A Performance Analysis System for the Sport of Bowling

eceiver that stores, processes, and displays the data for the user [6]. Although
comprehensive in nature, the device is expensive to implement and must be installed in
the center of the ball at the time of its manufacture.
As of this writing, no devices of the nature described in the patent literature have been
brought to market with regards to bowling. Between the inconvenience, expense, and
narrow availability of external (instrumented lane) solutions, and the dearth of internal
solutions, it remains particularly difficult for a bowler to accurately and adequately assess
the various impacts that changes in bowling style and bowling equipment have on their
game. Without such timely and consistent feedback on changes in wrist and hand
position, arm swing, stance, and grip, as well as changes in equipment (ball type, weight,
balance, and/or surface), the bowler generally participates in a guessing game when
assessing the effectiveness and usefulness of any of these considerations.
The information presented in this paper has been gathered with the intention of
developing an inexpensive, portable, user installable and replaceable performance
analysis system geared towards the individual bowler. The system captures, quantifies,
and analyzes the impetus the bowler applies to the ball, as well as the subsequent
interaction of the ball with the lane surface from the point of release to the point of
impact with the pins. This system is hereafter referred to as SMARTDOT.
The SMARTDOT system consists of the following components: an in-situ sensor module
(the SMARTDOT module) that resides in the ball and collects sensor data; a wireless
communication link (the COMM wand); and a PDA or PC-hosted MASTER software
application that uploads, archives, analyzes, and displays the data captured by the in-situ
sensor module.
1.2 INTRODUCTION TO THE PHYSICS OF BOWLING
The only force of any significance that acts upon a bowling ball after the ball is released
is the force due to friction generated between the ball and the lane (this force varies a
great deal due to the variations in oil distribution on the lane). A bowler invariably
releases a ball at an initial linear velocity greater than that which would result from the
ball's initial angular velocity. In other words, the distance the ball travels during one
complete revolution of the ball is greater than the circumference of the ball (the ball is
skidding or sliding). The bowler also imparts an axis of rotation to the ball that is tilted
or turned from normal, which is intended to make the ball hook towards the pocket. It is
the interaction of the linear and angular velocities with the frictional force acting between
the ball and the lane that causes the ball to hook.
As the ball travels down the lane, the frictional force also causes the ball to slow down.
As long as the ball is skidding, friction acts to transfer some of the ball's linear
momentum into angular momentum, decreasing the linear velocity while increasing the
angular velocity. A small (but not insignificant) percentage of the ball's linear
momentum is also lost due to the heat, noise, and vibration generated as the surfaces of
the ball and the lane rub against each other. If the linear and angular velocities resolve
themselves completely, the ball is no longer sliding (it has rolled out), and the frictional
force now causes both the angular and linear velocities of the ball to decrease in direct
proportion to each other [9,12,13].
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