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Author Topic: www.bowlingballdynamics.com Anyone try it?  (Read 1230 times)

REVOLUTIONS PS

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www.bowlingballdynamics.com Anyone try it?
« on: March 01, 2004, 11:47:08 PM »
I found this site the other day and browsed through it just for fun.  The idea is that you rate every ball you have used in the past ten years or so, including the ones you liked and didn't like.  You then submit the picks and they will tell you what kind of balls you will have success with...of course you have to pay for this service.  

Has anyone done this?
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bamaster

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Re: www.bowlingballdynamics.com Anyone try it?
« Reply #1 on: March 02, 2004, 03:07:00 PM »
The theory of what they are selling is sound.  It's called Collaborative Filtering.  Amazon.com does this very well.  

For example,

I really like the Dyno-thane Vendetta Black.  If the vast majority of other people who also loved the Vendetta also loved the Roto-Grip Silver Streak, chances are I like the Silver Streak too.

The problem with this is... the technology used to do this is very expensive and for it to be valuable there needs to be a LOT of reviews by a LOT of different people.  The power is in the "odds" of being correct and to improve the odds you need thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of profiles.

Another problem is that bowling balls cannot be judged on a simple love/hate scale.  Drillings, lanes conditions, caliber of bowler, lefty/righty, ball surface, etc. all come into play in the performance and those factors are not included in their survey.  The number one reason why it won't work is that they don't say how many profiles they have.  If they are charging for the service, I'll bet they don't even have 100 profiles, much less hundreds of thousands.

Tony
http://www.allBowling.com
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REVOLUTIONS PS

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Re: www.bowlingballdynamics.com Anyone try it?
« Reply #2 on: March 02, 2004, 03:12:22 PM »
That is just one reason why something like that would be unlikely to work for someone like me.  There are just too many variables.  I have drilled too many balls over the years and I did so with specific lane conditions in mind.  

I have been able to identify the reason(s) for not having success with a given ball 90% of the time.

It was interesting to look over the list of balls on the site though.  It brought back some funny memories of some of the balls I hated, like the Sea Wolf, AMF Formula 4 and on and on...

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O

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Re: www.bowlingballdynamics.com Anyone try it?
« Reply #3 on: March 02, 2004, 03:13:46 PM »
Although shallow, I never spend money with online companies that neglect their web presence.  The web site looked like it was coded by some college intern using some cheap designer software such as FrontPage or Dreamweaver.


Edited on 3/2/2004 4:10 PM
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bamaster

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Re: www.bowlingballdynamics.com Anyone try it?
« Reply #4 on: March 02, 2004, 03:21:43 PM »
It seems they spend the majority of their analysis on finding matches based on RG, High RG, RG Differential, Core, Flare, Friction, Length, Back End, Hook, Coverstock, Coverstock Type, and Manufacturer.

I wonder if he uses the manufacturer numbers, which may or may not be accurate, and are certainly not standardized across brands.

Tony
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LuckyLefty

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Re: www.bowlingballdynamics.com Anyone try it?
« Reply #5 on: March 02, 2004, 03:28:37 PM »
Nor do most ball companies have dynamic integrity.

ie the 16 pound ball has the same rg and diff as the 15 pound ball.

Therefore users that have 16 pound balls may find a particular ball early on medium heavy oil while the 15 pound users may find the ball only useful on medium oil due to possibly higher rg(a frequent condition and difference between 16 and 15 pound models).

BUT, if they did get there stats right for these different weights AND there was some extra factor regarding drillings, this service could really do something.

When I help bowlers I try to actually combine their list of currently useful balls, maybe hear about balls that didn't work and then couple that with their style, up the backer or side releaser or spinner, speed, and lane conditions where balls worked and didn't.

REgards,

Luckylefty
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REVOLUTIONS PS

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Re: www.bowlingballdynamics.com Anyone try it?
« Reply #6 on: March 02, 2004, 08:17:19 PM »
Just for fun I went through the list and counted 102 balls that I have owned at one time or another.  I really had a laugh remembering some of the duds that have come and gone.  

At the same time there were a few in there that I had forgotten about that I really liked...the Triton series, the Nighthawk, the Cuda/C series and on and on.  It's too bad each of the big companies doesn't just develop a 'retro line' that would cycle those classics back into production.  I am sure I am not the only one who would love to have a Lightning Storm in my bad today...among others!
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bamaster

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Re: www.bowlingballdynamics.com Anyone try it?
« Reply #7 on: March 02, 2004, 09:31:11 PM »
quote:
I am sure I am not the only one who would love to have a Lightning Storm in my bad today...among others!


I bet you didn't realize the Dyno-thane Crisis is the exact same ball as the Lightning Storm, did ya?



Tony
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Nails

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Re: www.bowlingballdynamics.com Anyone try it?
« Reply #8 on: March 03, 2004, 02:19:30 AM »
quote:
I bet you didn't realize the Dyno-thane Crisis is the exact same ball as the Lightning Storm, did ya?



Tony


Crisis: http://www.bowlingballreviews.com/ball.asp?ballid=140
Med rg - 2.525, high diff - 0.059.

Lightning Storm: http://www.bowlingballreviews.com/ball.asp?ballid=329
Low rg, low diff, no actual specs.

Lightning Flash: http://www.bowlingballreviews.com/ball.asp?ballid=328
Med rg - 2.529, low diff - 0.030.  LF seems to have the same core as the LS, so I included it as well.

The Crisis has a different core and different specs, certainly higher diff/flare.  The Crisis might act/roll the same as a LS on today's oil, but how could you say it's the same exact ball?
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