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Author Topic: Compared two Widows to mine tonite.....  (Read 1961 times)

pjr300

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Compared two Widows to mine tonite.....
« on: December 08, 2006, 03:22:12 PM »
Our shot tonight was much longer oil than normal.... I had nothing strong with me tonight, and as a result I struggled with my Widow. It is set up quite mild: the OOB 4000g finish, pin next to right, CG at  4 1/2. Goes very long, and normally a hard smap. Tonite, straight as an arrow. Played direct up 10 and shot my worst set in years (149, 221, 141) on a 220 average.  Missed a ton of spares too... just a bad night.

Anyhow, 2 of my teammates have Widows. When we were done with league play, I asked if I could throw their Widows for a few shots. Both were OOB cover. Widow #1 was a 1 1/2" pin, pin below ring, CG at 50*, x-hole below midline on the VAL. It hooked.. a bunch! I moved 10 boards left with my feet and a couple right at the arrows. Had trouble keeping it off the nose.

Then I threw Widow #2: (4" pin, placed above bridge, CG out about 2" with MB at 60* with X-hole near the PAP). This ball went at least 5 feet longer and still hit the brooklyn! I moved further left and threw it harder and pounded the pocket.

I then threw my Widow from that spot and the ball went straight... just hooked into the 3 pin!

There is nothing wrong with my Widow.... but it was a good lesson on how important the layout is on these balls. My teammates were blown away, as I was playing it so straight all night, then threw their stuff and covered more boards than they did.

I'll be getting another Widow soon... will probably do the pin above ring, MB 1" right of thumb, reduced to 2000g.

P.S. Ironic that I shoot so poorly, as I threw 22 stikes over the first two games on wednesday with my very same Widow in another league. 16 in a row at one point. How quickly things change!

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Edited on 12/30/2006 8:29 AM
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chitown

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Re: Compared two Widows to mine tonite.....
« Reply #1 on: December 09, 2006, 09:21:03 AM »
Hows your Widow drilled?  Where's your MB on yours?

I'm willing to bet that your MB is in a weaker position than there's.  I had a BW I bought used from a friend.  Pin was belwo the bridge and MB  under the thumb but a little right of it.  This bal sucked.  It was  very weak and hit like garabge.  I kept the same layout my friend had on it.  I just had the thumb and finger plugged and re-drilled for me.   I ended up trading this Widow in for a new one.  I drilled the new one with the pin above the bridge and MB right of thumb but next to it.  So my MB was closer to my pap on this ball.  This made all the difference.  This Widow hooked and hit great.

So yes layout's make a big difference.  However once you find that good layout for your game then coverstock makes the biggest difference.  

You know that you can alway adjust the cover on yours so it can handle more oil.  You will be shocked at how strong the widow is when dulled.  I took mine down to 1000 grit just to see what it could do.  Holy crap it hooked at my feet.  This cover is very strong when dulled.  Right now mine is polished with Ebonites factory finish and it works great.
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pjr300

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Re: Compared two Widows to mine tonite.....
« Reply #2 on: December 09, 2006, 10:55:22 AM »

Chitown, good catch. I thought that I included the specs of my Widow in the post... I did not.

My widow has the pin even with the ring and about 1/2 right. The CG is stacked 3" below and maybe 1/4 right, and the MB is right of thunb by about an inch.

Yes, this is a weak layout. My CG and MB is both much weaker than the other two balls. My layout provides tremendous length even as the lanes break down. When the midlanes finally blow wide open I'm screwed though (I am considering a 3rd Widow with this same layout but polished).

On the 2nd Widow that I'm considering for longer and heavier conditions, I would place the pin above the ring, the MB in a very strong position, and bring the cover to 1000 or 2000.  That would be close to Widow #2 that I threw last night... actually, even a bit stronger.





