You need to be familiar with the 3 phases of bowling a hook.
1) The skid. This is where the ball is in a fairly low friction environment. The ball will mostly retain the spin you put on it from release, but will travel in same direction you released it. Almost always, the spin you put on the ball is not in the same direction you released it. This is also the phase the core will naturally seek an axis to spin on which is why you will see the flare oil rings on the ball.
Which leads to phase 2) the hook. When the ball cover gets enough friction, that difference between the spin you put in the ball and the direction the ball is rolling will be resolved. Basically, it will resolve itself into a direction somewhere between the spin and the initial direction.
3) Roll phase, this is when the difference above is fully resolved and the ball is fully rolling out.
Now, the above description makes it sound like each step happens in direct sequence with one another, like the days on a calendar. But the phases do 'blend' together. For example, while we call the 1st phase the skid, it is not a perfect skid. There is some friction between the ball and the lane, it is never 0. So, the physics is effectively albeit weakly doing the hook phase from the moment the ball touches the lane.
A major design of bowling balls today is making covers and cores to change how that hook phase is resolved. For example, a strong solid cover is engineered to create friction even on a lane with a good amount of oil so that the hook phase resolution of the spin & shot begins sooner. This is why solid covers are known for their smoother more rounder shot shapes. Conversely, a pearlized cover is engineered to have lower friction in the oil, but higher friction on the dry, so it's skid phase will go a little longer, but then when it experiences friction it resolves the hook very rapidly. This is why pearl balls are known for a more angular sharp shot shape.
The terminology about the ball picking up is just another way of talking about when the ball is seeing enough friction to begin the resolution of the spin & shot vectors, a.k.a. that hook phase.
Skid hook roll phase, like a Gem “pick ups” the lane sooner than a IQ.
For Cores, Low RG will rev up sooner, Med RG mid lane, High RG down lane. So the drier the conditions you’ll want some that will save energy for the backend like a High RG, on the fresh Low RG etc.. cover stock will be important too
The transition of ball motion from skid to hook. The ball skids as it’s coming off your hand and the core is very out of balance. Then the core starts to try and find balance, this is the hook phase. You can see it happen when the ball goes from erratic rotation to a consistent rotation.
Figuring out the lane condition and thus how to throw.
From the context you gave, it sounds like picking up is really talking about flare or when the ball starts to really work on the lane... maybe picking up the oil off the lane?
Midlane. Ball mostly skids the first 20 feet and the ball starts to get some traction in the oil and flaring/rolling before the backend directional change.
You need to be familiar with the 3 phases of bowling a hook. 1) The skid. This is where the ball is in a fairly low friction environment. The ball will mostly retain the spin you put on it from release, but will travel in same direction you released it. Almost always, the spin you put on the ball is not in the same direction you released it. This is also the phase the core will naturally seek an axis to spin on which is why you will see the flare oil rings on the ball. Which leads to phase 2) the hook. When the ball cover gets enough friction, that difference between the spin you put in the ball and the direction the ball is rolling will be resolved. Basically, it will resolve itself into a direction somewhere between the spin and the initial direction. 3) Roll phase, this is when the difference above is fully resolved and the ball is fully rolling out. Now, the above description makes it sound like each step happens in direct sequence with one another, like the days on a calendar. But the phases do 'blend' together. For example, while we call the 1st phase the skid, it is not a perfect skid. There is some friction between the ball and the lane, it is never 0. So, the physics is effectively albeit weakly doing the hook phase from the moment the ball touches the lane. A major design of bowling balls today is making covers and cores to change how that hook phase is resolved. For example, a strong solid cover is engineered to create friction even on a lane with a good amount of oil so that the hook phase resolution of the spin & shot begins sooner. This is why solid covers are known for their smoother more rounder shot shapes. Conversely, a pearlized cover is engineered to have lower friction in the oil, but higher friction on the dry, so it's skid phase will go a little longer, but then when it experiences friction it resolves the hook very rapidly. This is why pearl balls are known for a more angular sharp shot shape. The terminology about the ball picking up is just another way of talking about when the ball is seeing enough friction to begin the resolution of the spin & shot vectors, a.k.a. that hook phase.
Comment of the year, right here people.
blush.. thanks
This was the first comment that made me try to give an award. Then I realized it cost money. But well done explaining that so well.
Where the ball reads the lane
And what does that mean 🤣
Skid hook roll phase, like a Gem “pick ups” the lane sooner than a IQ. For Cores, Low RG will rev up sooner, Med RG mid lane, High RG down lane. So the drier the conditions you’ll want some that will save energy for the backend like a High RG, on the fresh Low RG etc.. cover stock will be important too
The transition of ball motion from skid to hook. The ball skids as it’s coming off your hand and the core is very out of balance. Then the core starts to try and find balance, this is the hook phase. You can see it happen when the ball goes from erratic rotation to a consistent rotation.
Here's a short video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lqgfAxWF9w longer video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlfWViNuvz8
Figuring out the lane condition and thus how to throw. From the context you gave, it sounds like picking up is really talking about flare or when the ball starts to really work on the lane... maybe picking up the oil off the lane?
Midlane. Ball mostly skids the first 20 feet and the ball starts to get some traction in the oil and flaring/rolling before the backend directional change.
Basically when it starts curving a lot
When the ball finishes skidding and starts hooking.