Expert: Russ King - 5/29/2007

Question
I just bought a hammer black widow to replace my OLD Ebonite Jaguar.  I use a fingertip grip; I stand with my left toe approximately around the 18-20 board and throw directly over the second arrow.  First of all, I don't want this black widow to be too much ball for me, however I am wanting powerful backend.  How would I relate this to the pro shop who is drilling it?  I simply don't understand the terms PAP, RG, grit, etc.

Answer
In order to get a very soft ball to keep its energy for the back end, pne is to drill it to go straight & the other is to shine the surface of the ball.When you shine the surface,you reduce the friction between the lane & the ball.This will keep the ball from burning up waisting the energy too soon.This way you can cheat a little & drill it for a strong hook.The shine will get it down the lane saving most of its energy for the run to the pocket.The main cause of flat 10 pins is the ball burns up early & has less than 50% og energy left to hit the pocket.The other reason for flat ten pins is no fingers(no lift).
 Most high reactive resin balls are made so people with 3 thumbs can get a hook.Peole with only one thumb & 2 fingers have to either come up witrh fancy drill patterns or/and shine the surface.This also will fine tune the ball to suite your style exactly to what you need.You only really need to understand the PAP,RG, ECT. STUFF IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A VERY CERTAIN REACTION.I DO NOT KNOW WHAT LANE CONDITIONS YOU THROW ON. SO, YOU WILL HAVE TO MESS WITH THE SURFACES MORE TRIAL & ERROR TYPE EXPERIMENTING TO FIND WHAT WORKS. YOU WILL ALSO GET TO SEE WHAT THE BALL WILL DO EVERYTIME YOU CHANGE THE SURFACE.THE PRO SHOP WILL HAVE A BALL SPINNER & SHOULD DO IT AT NO COST TO MAKE THEIR CUSTOMER HAPPY WITH THEIR NEW BALL.