TIPS

It is our belief that in building your Level I arsenal (with some exceptions), you should have most of your drillings at or near leverage (pin 3 3/8"-4 ½" from pap) and mass biases in the strong quadrant (right of thumb). Let the surface, torque, flare potential and other characteristics of the individual balls separate themselves from each other. Layouts that minimize hook, exaggerate length, etc often serve to make that ball behave like another and negate what you are trying to do in the first place, which is to have a variety of ball reactions to combat the various lane conditions you will run into.

With strong drillings, almost all styles, with a proper arsenal can find a ball reaction that works on today’s forgiving house conditions. On patterns like these, you should be looking more for carrying power than forgiveness in the layout. Obviously, if you are bowling on less forgiving patterns, then control of the breakpoint becomes more important and a milder layout might work best. I would not presume to suggest a specific layout for you without seeing your release. If you want to receive ball drillings with your arsenals, select Level II and submit a DVD or videotape.

It has been my experience that the worst thing you can do to a new ball is to drill the guts out of it. Each week, I see bowlers who buy a ball (maybe with an aggressive surface), then drill it to skate ten feet farther down the lane and make a little flip at the back end. They, in effect, have taken a 3-wood or driver and turned it into a 5-iron. You would not do this with a golf club, nor should you with your bowling ball.

Even on house shots however, bowlers with extremely high rev rates, low ball speeds and axis rotation might struggle with aggressive drillings, especially on aggressive coverstocks and should seek alternative drillings to achieve desired results. Bowlers who bowl on sport conditions and on PBA patterns might also look toward other layouts and this should be noted when selecting Level II.