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All You Need to Know About RG in Bowling

By : Jess Pinelli

Bowling Ball RG Explained

Do you understand how important RG is when it comes to bowling balls? No doubt, there is a lot of physics involved regarding the RG of a bowling ball. Once you become an avid bowler, just throwing the ball on a certain board with correct angles and knocking down the pins aren’t enough. You need to know thoroughly about bowling ball dynamics.

The moves your ball makes and the reasons behind them are paramount to know. Hence, learning about RG is quite unavoidable no matter how complicated it seems. This article mainly focuses on the RG topic. So buckle up fellas, we are gonna take a deeper dive into this matter and tell you all you need to know about RG in bowling! So stay tuned!

What is RG in Bowling?

Does RG sound like an abbreviation to you? Well, it is! The RG stands for Radius of Gyration of a bowling ball. The United States Bowling Congress (USBC) defines RG as a measurement. So what does it measure? Well, RG is the distance from the axis of rotation where the bowling ball’s total mass is concentrated (the weight block) without changing its moment of inertia.

It is known that bowling balls have cores which we like to call weight blocks inside. To know when your bowling ball core will rev up, the RG of a bowling ball is important. In other words, the RG of a particular bowling ball indicates the account of the location of that mass (core) inside.

RG Values and Their Meanings

The Low RG plane is the spiral axis of a bowling ball, and the high RG plane is the end-over-end axis of a bowling ball. And, the difference between these two axis RG values gives you the Differential. The RG and differential value of a certain bowling ball indicate its track flare potential.

The bowling ball RG is measured in inches. According to USBC, “A bowling ball has to have a low RG no shorter than 2.46 inches and the high RG can be no longer than 2.8 inches”. Different manufacturers design bowling balls with different RG values, and these RG values vary from company to company. This creates more confusion among customers. Henceforth, the standard RG numerical value chart is the best way to understand your bowling ball’s dynamics.

Generally, the RG values in bowling balls are divided into three relative spreads:

Low RG: 2.460” – 2.570”

Medium RG: 2.570” – 2.680”

High RG: 2.680” – 2.800”

Low RG

The Low RG numbers range (2.460” – 2.570”) points out that a bowling ball’s mass is mainly distributed towards the center instead of the cover. A ball with low RG tends to be center heavy which means it is going to deliver an earlier roll and move smoothly through the fronts.

High RG

The High RG numbers range (2.680” – 2.800”) describes that a bowling ball’s mass is distributed more towards the cover than the center. This is quite the opposite of a Low RG bowling ball. A cover-heavy, high RG bowling ball is designed to promote more length through the front end of the bowling lane.

Medium RG

The Medium RG numbers range (2.570” – 2.680”) stipulates that a bowling ball is neither center nor cover heavy. A Medium RG ball has enough skid length of overall motion. A ball with sufficient skid length reaches the mid-lane before it moves into the hook phase at the breakpoint.

Low RG vs High RG

High RG vs Low RG bowling ball- which one do you think is better for you? Some say a low RG bowling ball is better for a good average, and some claims the high RG bowling balls are greater. It’s a common skepticism that has been going on among bowlers for so long.

Low RG bowling balls generally rev up a lot earlier on the lane whereas high RG bowling balls take some time to do that. That’s why they rev up later on the bowling lane. Low RG bowling ball cores have more mass distribution on the bottom of the core but High RG balls are cover-heavy. These are pretty the basic differences between high RG and low RG bowling balls.

List of Low RG bowling balls

Here is a small list of some of my favorite low RG bowling balls. Are you planning to buy one, just pick any of these balls.

List of High RG bowling balls

I have narrowed down some of my favorite high RG bowling balls for you. If you are planning to buy one, just pick any of the following high RG bowling balls.

  • 1. Hammer Purple Pearl Bowling Ball
  • 2. Brunswick Quantum Classic Black Bowling Ball
  • 3. Storm Hy-Road Bowling Ball
  • 4. Pyramid Antidote Solid Bowling Ball
  • 5. Motiv Ripcord Bowling Ball

Conclusion

There you go, my fellas! These are everything you need to know about RG in bowling. If you have any questions in your mind, feel free to ask me. Just leave a comment down below and I will get back to you shortly. Before you make a purchase, I will highly recommend you do your homework and see whether a low RG ball or a high RG ball is better for you. So before you buy a new piece of bowling equipment remember the information as much as you can. Other than that, keep on bowling and never stop having fun!