The discussion of revs and speed and the relationship to ball movement was recently brought up.  I want to put in my two cents and learn from others.  So here goes as I see it:

First let's talk friction.  If a ball is thrown without any roll or with infinite revolutions any direction on a totally friction free surface it would never change its rev rate and would never turn.  If on an ultimate friction surface the balls would stop where they land.   It seems obvious that all lane conditions are somewhere inbetween.  Let's assume a medium oil condition.

Skid a ball down the lane and watch its reaction. The ball will slide for a time then start to roll.  The energy to get that ball to roll comes from the ball.  The "bottom" surface of the ball catches the surface of the lane and through friction the ball starts to roll.  Eventually the balls rotational speed matches with the balls velocity(equilibrium). But the velocity of the ball has slowed as the energy to create the roll came from the total energy of the ball at the release.  Friction of the ball rolling on the lane also continues to slow the ball.  Now skid the ball down the lane at a faster rate.  The time and length of lane used is longer before the ball starts to roll and when it "matches up" speeds.  Now that experiment does seem to confirm that higher speeds generally put more delay in ball reaction.

Now for fun, let us put forward rotation in the ball when we release it.  Again the ball will tend towards equilibrium, but this time friction will act in the opposite direction and the ball's rotation will slow while the ball speed will increase.  A good example of this can be seen with a basketball which can be made to bounce in just about any direction just by spining it before dropping it.  

Noting that the friction between the ball and the lane affect a ball's performance let us assume that a ball/lane combo with higher friction will make a ball seek equilibrium sooner than a ball/lane combo with lower friction.  One extreme case might be a Lane#1 SCB on dry lanes.  On the other end might be a flood with the XXXL.

Now if a ball was evenly balanced and side spin was applied at release the ball would slow in forward velocity as roll in that direction was obtained and speed up in the direction of spin as friction was applied there also.  The result would be a change in total direction and speed until the ball reached equilibrium with a "final" speed, rotation and direction.

Many bowlers and bowling balls stop with that goal.  Match up ball, ball speed with rotation and lane conditions and one has a nice turn into the pocket. Usually these balls should have a rotation which matches the angle the ball is approaching the pins just as it hits(say 6 degrees?).  I say "should" because at equilibrium the ball has the maximum amount of rolling friction (call it grip on the lane) and will deflect less than a ball which is still slipping even a little.  Most all balls are NOT evenly balanced if for no other reason then because of the finger holes.  Yet most of the design imbalance seems to be to help the ball get into that same equilibrium of matching direction and rotation.

Lane #1 balls are different (as are some other high end balls).  Ever notice the final rotation of a Lane #1 ball?  It is vertical. The ball is rolling vertical(or parallel to the lane) and yet the ball is hooking!  The ball is not rolling in the same direction as it is moving.  This is because of the rolling imbalance designed into the core of the ball.  Now avoiding the specifics of the design I will say that the rolling Lane #1 ball will still seek to become balanced and does so by changing direction.  This provides the bowler with two advantages over the above noted design: good rolling friction(less deflection) and hitting pins on the downside of the roll(keeping them low).  Another advantage this provides is in reading the lane.  Where the ball starts to roll, where it starts to turn, where it gets into its roll and starts matching speed and roll and where it drives are all signs as to how the ball, the release and lanes match up.  The added points of change in the balls behavior give the bowler more chance to see if (and then where) adjustments need to be made.

Revs. vs. speed:  Generally speaking the more revs the more action out of the ball.  Generally, the more speed the less action from the ball.  Yet the more speed the longer it takes for the friction to affect the ball.  The reaction one gets can then be delayed by throwing faster.  There can be a problem with that as I noted today.  The bowler was throwing a DB with speed and generally in the oil.      The ball was able to turn and match speed with rotation towards the pocket but never got into its trademark roll.  While he scored fairly well and had lots of momentum (velocity squared times ball weight = momentum = more hitting power) I was thinking he could've been using a cheaper ball to do the same (I am biased!).  I have also seen myself use too strong of a ball on dryer conditions at my usual slower speeds and have the ball get to equilibrium long before hitting the pins.

So I conclude the fairly obvious: that using speed, rotation and ball selection one should be able to  get the maximum results.  

A lot of yammering eh?

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The Silver/C is still the most amazing ball!

F.O.S.

If you want better scores - pick up your spares!