Expert: Russ King - 9/5/2007

Question
I have a brunswick groove and its my first performance ball. I have found out that when you speed it up the ball dosnt hook as much, but when you slow it down it hooks a lot more but dosnt hit the pocket as hard. Can you help me find my area? i Have also found out that the every lane is different and i have very hard problems finding my spot. Please reply
     Thank you

Answer
Find the line your best at. Then find out what the ball needs to do well on that line.Once you find out EXACTLY what you need , you can either mess with speeds,hand positions or change the surface of the ball. If you are having a hard time changing your speeds/hand positions , changing the surface dulling/shine will change the ball. Each grit of wet/dry paper will give you a different reaction.Most of the Grooves ( I have 20 & love them ) come shiny. If you have the Urethane ones , dulling up works very well.If you have the Particle type , there already dull & a shine does not work well on Particle. That leaves the Reactives.Reactives act funny to dulling.You actually do not get more hook on a skid snap type of line but , you get an earlier hook for a gradual arc type of line that actually creates a more controlled line.The grits on the sand paper are 400,500,600,800,1000,1200,1500,2000,2500 & Finesse it 30,000 shine. Most shines out of the box are around 4000-5000.THIS SANDING NEEDS TO BE DONE ON A BALL SPINNER. YOUR PRO SHOP SHOULD HAVE ONE.Find out how much more bite you need . If you want a lot , try 1200 grit.I would start with 2500 ( quicker to dull than shine) & work my way down.Each 100 of grit gets around 1-2 boards change FOR ME.I DO THIS WITH EVERY BALL. IT GETS THE BALL TO SUIT MY STYLE EXACTLY SO I NEVER CHANGE MY STYLE TO FIT THE BALL/SHOT.

FIND YOUR COMFORT ZONE ON THE LANES.YOU CAN USUALLY VARY 2 BOARDS LEFT & 2 BOARDS RIGHT WITHOUT MUCH CHANGE IN YOU.THIS WILL GIVE YOU 5 BOARDS TO PLAY WITH. THEN GET THE SURFACE RIGHT ON THE BALL.ONCE YOU DON'T HAVE TO FORCE THE SHOT ANYMORE, YOU WILL FIND MORE OF A CONTROLLED SHOT THAT HITS WITH POWER WITH ABOUT 1/4 THE EFFORT OF THE OLD SHOT.THEN YOU CAN GET BRAVE & VENTURE AROUND. YOU REALLY NEED TO BE GOOD AT THE 5 BOARD AREA TO HAVE A CHANCE ON MANY CONDITIONS.GET GOOD AT ONE CONDITION FIRST . THEN 2. THEN 3.ONE AT A TIME.MOST SHOTS YOU CAN FIND MORE OIL AS YOU MOVE IN CLOSER TO THE MIDDLE OF THE LANE.SO , IF THE BALL HOOKS A LITTLE TOO MUCH, YOU CAN SNUGG UP THE LINE ONE BOARD CLOSER TO THE CENTER TO CUT DOWN THE HOOK. OUT FOR MORE HOOK.
ANY & EVERY BALL ON THE MARKET HAS A GENERAL REACTION.YOU NEED TO CUSTOMIZE IT FOR YOU. CHANGING THE SURFACES DOES THAT.I LIKE TO CONTROL THE SHOT. NOT THE SHOT CONTROL ME. I AM MUCH BETTER AT MY STYLE.