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six pack

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Re: Compared two Widows to mine tonite.....
« Reply #3 on: December 09, 2006, 11:18:07 AM »
my widow has the skid/flip layout on it,pin above grips and centered with the m.b. 1-7/8" right of thumb center.this ball easily clears the heads,mids and with carrydown or dirty backends it even clears the backend,LOL.but with clean backends or little carrydown,this ball is nuts!sometimes it looks like it passes the pocket and then turns back to clear the deck!I have it at 4000 right now for one house I bowl at that has good backends and it's perfect for second ball out of the bag after my no mercy.in the house I bowl at with little backend it has worked very well at 500-1000 grit finish.even at 500 it stores up the energy very well,might want to give a cover adjustment a try.once I get my doom I think the widow will go back to 500,gets down the lane like a pearl and has the backend of a sanded solid,what else could you ask for?it's a very unique reaction.
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pjr300

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Re: Compared two Widows to mine tonite.....
« Reply #4 on: December 09, 2006, 11:23:21 AM »
quote:
my widow has the skid/flip layout on it,pin above grips and centered with the m.b. 1-7/8" right of thumb center....it's perfect for second ball out of the bag after my no mercy.in the house I bowl at with little backend it has worked very well at 500-1000 grit finish.even at 500 it stores up the energy very well...


Good info six pack! So, how does the Widow at 500 compare to your No Mercy in the heavy oil?
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slowmofo908

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Re: Compared two Widows to mine tonite.....
« Reply #5 on: December 09, 2006, 11:26:39 AM »
so are you puttin an x hole in your next ball?
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six pack

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Re: Compared two Widows to mine tonite.....
« Reply #6 on: December 09, 2006, 11:36:29 AM »
quote:
quote:
my widow has the skid/flip layout on it,pin above grips and centered with the m.b. 1-7/8" right of thumb center....it's perfect for second ball out of the bag after my no mercy.in the house I bowl at with little backend it has worked very well at 500-1000 grit finish.even at 500 it stores up the energy very well...


Good info six pack! So, how does the Widow at 500 compare to your No Mercy in the heavy oil?
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pjr300
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in heavy the no mercy is the #1 choice mainly because it has more midlane and I love the way the ball hits.the widow has about the same backend but hardly any mid lane read.when the no mercy starts to hit too hard or burns up in the mids then the lanes are perfect for the widow,even at 500-1000 grit.the hold area and backend of the widow is what I like the most.for the most part if you have enough oil I would go with a no mercy hands down.
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pjr300

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Re: Compared two Widows to mine tonite.....
« Reply #7 on: December 09, 2006, 07:00:53 PM »
quote:
so are you puttin an x hole in your next ball?


I'll probably have no choice, once I kick out the CG it will be required in order to be legal.


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pjr300
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chitown

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Re: Compared two Widows to mine tonite.....
« Reply #8 on: December 09, 2006, 08:40:38 PM »
My BW is drilled like six packs.  I have it above the birdge and MB right of thumb about an inch and x-hole 4.5" right of grip center line.  It does have a big back end that's about the same as the NM but like six pack said; has little mid lane.

The NM and BW complement each other very well.

With the BW or anyother asymmetrical ball, the MB is very important to the balls over all reaction.  If your MB is in a weak position the ball may not do a whole lot.  

Let's say you have 2 BW's.  Both of these balls have the same exact pin location but different MB positions.  These two balls would be totally different from each other.  

Sometimes it's a good approach to buy two of the same ball and put different layouts on them.  I have done this many times in the past.


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six pack

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Re: Compared two Widows to mine tonite.....
« Reply #9 on: December 09, 2006, 09:57:23 PM »
I agree with Chitown 100%.I had a widow and a no mercy both used and sold them both because they were not the reactions I was looking for but I liked the balls in general.I bought both the widow and n.m. new and drilled them up and have been very happy with both.alot more thought and attention to the details with the layout of these asymetrical cores is very important.never really owning asymetric core balls before I did'nt relize how detailed they are in tuneing the core for the desired reactions but are well worth all the thought.the drilling is way more important than symetric balls.
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