Thanks for the comments Jared. Personally, I am certain that 17.5 is not the ideal entry board in this day and age. I have not conducted a controlled scientific experiment, but again, seeing Digitrax analysis for 6 or 7 months now is solidifying my thoughts on this.
I wanted to keep this focused on THS because I can't make the same statements with confidence on sport shots, at least not yet.
I think you are supplementing the concept with the ball dynamics. There is always talk about how "continuous" balls are through the deck. That's great, only when taken in context with entry angle and board angle. I tell you, I watch my Columbia Freeze and it is very continuous through the deck off of my hand. However, if you decrease the entry angle, the continuity decreases. This may be in contrast to say a Roto Grip Mutant Cell Pearl, where decreasing the entry angle, the core still drives hard and allows the ball to still be continuous.
As far as the urethane discussion, I agree with you. Folks who have above average hand will benefit from urethane, especially if they like to use the outside breakzones. This is primarily due to the lower entry angle generated by urethane coverstock in my opinion. However, if you move further in than say 10 at the breakpoint, the entry angle on a urethane will decrease significantly due to the oil to possibly below 4, which will decrease carry significantly.
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Wow this is a very interesting observation, not to mention one that goes against alot of research.
However, with that being said, I do believe that you are onto something. I have noticed that, within the past year or so, that my carry has been better at more moderate angles. As you slightly mentioned, I often prefer my Urethane Avalanche over the rest of my equipment on THS because of the control of the midlane, and the arcing motion that produces less entry angle. I have noticed that I seem to carry better with lighter hits and only a moderate amount of entry angle (probably 4.5-5 degrees).
What I believe we are noticing is the effect of the new super-cores that are being used by virtually all bowlers today. These super-cores retain more energy through the pin deck, thus maintaining the entry angle throughout the pin deck. The data for the 17.5 board and the 6 degrees I have seen since I went to multiple Wichita Shocker Camps around 2002. I feel like this is slightly outdated and might not have used dynamic cores and a full ball reaction (it might have used a ball rolling down a ramp at that angle and offset distance). By rolling a ball down a ramp that hasn't been stabilized on its axis after being thrown would cause more deflection through the pins. So that initial 6 degrees could become 4 degrees or less at the back of the pin deck, whereas todays super-cores might have an initial entry angle at 4.5 degrees and leave the pin deck at 4 degrees. So perhaps its not just the entry angle that matters, perhaps it is the angle throughout the entire pin deck.
Just some thoughts....
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Brunswick Advisory Staff
Jared Wolf
Jonesboro, AR
www.bowlingchat.net
The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer and not of Brunswick Corporation.
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