Strong drills on weaker balls make sense for people with a high degree of ball speed or whose ball speed is much higher than their rev rate. They usually need more "ball" (and/or more surface) in their hand to compensate for their speed.

 

On a ball with a very low differential (.027"), such as the Slingshot, going from a 3.5" pin-PAP to a 5" pin-PAP should not change the flare by a significant degree. What it might and should change is the RG, allowing more length for a rev dominant player or allow a ball to be used for both a spare ball and a dry lanes strike ball.

 

Going in the other direction, from a 5"+ pin-PAP to a 3" pin-PAP, might if the pin-CG is long enough  allow the driller to use a P3 or P4 weight hole to increase the flare potential for the speed dominant player.

 

 

Edited by charlest on 7/30/2011 at 8:37 PM

What charlest is said pretty spot on.

 

Keep in mind your drilling the ball to compliment what the ball is intended for and the bowler. If you have a ball such as a Slingshot intended for drier lanes/lighter oil,  no drill pattern will change that ball to work great for heavy oil. You want to drill the ball to match your style and desired shot for what the ball is intended.

 

Even an aggressive ball drilled with what is considered a weaker drilling will not change completely what the ball is and make it a great dry lane ball. Same thing for a weaker ball. For most average bowlers why would you want to drill this ball on a weaker pattern when in most cases the bowler may not be able to use it? Match the pattern to the bowler, and the ball to the intended purpose. 

"Get out of bowling what you want because that is all there is." 

A strong layout gets the ball into its stable end roll quickly - and that can be a good option with a weak core/cover combo. That's what I would keep in kind when I chose the setup. A strong layout on a weak ball just defines the ball's utility - and you can actively exploit that.

 

Personally, I (still) have a Slate Blue Gargoyle which was drilled more or less 4x4 - pretty strong for a dry lane ball. I was scepctical first, but this setup helps the ball to finish well (I have rather medium revs and lower ball speed). The cover is so weak (still OOB after 4 years or so...) and it has little traction. On light oil and carrydown the ball would hardly function at all for me. But the strong layout stablizes its roll early, so that the breakpoint hazards are pretty small. On truly burnt lanes the ball will hook early, though, just as it is defined by the layout, but it is smooth and easy to control. And length is, thanks to the hard and non-porous shell, not an issue at all.

 

Besides the core influence on reaction, you still have to take into account the cover's responsiveness to friction. Just as CharlesT explained: a strong setup can help stablize the ball early. If you play with lots of side roll and aheva responsive cover, you might experience a jumpy breakpoint because the core is with a weaker layout still migrating towards its stable roll axis. A strong layout speeds this transition up.

 

Aside from that, 3.5" from PAP is a much different thing than 5". With the pin that close you get a strong axis layout, which gets the ball into a very early roll and an arcing hook. The 5" pin would go much longer and break much more sharply, probably needing lees head oil because of the delayed reaction. On a Slingshot, though, a 3,5" in would be a control ball option, esp. with higher ball speeds.

DizzyFugu - Reporting from Germany
2010/11 Benrather BC Club Champion
Confused by bowling? Check out BR.com's vault of wisdom: the unofficial FAQ section

IMO, both setups are viable option - you just get very different reaction from it. The 3.5" pin would be easier to control, smoother, early rolling and arcing. You might even find the ball rolling dead if you do not put some juice into the release. The 5" pin is the more versatile option, IMO, behaving more like a "normal" reactive, later and flippier. If you want to use the ball on drier lanes or conadiotion where the heads have gone, I'd rather suggest the 5" option. But keep in mind that I do not know your bowling style, it is just a guesstimate based on the information at hand.

DizzyFugu - Reporting from Germany
2010/11 Benrather BC Club Champion
Confused by bowling? Check out BR.com's vault of wisdom: the unofficial FAQ section