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Welcome back to the #RadicalRundown!
This week, Phil answers the question of whether there is a magic surface formula based on your ball speed and rev rate!
Comment below with your thoughts and what you do in order to match up to any given league or tournament!
#WOWThatsRadical #RadicalRevolution
My go to surface is 2k and I’ll go up or down depending on what the look is
Good topic. The main house I bowl on has heavy oil and a 44 foot pattern on new lanes. The speed dominant guys all bring the big strong solids, but some of them are now starting to put them at 1500 but with polish and that’s working out for them. They can stay in the track longer this way as thats their comfort zone. And I’m doing something similar, even though I have a slower speed, low revs. Balls that used to be good for me at 2000 dull are no longer useful on this pattern, but I put a 3000 pad on them and just a bit of polish that I then buff out a bit with an old 3000 pad, and sometimes I can stay in that ball for all 3 games.
those lanes must be heavy duty friction; heavy oil, 44 feet and you need a 3000 polish & can’t use same ball all 3 games… we have wood lanes, 41 feet medium oil and don’t need to move more than a few boards, plus easily use same ball all 3 games. 4 man teams with stone st v2 & main st v2 patterns, heavier on the return oil. almost everyone’s balls are 4000 or so because we only resurface at beginning of league & at halfway point — 15 weeks apiece.
@FredSoDak the bowling center that I bowl at Jacksonville Florida is heavy oil gutter to gutter 45 ft there’s some back end. My ball speed is about 15 mph, with about 300 revs. I use the Columbia speed, with an out of the box finish with a medium strength drilling. I’m right handed, I slide on 22 board set ball down on 17, swing ball out to the 10 board for my break point. Or I use my old Brunswick Zone pro active HPH with 1000 grit, with medium leverage drilling & play it up the 2nd arrow.
@FredSoDak my higher speed team mates throw big solid asyms, so the oil gets broken down very quickly. My speed is very slow 11- 13, so 3000 works the best. If I put 2000 on them, I have to get out of them in the first 5 frames. Also sometimes we play 2nd shift.
Phil, question for ya?
If I sand by shiny ball down to say 2k grit. Will that make it hook earlier and smooth out the backend reaction much?
AKA I have a brand new Ebonite THE ONE remix. Its OOB finish (polished) but the layout is Angular saving all energy in the backend. It hooks way to much and I have to take HAND OUT of it, and play lil bit straighter just to keep it in the pocket! If I move my feet waaaay left and crank it to 4th – 3rd arrow(right) the ball hooks waaay too much and leaves splits.
I have 6 balls and this Angular motion is what I wanted to have as an option! I have other balls with different cores, surfaces, 3 Asym, 2 Sym, etc for different ball motion types!
Thanks! I have certainly found that surface is the most important factor in my game. Since I am speed dominant, I usually start a tournament or league with 500 grit on an asymetic ball (dull) and go from there. Since the 500 grit on the ball turns into 1500 to 2000 grit within a couple of games, I often do not need to change balls until the lanes become burned.
I’m love surface under polish as well as skip sanding
I like 3000 quite a bit. Takes the shine off.
Lane shine work best for me
This is one of the best videos on bowling period.
I don’t necessarily agree with what everyone says about high speed bowlers need duller balls and slower bowlers need shinier balls. I’m a 2 hander with roughly 20-22 mph and about 400 or so revs. So my speed is pretty high, and I love shiny balls, dull balls never work on house, on sport dull, is the way to go for me. So it’s all about whatever the person needs as a bowler
Speed dominate means the ball speed off the hand is higher than the rev rate of the bowling hand.
The lack of revs make it likely the ball will not sufficiently flare to hit the pin deck pocket.
Shiny pearl cover stock 3000 grit & higher can make the ball skid too long and result in losing too much energy to adequately flare at the breakpoint.
It is best speed dominant bowlers throw solid lower grit surfaces to compensate for the lack of revs.
