Flare variance between two balls

[Phonetek]

I opened up the thumb on my Faball blue Hammer so I could finally use it. I went one game with it and one with my reactive ball. I noticed something odd when I cam home to clean them. The reactive ball had more flair on the oil track, several oil lines with a tiny gap starting just left of the thumb hole moving outward.

The blue Hammer had more like one thick oil line all just left of the thumb but no gap. The first oil line on the reactive ball was in the exact same place away from the finger and thumb holes as it was on the Hammer. I really never paid any attention before, why such a difference in the track width when I'm throwing them exactly the same?

[bowl1820]

I opened up the thumb on my Faball blue Hammer so I could finally use it. I went one game with it and one with my reactive ball. I noticed something odd when I cam home to clean them. The reactive ball had more flair on the oil track, several oil lines with a tiny gap starting just left of the thumb hole moving outward.

The blue Hammer had more like one thick oil line all just left of the thumb but no gap. The first oil line on the reactive ball was in the exact same place away from the finger and thumb holes as it was on the Hammer. I really never paid any attention before, why such a difference in the track width when I'm throwing them exactly the same?

The flare rings are farther apart mainly do to the balls having a different RG differentials, the old Hammer has a lower differential than the newer Reactive ball.




The RG Differential (aka:The Differential), Shows the difference between the low RG and the high RG. This differential indicates the potential for track flare. The lower the differential the closer together the track flare rings are and The higher the differential the further apart the track flare rings are.

Bowling Ball Track Flare Explained:
http://blueprintbowling.com/Document...0Explained.pdf

[Phonetek]

The PDF you attached is a wealth of information. If I understand this correctly in simple terms, flare is based mainly on the characteristics of the ball (for starters). By using different drilling layouts you can change the effect shape and width of the flare. Last night I wasn't throwing either ball differently so the flare results I seen weren't different because of me. As the bowler you can't change the amount of flare the ball has unless changing speed and rev rate. But, different wrist / hand / finger position will change the location of the oil track but the flare will remain constant without changing speed or rev rate. Am I making sense or am I not even close?

[bowl1820]

Yes the amount of flare potential (call it the Max Flare) a ball can potentially achieve is defined by the design of the core. How much of that you can achieved is dictated by the drilling and the amount of revolutions you the bowler can generate (The more revolutions you can generate, the more flare you can get.).

Say If a ball has a 6" flare potential, That means that distance from the first oil ring to the last ring of oil can be up to 6" inches. But to get that you have to drill it for max flare and be able to generate the revs needed to get that much flare.

[Phonetek]

This is all starting to make sense now. I see how knowing this can help me choose a proper arsenal too. It's been difficult trying figure all this stuff out but I guess I just had to ask the right question to go along with a scenario of my own with something I could actually see to make it click. I can read about stuff all day and take nothing out of it. Visuals make all the difference for me. Thanks

[Eddy]

Bowl1820 is a true asset to this site. I appreciate his insight and knowledge of bowling as I try to work my way back into relevance. I learn a little bit more every time I read his posts.

[Phonetek]

Bowl1820 is a true asset to this site. I appreciate his insight and knowledge of bowling as I try to work my way back into relevance. I learn a little bit more every time I read his posts.

I agree, I feel I should start each thread. "Here's my question this time Bowl1820...." because I know he's gonna likely be the one to answer it. LOL It's a good thing though, I think I've learned more about bowling (off the lanes) in the last month and a half since I joined here than I have in the 30 yrs I've been doing it. I didn't realize there was that much information out there or should I say that much I didn't know about the sport. On the upside, I've done pretty well at it being as absent minded as I have been all these years LOL

[boatman37]

It's funny. We normally don't think about how the internet has changed our lives. Having such a large gap in my bowling career I see it now. I left in 2002. Sure there was internet but no Google or youtube and likely no forums like this to get help. I knew how to roll strikes and pick up spares, that was about it. And I was pretty good at it. Now I see that my approach is horrible and my old ball wasn't drilled properly...lol

[Phonetek]

Same kinda thing with making the video's. We didn't just whip out a cell phone in 1984 to record ourselves especial in high res. I have a couple VHS tapes around of me bowling as a kid. It was a huge production to do it. My friends dad had to bring this giant camcorder that was twice the size of 3 ball roller, a tripod and a big huge light like a shop light and some heavy duty extension cords. People thought we were filming a documentary about youth bowling LOL We weren't done yet, then we had to go home and use a VHS adapter and two VCR to transfer it to a regular VHS. Only back then the GOOD VCR's had slow motion. Now, nobody even pays any attention to you whipping out a phone or ipad to record by touching one button.

Honestly, if time stood still in bowling as it was back then I wouldn't mind. You had to be really good to average 200. Most of all, you HAD to know how to keep score! Now...there's an app for that. I'm starting to feel like an old geezer

Boy did this thread go WAY off subject LOL How do you go from talking ball flare to VHS tapes? Oh well, all good.

[boatman37]

Yeah. back then if you had a 200 average you were a rock star. we had about 3 or 4, maybe 5 bowlers with a 200 average back then and the highest average was about 207. my current league we have at least 20 that are over 200 average (7 over 220) and the highest is about 228. from what i have been told the difference is the synthetic lanes and more forgiving and effective bowling balls