Okay, although I aspire to one day own my own press and do my own drilling, as of now, I'm still green when it comes to these things. Currently, I'm doing a lot of no-thumb bowling, and I have an arsenal of balls strictly for that purpose. I'm seeing great results with my urethane and plastic pieces, but I'm struggling to find consistent reactions with my resin balls. A big part of that is probably due to the need for measuring my no thumb PAP. As such, I've been reading up on some of Mo Pinel's work, and I came across the following article:

http://radicalbowling.com/news/a-radical-look-into-no-thumb-drill-patterns

Now, he describes common PAP positions for no-thumb bowlers, and he provides diagrams on how to go about laying out balls for them. He claims that putting the PAP between 3-3/4” to 5-1/4” will produce more flare, and keeping it between 3/4” to 2-1/2” will produce less flare. The thing that is confusing me is that the diagrams show the option of achieving those distances either horizontally or vertically. My question is can you choose either one, and, if you do, what would be the difference in reaction?

What I mean is what would be the difference if I kept the pin right around the finger holes 3 3/4" from the PAP as opposed to achieving that distance by placing the pin up on/near the VAL 3 3/4" from the PAP? I know I would need a ball with a further pin-out distance if I want to put it on/near the VAL, but is there going to be a reaction difference too? I would guess placing it near the VAL would create more flare because the core would start out more on its side as opposed to standing nearly straight up if the pin stayed closer to the fingers. Am I on the right track there?

I'm sorry if this question is silly, but as someone who has never drilled his own equipment before, I want to make sure that I know what's in play here.

Well, I've tried looking up layout pics for guys like Daugherty, Belmo, Osku, etc., but I haven't found as many examples as I was hoping for. Brass tacks, although I love using urethane/plastic when able, I'd like to be able to go to resin when the need arises. Those guys clearly do so most of the time, so there have to be some layouts that they've found beneficial. For me, when I use resin, it's over-under city at the moment.

You're right, SVstar. Since no-thumb bowling is still newer to me, I have some release inconsistency from time to time. Thankfully, it's getting a little better and more consistent all the time.

I probably misrepresented things when I said over-under. I'm just not liking the look/shape I get with my resin pieces. On our house shot, I'd pretty much have to start the night playing 4th arrow or deeper, and it's still no good because I'll leave solid 9s and 4-9s if the ball creeps the least bit high. Then, I'm also susceptible to a lot of 7 pins from the ball coming in too steep. Now, I've tried combatting that with surface to get the ball to read sooner and tame the backend down, but I'm still not getting the shape that I want.

All in all, I'm not all that worried about it for the house shot because urethane and plastic look very good there. My concern is when I go to tournaments, the Open Championships in particular. I know that it's possible to use urethane in some of those situations, but if I'm trying to help 9 other guys break a pattern down, I'm not sure urethane is what we'd be going for. As such, I need to find a way to create some predictable shapes with some non-urethane pieces. That's what I'm looking for here.

Thug Unruly; Melee; Fanatic BTU. I need to do more coverstock experimentation with all three.

The Unruly is the most predictable, but it is still way too strong off the spot. I can't remember if I took it down to 1000 or 2000, but it's still apt to go sideways down the lane.

The Melee was originally at box finish, which was 500 plus Royal Compound plus Royal Shine. With that surface the ball slid 60 feet. I knocked the shine off, which helped a little, but even then it was unpredictable even when I thought my release was solid. I need to mess with it some more.

The BTU has less than a full game on it, so it's hard to say. I still have it at box finish. Right now, it is 100% allergic to oil (even moreso than my urethane stuff), but it banks harder than my urethane off of the dry. The box finish on that one is 500-1500. I think I'm going to knock that one down to 1000 to see if I can make it pick up easier and stay more mellow down the lane. Right now, I feel like I have to fire that one into the dry in order to make it pick up. The bad part is that  it bounces hard once it hits the dry, which makes my angles shaky. I see a ton of potential with that one, but, again, I need to get the surface right.

I do not know anything about your arsenal. As a two hander I do have the urathane but my best balls are the pearls. I even polished my Scandal even though I have the Scandal Pearl.

i think if you drill a ball with less diff. it would be more predictable as well. less diff will result in less flare and less of a move off friction. i would look at an IQ solid or hustle PRO or even a tropical breeze. something along those lines.

i think if you drill a ball with less diff. it would be more predictable as well. less diff will result in less flare and less of a move off friction. i would look at an IQ solid or hustle PRO or even a tropical breeze. something along those lines.

It's funny that you mention that because I've been considering some of those balls for that exact reason!