Two-Handed Bowling: Practice Time for Short Pattern
Scott PohlDescription
Radium is a short pattern, 37ft in length with medium volume oil. This tells you that the line to play is closer to the gutter with more right-to-left ball motion. Jackson Hellen has selected the bowling balls he plans to use and has applied sanding pads to each of the bowling balls coverstocks prior to arriving to competition.
In this Free Video, Scott Pohl, owner of On Track Pro Shop, explains what Helllen is seeing out there before bowling for score.
Pitch Black and Idle
The game plan going into this competition is to start with a urethane ball, the Pitch Black at 3000 grit on the coverstock. The Idle Jackson is throwing has a weaker layout, pin down with a 3000 grit on the coverstock.
Because we are bowling on a short pattern, he needs a ball that will get through the heads cleanly while having an even rolling reaction down on the back part of the lane. As you can see, both bowling balls have a pretty good reaction on the lane. Scott and Jackson like the urethane just because it blended the oil out a little bit more front-to-back.
However, it didn’t take long for that Pitch Black to stop reacting on the back-end part of the lane. So during practice time, they hit the ball with a 1000 grit sanding pad. This gets the ball to start up a little bit sooner and the result was what they were looking for.
The ball didn’t labor on the back-end and the ball drove through the pins a lot better than when it was at 3000 grit. It’s important to note that at some point throughout the block the urethane ball is probably not going to be the answer as the oil keeps pushing down the lane.
Wolverine and IQ Emerald
Jackson and Scott have decided which ball to start with and possibly the first ball they will go to when the lanes transition, but what about later in the block? Throwing the balls they plan to use later in the block during practice time will give them information about how soon or late into the block these balls could be used.
They didn’t expect these bowling balls to strike, the goal is information gathering on how the ball reacts on the fresh condition because the plan is to use them when the lanes transition.
Radium is a 37 ft medium volume short oil pattern. This tells us a couple of things. We don’t want to start with a pearl-type or shiny coverstock. Those types of bowling balls on the pattern will respond very violently on the back-end. We’re going to start with a urethane or a resin ball that’s very rolly, because that’s how you control the breakpoint on fresh oil on Radium.
Ok. So we're getting ready for practice time. We have to go in with an open mind. Sometimes we're not 100% sure which bowling ball we're going to use. Exactly. And in the right spot, we have to know sometimes we maybe need to adjust the surface on that ball to get it to pick up at the right time. Ok. We definitely know we want to start with possibly a urethane ball or a ball that is very even rolling down on the back part of the lane. So the couple that we have in front of us are the pitch black and the idol. Ok. As you can see, both of them have a pretty good ball reaction, but we like the urethane just because it blended it out a little bit more front to back. However, it didn't take long for that pitch black to stop moving on the back end. So what we did here, we hit the ball with 1000 surface. This gets the ball to start up a little bit sooner, get it through the pins a lot better. And it didn't labor so much on the back end. But in the back of our mind, we know at some point this urethane ball is probably not going to be the answer as the oil keeps traveling down the lane. Ok. So we've thrown the urethane a few times. We've thrown that idol a couple of times. You know what? It's even a good idea. Let's throw another ball. Let's throw a shiny reaction just to see what it does. Or even we can go to our transition ball and just see what it does for that situation. That way, we might have a better of an idea when it comes to it. Ok. So knowing it's a short pattern, it's 37 ft medium volume. This tells us a couple of things. We don't want to start with a paralyzed type of ball that's going to respond very violently on the back end, we're going to start with a urethane or a resin ball that's very rolly. Gives us the best choices to start with. It will be a lot more consistent. So one thing when you get out there for your practice time, be sure you're ready. You know what? Don't just go out there with the first few balls, throw them just to get loose, be ready for the shot, get started right away.
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