Out of curiosity we manually calculated our rev rate the other day. what we found out there's a huge difference more than just 15 rpms. I for one have recorded 300 to 342 rpms. A friend 370 to 415 rpm.

There are variables that cause these variance. Clean or Bad release, timing, change of tilt, and maybe the shape of the line taken - straight vs. arc for example. Speed also seemed to cause changes in the number of full turns from what we've noticed this weekend.

here's the formula we used last weekend.
number of full turns form release to pin x 60 divided by speed in seconds. For example: 16 full turns x 60 = 960. 960/2.6 seconds or roughly 15.5 mph equals 369.2 rpms. Same guy adds two more turns with the same speed and gets 415 rpms. The tilt and shape of the shot changed, up 10 and outside 5 (lefty). He also used the same line, one late release and one with very clean smooth release. The rev rate changed. These shots were not done on purpose. Just something we observed with the data recorded. Many of us know that faulty parts of the game can reduce rev rate and the opposite is true in increasing rev rate. There are those skilled who can control their rev rate too. These guys have advantages over the rest of the field.

This was the first time we took time to "experiment" with revs in the many years of practicing together. It was fun and in the end, we both concluded that NO body will rev it the exact same way on all 10 frames at 350 rpm for example. Just 0.20 seconds difference in speed with this formula the rev rate calculation can be either 369 or 400 for my buddy. Then again, we are also calculating speed with a stop watch. Humans are not robots, so the time recordings could be off. ( averages were taken in the end )

Finally, it was fun doing this. We could better improve taking data like having two people with stop watches taking time of speed. So in essence, this was more of a rough draft and nothing more. We may need more understanding of the whole concept of rev rate and recording it. But in the end of all this, we've learned that revs are really helpful and it has its advantages, but at the same time, it also seems overrated.

My sensei did say (in broken okinawan english) "you punch makiwara 100 times yo, no punch same. need mo practice."

Here is what I would follow:


You have to remember that as the ball goes down the lane, friction will affect any of the performance measurements you are trying to get (rev, speed, tilt).  The best way is to measure it as soon as the ball leaves the hand since this is what matters most.  Unfortunately, not everyone can do that so the methods that determine the stat the quickest are the most accurate.

i.e. speed to the arrows, rev rate by video frame rate, tilt before the ball sees friction