]

For those interested here's the brunswick "Hook power" info, it also has info on lane zones.

Click for larger image.

[mishatx]

So I can see how the same bowler could deliver the red and black balls, based on characteristics of the ball, but would the green ball require more revs to overcome the number of boards covered and create that backend reaction?

[bowl1820]

So I can see how the same bowler could deliver the red and black balls, based on characteristics of the ball, but would the green ball require more revs to overcome the number of boards covered and create that backend reaction?

In regards to that example image, Whether it takes more revs or not doesn't matter. The image is just to show that while each ball made a later & more angular backend motion , all three balls only moved the same amount of backend boards (7)

Don't be mislead by that super sharp turn the green ball appears to make, It's not really that sharp. Remember the illustration is not remotely to scale and so the ball paths are distorted and would look different on a actual lane. It's just meant to illustrate the idea of the boards being covered by the ball. Not actual lane play.


here is a more to scale example, as you can see it isn't that sharp of a turn. While revs can help you make the turn, The thing that really helps give you that big angular backend motion in the backend is ball symmetry, RG and differential.