First you want to know if you roll a three-quarter roller or full roller. The term comes from where you track on the ball. If you track between the finger and thumb holes, you are a full roller.
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If you are a full roller and /or roll the ball very fast, you should stay in the softer, higher hooking balls. Also, if your lanes are usually oily, this causes your ball to go fairly straight, stay with the softer equipment. If you roll a full roller and roll the ball average to slow, stay with the pearlized re-actives to get the ball down the lane further before it starts breaking.
If you roll a three-quarter or spinner and you roll the ball very fast, you should stay with the softer, HIGH LOAD PARTICLE hooking balls also. You should also put the pin, on the multi-piece weight blocks, in the strong position, 3 3/8" from your axis point. If the ball hooks too early, have it shined with a spinner or in a Lustre King ball conditioner. This makes even the soft equipment with strong pins playable on medium to dry lanes for the faster players. If you roll a three-quarter roller and roll the ball very slow, I recommend you go with a shiny or pearlized cover stock and put the pin in a weaker position, 4-6" from your axis. Also go with a pin out and keep the pin beside or above the fingers. If you roll a three-quarter roller and put a lot of revolutions on the ball, you too should stay with the shiny or pearlized cover stocks to get more length and definitely keep the pin in a weaker position.
How should I get the ball drilled? The basics here are as follows. The cover is the most important factor in ball selection. If it is dull and has a lot of friction, it is going to hook earlier and more than a hard shiny ball. The second most important factor is the pin position and to tweak the ball reaction further, the mass-bias placement and weights. This is hard for many older bowlers to believe because of the changes in the bowling ball industry over the past ten years. Older balls had a rubber cover stock and a single pancake weight block to work with. The next stage is seeking trusted professional help.
The best place to have your ball drilled is your local pro-shop. The local pro will know you, know how you bowl, know the lane conditions for the center where you bowl and be able to properly fit the equipment to your hand.
Once your ball has been drilled to your specific requirements, it needs to be tweaked. Is the ball coming off your hand properly? Do the finger holes or thumb hole need to be opened slightly? Will you be using inserts? All of these questions can be answered by someone who is knowledgeable enough, but are you comfortable with them and trust their judgement?
Find a pro-shop operator who will spend the time to match you up with the proper equipment and watch how you release the bowling ball. If they are willing to spend the time necessary to make certain that the fit is perfect, you found the perfect pro-shop operator.
Bring your equipment into Lakeside and let Jamie Kaiser introduce himself (Jamie is the owner/operator of the Pro-shop here at our center).