I was watching one of the USBC Academy videos and heard a comment by Fred Borden that many people choose "a layout that best works for them" and then use the same layout on multiple balls. This brings up 2 questions for those who have a moment to reply...

1. Do you prefer to use the same layout on different balls or do you vary?
2. What in your mind determined the "layout that best works for you"?

As always, thanks in advance for your input.

I have 2-3 different layouts that I'll use at the most.  This is because I want to try and keep it simple and let the ball's characteristics be as true as possible for my game.  Plus, it makes switching balls or changing surfaces easier as I can get a better read on what they'll do.  I generally only use 2 or 3 different pin positions at the most for the same reasons.

In the past, I've tried some different layouts to see if they would work with my game and I found myself always going back to what was tried and true for me.  It's not to say something down the line may work really well, but to date I've gotten something more specific versus being versatile.

Overall, I find it best to follow the KISS principle...Keep it simple.

I'll lean towards one layout on symmetricals and 2 different layouts on assymetricals. 5*65 and room for a hole on the symmetrical and either 50*5*65 or 70*5*30 on the assymetrical. I'm also thinking of switching up the 70*5*30 to just whatever ends up punching the MB out with my thumb and adjusting the pin from there.

My current "1 and 2" in the bag have the same pin distance from the PAP, but slightly different drill and val angles.

For the last 2 years I have found myself relying on 2 main pin locations: pin under center of bridge and pin in ring finger hole. For pin under bridge, I have 2 main CG locations: directly under the pin and CG kicked out with a weight hole. That's 3 basic drillings.

I have, of course tried other drillings, but with rare exceptions I have not found others all that useful.

Since the vast majority of asymmetric cored balls are for heavier oils and I never see that much oil, I have only drilled symmetric cored balls recently, other than a few experiments.

house bowler can get away with the same layouts on different balls

tournament bowler will want to have a variety of layouts

WRW pretty much keeps the same layout... We know what he's done in his career..

Bowled with WRW this past summer in Pro-Am. He has two layouts, pin under and pin over. Uses surface and hand adjustment for changes.

I pretty much use only 2 layouts, let the differences in the ball be the change along with surface.