Question: Is it dangerous to the lifespan of your ball to constantly change the surface of it? Or can you do it has much as you like?
If you so it an enormous amount of times, it can shrink, ive surfaced mine every week for half a year and no problems
I’m still throwing a 2017 ball that I clean and hand sand once a week. I throw it more than any other ball I own, gets used at least 6 games a week. But I don’t put it on a spinner. Reacta scuff, and then a 3000 pad.
Im a speed dominant person, always have gravitated to 2000 grit, those balls always just score the highest
Great info for me. I am a senior that is definatly rev dominate and this option will be great for me. Especially since I LOVE my Phase II. Guess I will looking to buy another Phase II or two. Thanks!
I’ve just discovered this channel and I really enjoy discussion of the technical aspects of bowling. I don’t currently have a Radical ball but am considering the new Bigfoot Hybrid.
I have three solid balls I use most in league and all have 2000 grit factory surface new. My benchmark is a Blackwidow 2.0, then a Track Stealth symmetric, and an Ebonite Envision asymmetric. Love DynamiCore balls. I throw 16.5mph on average and go up to 17.5 mph. On oilier long patterns the Stealth hits the pocket best. It hooks the most of all three and the 2000 grit is best at my speed to make the turn down lane. This ball rolls early with the quick response cover stock, but is smooth at the break point. On a shorter pattern with medium heavy oil the asymmetric Envision rolls later but makes a more aggrieve move into the pocket down lane than the Stealth. When both are over hooking or on a drier pattern I go to the benchmark for me the Blackwidow 2.0 and may play a little more left around the 10 or 15 board and use speed to adjust to the pocket as the lane condition changes. After 6 or more games on each ball I clean and hit them with the 2000 pad lightly by hand to remove lane shine and get them back closer to factory. After 10 pr more games I hit them with the 500 or 1000 griped lightly and then end with the 2000 pad. Polished balls at my speed do not hook enough and playing up the oily middle does not give me enough angle and leaves a lot of corner pins. Go more than 2000 with my low rev rate but higher speed gives to many splits and Brooklyns. The happy space for my balls is that 2000 grit. I used to throw a Radical Results Pearl and at my speed and low revs had to add some friction and snowball it in order to increase pin carry and play up the ten board. If I went up the 15 board and out to the five board it would not consistently get back to the pocket for me.
Radical Results Pearl & Hammer Web MB were my worst performing balls, at any surface — could not get them to turn the corner unless short house pattern. Balls that have worked best for me –Pivot Hybrid, Swerve FX, Saber Pearl, Slant Pearl, GB Asym, Intimidator Pearl @ 3000 or 4000. 15.5 mph & 200 revs.
I put a 4000 surface on everything — that way the ball has less changes during multiple game sets. I am not “rich” & cannot afford a 7 ball bag — 2 balls are what I own, 45° val solid & 35° val pearl, which I use on both wood & synthetic lanes, and take to our local 4,5, & 6 game qualifiers with stepladder.
Slightly rev dominant, medium speed, 17AT 50AR.
I tend to use the same layout on most of my balls 60×3.75×30. Balls with lower diffs usually end up with duller surfaces around 1500 or 2000, and the midrange symm pearls (.04 diff) have a 1000/polish finish for moving deep inside after the lanes breakdown. I have only one strong asymm in my bag and it usually works best with 500/1500 surface on oily conditions.
This year for the USBC Open, I am taking the Radical Fix I received at Mo’s Proshop training class at Innovative in 2016.
❤ I Agree
At what speed is considered medium speed?
Great, great video, all your videos are very helpful in taking your game to the next level, keep them coming!
It’s funny cuz when I was a teen in the 90s I didn’t know you could adjust surface so I never did. And I felt the ball always had good power. Maybe there was less oil back then on the lanes, but today I have average rev rate and throw 16mph. But I feel all these balls just don’t have the power and hook I’m looking for unless I use surface. Kind of annoying at times. So now I feel I need to start exploring changing my surfaces.