Proper Ball Maintenance: Keys to Better Bowling
Part 1: Identifying a need to alter a ball’s surface.
There are some very real and necessary steps involved in preparing the coverstocks of your bowling balls to help you be the best bowler that you can be. Understanding when and how to create, change and/or maintain the most beneficial surfaces for your bowling balls that properly match your individual bowling style will help you be a better bowler.
You must correctly identify your individual bowling style. By knowing your bowling style, you will understand how to properly prepare the surface of your bowling balls. What's good for one bowling style or profile can be terrible for a differing bowling style.
Many factors influence how a bowling ball will react to any given lane condition, but the single most important factor of ball behavior is always its surface. No matter how well a ball is “laid out,” how dynamically strong the core is or how well you release it, a shiny surface will skid further down the lane (delaying the hook phase) and a rough surface will slow the ball speed quicker and enter the hook phase faster. Before any ball can begin to hook, it must slow down a few miles per hour. The surface of the ball is the only factor that can allow the friction necessary to slow the ball. Friction is what causes the ball to go from “skid” to “hook.”
There are five (5) different bowling profiles or styles, and all bowlers fit into one of these styles. Knowing your profile among these styles is the basis to understanding how you can prepare a ball’s surface to work to your advantage. If you don’t properly prepare the surface to work for you, the ball will have no choice but to work against you.
Profile 1: Rev-Rate Completely Dominates Ball Speed
For this bowling style, the bowler’s Rev-Rate significantly over-powers your
ball speed. This makes it difficult for these bowlers to keep their balls on
the correct side of the headpin. They surface must be prepared in such way as
to get the ball down the lane without “hooking out” or hooking off the lane.”
Profile 2: Rev-Rate Slightly Dominates Ball Speed
For this bowling style, the player’s Rev-Rate slightly dominates their ball
speed. With the proper tools and knowledge, the Rev-Rate to ball speed ratio of
these players can be altered to match ball speed and play very well.
Profile 3: Rev-Rate and Ball Speed match up and complement
each other.
Bowlers who are in this style are neither Rev-Dominant nor Speed Dominant.
For these bowlers it is easier to adjust a ball’s surface to a given lane
condition, giving them a better opportunity for high and consistent scoring.
Most touring bowlers are in this style.
Profile 4 is the bowling style where the bowler’s ball speed slightly overpowers the bowler’s Rev-Rate. These bowlers do need a good amount of surface but not as much as those in the next player profile.
Profile 5 is the bowling style where the bowler’s ball speed greatly overpowers their Rev-Rate. These bowlers need the greatest amount of surface to create maximum amounts of friction to get the ball to slow down. Only under extremely dry lane conditions does this style bowler ever benefit from high gloss finishes or ball polishes.
Identifying the need to adjust your ball’s surface.
Your bowling ball is talking to you after each shot. Are you listening? The ball doesn’t know a lot of words, but it does know enough to tell you things like: “I’m just fine’.” “Don’t change a thing.” “Stand here and throw there,” “Put me down and go get the blue one.”
Are you listening to what your ball is telling you? If you are not, you are making bowling a lot harder than it should be.
Also, after each shot you also must ask yourself two (2) questions and you need to know the answers. “Did I throw the ball right?” “Did I hit my target?” If you know the answers to both these questions, you can make an adjustment right then. If you can’t answer these questions, you just wasted a shot.
Anytime your ball is hooking (or trying to hook), it encounters friction and anytime a ball is encountering friction the surface of the track area of the ball is changing. It doesn’t matter if you are bowling on synthetic or wooden lanes: if the ball is hooking or trying to hook it is encountering friction.
In addition to surface changes brought about by friction, lane oil that is being absorbed into the track aera of your performance balls can also play a major role in changing the reaction of your bowling ball. The absorptive properties of the cover-stock can vary greatly from ball to ball, but nearly all reactive resin cover-stocks are designed to absorb some amount of lane oils. When the track area of the ball becomes saturated and can no longer absorb its desired amount of lane oil, it stops hooking as you expect. Urethane and Polyester spare balls do not absorb lane oil.
If needed, the final element of proper ball maintenance is applying ball polish. If you are a profile 4 bowler (slightly speed dominant), you should think twice about adding polish to the cover. If you are a profile 5 bowler, you should seldom (if ever) consider adding polish to the cover. Profile 4 bowlers need some surface for friction, Profile 5 bowlers need a lot of surface for friction which is the opposite of polish.
Polyester spare balls should be highly polished, so they do not show any signs of wanting to hook. Should your spare ball ever show signs of wanting to hook, it is time to shine it to a 4000-grit finish and apply ball polish. But not just any ball polish: you want to use Vise Slip Agent Ball Polish. Vise Slip Agent will give any ball its maximum possible length. For your polyester spare ball, the perfect length is at least 60’.
Once you identify your need for surface alteration, what are you going to do? You must either have your ball serviced by your local pro shop professional or do it yourself. If you have the tools and the knowledge you can correct the problem(s) yourself. If you are willing to learn to do it yourself, you will learn things about your game that will make you a better bowler.
For many years, Innovative Bowling Products and Vise Inserts have been leading the industry in providing the necessary tools and equipment to help you Be Your Best.