I was reading Chris Schlemer's report on the Storm web site about the Viper Championship back in November. You may remember this is the one where Rhino Page and Ryan Ciminelli both teamed up to dispense the righties, and both were using Storm Naturals.

Schlemer posted pictures of the balls they were using and described the layouts. I was very curious to see that one of the Naturals Page was using was drilled with the the pin below the thumb and the balance hole by the thumb (click the link below to see the pic).

Schlemer said, "By inverting this core we were able to drill into the larger part of the core and reduce the differential even more, thus making it more stable and controllable."

I've never seen a ball drilled like that and wonder what folks with more knowledge about this stuff have to say.

Also, he puts up pictures of the Reign that Liz Johnson was using (see pic). The first thing that jumped out at me was the size of the balance hole. He says, "This layout is one of Liz’s favorites as well as some of the other Storm staffers including Pete Weber. The key to this layout is using a 1-1/8” drill bit for the extra hole. The larger hole changes the RG and Differential and makes the ball roll early, but still maintain a continuous motion all the way through the lane."

Again, would love to hear from the ball drilling gurus on this.

The full report is here: http://www.stormbowling.com/news/2009/11/2989

I saved an email from bowlingball.com from years ago and couldn''''t post a link but can copy paste the article and the one layout pic.

(wish bowlingball.com still posted these)

http://images.bowlingball.com/ProductImages/2659-lp-4.jpg


There have been many questions about this drilling and the purpose of the layout. First of all this drilling happens to be nothing new. We have used it to reverse the flare for Full-Roller releases for quite some time. This layout allows the flare to move away from the fingers instead of towards them. Using it for non Full-Rollers is the only unique aspect of the layout.

We have always liked the different move this layout makes to friction. The move is less lateral, meaning the ball seems to make a more forward move down lane rather than a sideways move. Due to this we use this layout when we want to see particular bowlers use less angle through the front part of the lane. We have also observed a different move through the pins than that of positive axis layouts. When we want to reduce the move through the pins we have had success using this layout.

Because of the arc shape difference we have been able to attack the higher friction boards from a different angle. It has been successful when we see a bowlers head and belly not matching up. You can hook this layout, but when you are over projecting this layout your carry will suffer. The biggest challenge when using this layout is the transition moves a bowler needs to use.

Parallel moves work better than typical 2 and 1''''s. Speed is also an advantage when using this layout. Just because the ball sees early friction a bowler can not be tempted to move too quickly. Throwing it harder and maintaining lesser angles through the front part of the lane are advisable.

For those that wish to experiment with this layout. You will need to be very selective with the pin to CG distance. We start with the longest pin to CG distance we can with a minimum of 4 1/2 to 5 inches (this is very relative to the length of the bowlers span). Static weights are a concern and using the depth of the fingers and thumb will help keep the ball within legal limits of ball specifications.

Caution:
Reversing the flare will in many cases cause the track to flare over the thumb hole. To avoid this you need to lower the pin placement. The theory by Ray Edwards in the R & D department at Brunswick is to draw a line between the pin and the positive axis point. This line needs to be 1 1/2 inches beneath the backside of the thumb hole



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" men lie, women lie, numbers don''''t "



Edited on 12/31/2009 9:51 AM