I am certainly no Walter Ray Williams, but there are times when I throw the ball much straighter. For me, anyway, this is accomplished by getting my hand more behing the ball and throwing it with far less side roll. Since it is not going to hook nearly as much, I find that I have to lift out of it strongly so it will still have a little snap on the backend. If I don't, then it will not finish enough on the back end to carry well. I throw a lot more slowly than WRW does (I am probably @ 16 mph), so I can see how he would have to hit hard on it, or he would get no movement at all.
It seems to me the goal here is to create some angle of entry but not so much as to make the shot as difficult to control as a bigger hook can be. An example: I have done some bowling on the Cheetah pattern. I like to play first arrow on this pattern and I can do it in one of two ways. I can throw a urethane ball with as much hand as I can possibly put on it, and it will carry fairly well. Or, I can use a reactive ball and throw it straight with this reduced side roll. It finishes more strongly than the urethane ball and with better carry. The problem, of course, is if I get just a little too far around the ball, it will go high.
