SolveYourProblem Article
Series: Bowling
Teach Me How To Bowl
Why
Your Center of Gravity Is Important When Bowling
Who
would have thought that bowling could be so complicated?
After all, the game simply entails sending
a perfectly round ball down a long and narrow corridor with
the goal of knocking down a number of pins. This might have
been your train of thought before you seriously got involved
with bowling.
Once
you did enter the world of recreational bowling – and perhaps
even league bowling – you soon realized that there
is so much more to this game than meets the eye. There are
mental aspects of this game that would do any baseball game
proud. Then there are the physical aspects that are akin to
the various conditions that may be found in golf. Last but
not
least is the matter of equipment selection which is as
serious as it may be found in professional skating, where
even the
smallest aspects may mean the difference in points that can
win it or lose it for you.
Talk to any seasoned bowler, and she or he will nod sagely
when you inquire about the center of gravity while bowling.
There are a number of factors that affect your center of gravity,
and if you are aware of them, you will be able to spin them
to your advantage; obviously when gravity and bowling are mentioned
in one sentence it is no surprise that it is the actual bowling
ball that is being discussed. Not all bowling balls are created
equal, and seasoned players are actually quite often going
to great lengths to alter their balls so as to squeeze the
last ounce of performance out them.
Nothing
affects the center of gravity as much as the top and bottom
weight of a bowling ball. Granted, the ball is perfectly
round and it is hard to imagine that there might be different
weights that could even be discussed, yet did you ever
consider that there is a little bit of extra weight added to
the ball
to make up for the material that is discarded when the finger
holes are drilled? Failure to add this counterweight would
result in your balls rolling down the lane with a quite noticeable
wobble. Novices do not usually consider the fact that there
are a couple of ounces of material missing in the top of the
ball, yet when it is rolled it traverses the lane in a smooth
fashion, as though the sphere were unbroken.
If you take a close look at your bowling ball, you will actually
be able to see where its center of gravity is located because
it is marked with a small dot. The counterweight that makes
up for the weight lost when the finger holes were drilled is
placed underneath this dot. Experienced bowlers have figured
out that they can alter the performance of the ball by drilling
additional holes into their bowling balls, thus throwing off
the center of gravity slightly. Thus, if a bowler wishes to
make up for a personal handicap, or maybe a perceived lane
fault, she or he may drill one or more holes into one side
of the ball, leaving the directly opposing side slightly heavier.
This will affect the center of gravity in that it will cause
the ball to travel closer to that direction than toward the
other one. Of course, the alterations you will be able to make
with these subtle shifts do not make up for skill and excellent
lane conditions; conversely, if you make your changes ill advisedly,
you may actually hinder your game rather than improve it. Thus,
it is imperative that you are completely certain of what you
are accomplishing before beginning to drill.
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SolveYourProblem.com
: 2009
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