Hi Bowlers - Thank you for our responses. This is a really critical point for each of us who are multiple ball bowlers. As Ignitebowling stated he segregates by High, Upper mid, Mid, and Low level performance. This works for him. I would like to fine tune performance. The RG value defines one of the engineering performance ranges that we can identify with. The RG ranges, bowling.com, are Low 2.46 - 2.570, Mid 2.570 - 2.680, and High 2.680 - 2.80. For me I see the ranges as Low 2.46 - 2.50, Mid 2.50 - 2.55, an High 2.55 - 2.80. So, Ignitebowling and myself are similar, I just like to use numerical values. The referenced bowling.com ranges are to just great. The key is that the Lower the RG value the sooner the ball will read the lane. A seminar that I attended with Chris Barnes, as the speaker, on this subject stated that every .4 increase pushes the ball down the lane another 4 feet before lane read. More to come - Gold Level Coach ABE Denny
The cover is the number one factor in ball motion. I know of balls with RGs in the 2.4s that are early and more roll (Gamebreakers) and balls with the same RG that are more skid flip (Violent Eruption). For sake of argument; I realize the Gamebreakers come at 2000 and Violent Eruption comes polished. However, even if you polish a Gamebreaker; it still wont be flippy. This is based on my experience as I have both a GB2 Solid and Violent Eruption both with 5 inch pin to PAPs.
I just went through this with Strider recently regarding his Ordinance C4. It has an RG in the 2.4s but he had a very hard time getting backend and continuation whereas his Venom Shock, also with an RG in the 2.4s, got down the lane and had a little "pop" on the backend. The only logical explanation was the coverstock. The cover on the Venom is cleaner in the oil and more responsive to friction whereas the cover on the Ordinance wants to read the oil much sooner which then means it doesnt conserve as much energy for backend reaction. The Ordinance wanted to get into the hook phase too soon.
In this video; you will notice that there is virtually no difference in ball motion from a 10 degree difference in VAL angle on a symmetrical ball.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2asGDu7THAThis video is very telling. It talks about the 4 factors of ball performance (cover, core, layout, surface).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05HrbSt9gC0I respect the fact you are a Gold Level Coach. However, I will say this. Getting overly technical with an average bowler will only complicate things unless they are really wanting to learn about it. It is like using "advanced metrics" when grading a MLB baseball player. Sometimes looking at batting average, HRs, RBIs, and errors made is enough because most people wont understand what WAR, Defensive Runs Saved, OPS+, and other metrics means. I would rather know what the players on my favorite team have for a batting average with runners in scoring position than knowing what their xwOBA is (who really knows what that means without looking it up first).
EX: Marcell Ozuna produced a .327 wOBA in 2018. But based on the quality of his contact, his xwOBA was .359 (taken from article on MLB.com).