Author Topic: Top Weight (Read 1401 times)

john178 · « **on:** February 14, 2009, 03:21:10 AM »

Can someone please explain what top weight is and what is the ideal top weight? For instance is 3+oz. of top weight too much ?

TWOHAND834 · « **Reply #1 on:** February 14, 2009, 11:30:04 AM »

I like to consider "ideal" as anything between 2-4 ounces depending on how much you want to manipulate the ball reaction.
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tc300 · « **Reply #2 on:** February 14, 2009, 04:59:43 PM »

what amount of top weight would be good for a high-rev player?

?

JohnP · « **Reply #3 on:** February 14, 2009, 06:49:26 PM »

Manufacturers put top weight in a ball to offset the 3 oz or so removed during drilling. By moving the cg away from the grip center the top weight can be converted to positive/negative side weight and/or finger/thumb weight. But in today's balls these imbalances have only a minimal affect on the ball's reaction, unless they are used to allow drilling of a balance hole which does affect the ball's reaction by modifying the core. After drilling, for the heavier ball weights, the USBC limits are 3 oz max of top/bottom weight, 1 oz max of positive/negative side weight, and 1 oz max of finger/thumb weight. -- JohnP

tenpinspro · « **Reply #4 on:** February 15, 2009, 02:35:50 PM »

quote:
Can someone please explain what top weight is and what is the ideal top weight?

Hey john,

Top weight is exactly as it sounds, the ball is heavier on the top side of the ball. I like to define it as when manufacturers realized that if you have a spherical object that were completely "balanced" (ie. ball bearing), it would roll too evenly and not have any drive or momentum behind it.

I believe top weight was first achieved by adding physical weight to one half of the ball in the form of a pancake weight block as illustrated in the following pic:

http://www.bowlingballreviews.com/ball.asp?ballid=526

With the piece now inserted, we make the top side of the ball heavier compared to the bottom side which will now create a loping effect. We could now also drill our gripping holes off center of that piece so it makes it "imbalanced" from one side to another.

As we have advanced to full size core technology, top weight can be obtained a couple a ways. Some companies utilize "flip blocks" which is an additional piece added to the top side of a core which makes it heavier to the top side.

Another way during production is when we drill the center hole in the core (where pins should end up), we can drill that hole slightly deeper so that the core placement is leaning more towards the top of the ball vs being centered in a ball and once again, we place more weight towards the top side of a ball.

As cores and covers have advanced so much in comparison to the days of pancake weight blocks, top weight in itself does have less effect comparatively (as JohnP states) but can now help us in different ways to manipulate a core's dynamics after manufacturing (as TWOHAND states).

quote:
For instance is 3+oz. of top weight too much ?

Typically no(over 5 may get a little tricky), it depends on which ball and what you want the ball to do. A generic standard in the business is 2.5 - 3. This is a usually a safe number for a driller to utilize (so long as pin distance is also within reason). Hope this helps some...
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Author Topic: Top Weight (Read 1401 times)

john178

Top Weight

TWOHAND834

Re: Top Weight

tc300

Re: Top Weight

JohnP

Re: Top Weight

tenpinspro

Re: Top Weight