By the Sports Plus/Carmen Don Pro Shop staff
Bowling balls, like most other equipment, require occasional maintenance and/or adjustments to maintain their maximum performance. Also, like most other sports equipment, your skill level, your expectations for the ball’s performance, and the technical quality of your equipment directly affect the amount of maintenance required.
We frequently hear bowlers saying, “My ball just doesn’t work like it used to. What’s wrong?” There are several possible options that need to be considered: (1) Have you maintained your equipment in a manner that allows it to perform? (2) Does your bowling ball still fit properly? (3) Has the bowling center changed its lane conditioning procedures? (4) Has your bowling ball worn out?
Following is information that should help you evaluate each of these issues so that you can better enjoy the game/sport of bowling. If you have questions about your equipment, drop by your pro shop and let your ball expert help.
A bowling ball’s surface is one of the key factors in determining how that ball will react with the lane surface. Dirt, lane conditioner build-up, and nicks/scratches on the ball surface will affect a ball’s performance.
Every bowler should frequently use a cleaning solvent to wipe the dirt and conditioner build-up off the surface of their ball. There are numerous ABC/WIBC/YABA-approved products that can be used for this purpose.
For routine wipe downs, two of the more popular products are “Reacta Clean” and “The Good Stuff.” If you’re bowling with a polyester ball, this routine cleaning is probably all the maintenance your ball will need.
If you are using a higher performance ball, it may require additional maintenance to preserve its performance characteristics.
Urethane and reactive-resin balls are designed to grip the lane surface, creating the potential for the ball to hook. Since ball surface is one of the key factors that determines whether a ball will hook and at what point on the lane it will hook, it’s important to maintain the ball surface if you expect your ball to perform.
Generally, a ball with a dull surface will hook earlier than the same ball with a polished surface. To help maintain this dull or polished surface, you may benefit from using a more advanced cleaner.
For a dull surface, “Clean ‘N Dull” works extremely well. For a polished surface, the popular choices are “Degree Cleaner/Polish” and “React-A-Foam.”
Regardless of how well you hand-clean any type of ball, an occasional cleaning/polishing by your pro shop operator, using a high speed ball spinner, will enhance the cleaning/polishing process. A ball spinner allows your pro shop operator to fine-tune the ball surface using more complex polishing/sanding agents that are not effective when applied by hand.
All bowling balls will develop nicks and scratches. This type of damage is inevitable and is frequently not a major cause for alarm. This damage is usually caused by friction between the ball and the lane, contact with mechanical pinsetters and ball returns, and, on occasion, debris that somehow finds its way onto the lane or into the pit area.
Every ball will have a “track” area. The track is that worn ring around your ball caused by normal contact between the lane surface and the ball. “Minor” damage outside this track area may not be a cause for concern since the ball never actually rolls over that area. However, any significant damage within the track area should be addressed because it will ultimately affect the ball’s roll and performance. Over time, normal wear in the track area will advance to the point that ball performance is influenced.
Resurfacing your bowling ball will eliminate many of these nicks and scratches and allow your ball to roll smoothly, as it did when it was new. This smooth, consistent roll is necessary to achieve maximum performance.
Resurfacing a bowling ball is accomplished by sanding a ball’s surface, using various grits of sanding paper or pads, until lane damage is removed and the surface is restored to its original smoothness. This process actually reduces the size of your ball, but the reduction is miniscule and the benefits of the smooth surface far outweigh the reduction in size. Most balls can be resurfaced several times.
For many years, resurfacing was accomplished by hand-sanding a ball in a high-speed ball spinner. While this process was beneficial, the operator had to guard against over-sanding a particular area and creating a flat spot on the ball. This problem now has been eliminated with the invention of the “Ball Resurfacing Machine.”
In most cases, these machines also have eliminated the need to leave your ball at the pro shop overnight. Resurfacing, with the use of a Ball Resurfacing Machine, usually can be done in less than an hour.
The fit of the bowling ball to your hand is a primary factor in determining whether you can consistently execute your shot. All other factors in your game being perfect, your performance will not be consistent unless your ball fits properly.
A minor change in body weight, a growth spurt in junior bowlers, loss of flexibility caused by age or injury, weather changes, and other factors will affect how your bowling ball fits. The perfect fit last season, or even last week, may not be so perfect today.
Every bowler will experience continuous, minor changes in the size of their fingers and thumbs. Some factors that may cause poor fit include changes in your diet (salt and water cause minor swelling), changes in the weather (cold causes shrinking, heat causes swelling), or the amount of bowling you do. To solve this problem, every bowler should have a box of “Bowlers Tape” in their bag. This tape can quickly be inserted in the thumb hole to take up any excess room.
Another frequently neglected area is finger inserts. There are several types available, but they all have one thing in common: They all wear out. This results in inconsistent lift and power.
Many bowlers ask how often these should be changed. The best answer: When your finger holes start feeling loose, replace your inserts.
Periodically, every bowler should have their hand remeasured to see if there have been any significant changes. These changes could range from a significant weight change (requiring different size holes) to a change in flexibility (requiring hole pitch or span changes).
If you’re purchasing a new ball, any changes can be incorporated into the new ball. If you want to continue using your existing ball, these changes can be made by plugging or slugging your existing ball and redrilling the hole(s).
Plugging a hole consists of mixing an epoxy (which can be color-matched to most balls), filling the existing hole, allowing the epoxy to harden, and then redrilling a new hole. This process can take anywhere from a half-hour to a couple of days, depending on the amount of work necessary.
Slugging a hole is an option when you only need a minor change. Slugging consists of drilling the hole to a standard size, gluing in a plastic slug, and drilling the new hole into this slug.Either of these procedures can be performed by any full-service pro shop and are usually significantly less costly than purchasing a new ball.
Periodically, bowling centers change their conditioning pattern in an attempt to improve lane conditions for their bowlers. These changes can be either a change in the type of conditioner used or the manner in which it is applied to the lane surface. When these changes occur, some bowlers’ scores improve while others decline.
A decline in your scores can be caused by either your failure to adjust to the new condition or that your equipment no longer matches the condition. If equipment is the problem, you may not need a new ball but simply an adjustment to your existing equipment. The adjustment needed may be as simple as polishing the surface to help get the ball further down the lane before it starts to hook or dulling the surface to help the ball roll/hook earlier.
If you’re having a problem figuring out a new condition, don’t struggle by yourself. Talk with your pro shop professional and let him help.
Regardless of how well you maintain your equipment, bowling balls do eventually wear out. This is particularly true with the more high-tech superballs. Unless they lose their shape (this occurs when balls are exposed to extreme heat or cold) or become so gouged up that they can no longer be resurfaced or repaired, they will still work, but you will see diminished performance.
If you’ve tried the previous maintenance suggestions and your ball still doesn’t perform the way you desire, you may need to face reality and obtain a new ball. The alternative is to watch your scores continue to decline.
It’s true: You can’t buy a game. Your physical ability, the condition on which you bowl, and how well you adjust to the conditions ultimately will determine how well you score. You can, however, purchase equipment and maintain it in a manner that will help you overcome conditions and compensate for many physical shortcomings.
Pamphlets containing this article are available at the Sports Plus/Carmen Don Pro Shop, 5130 Duke Street, Suite 5, Alexandria, Va. (phone: 703/751-4255).