What's Your Sign? - bowling balls

Bowling Digest, June, 2001 by Jeri Edwards

Bowlers need to know the strengths in their games in order to take advantage of the newest bowling ball technology

NEW BOWLING BALLS ARE always a hot topic. With all the options you have today when purchasing a ball, how do you make a smart decision? Bowling balls can get expensive, so you obviously want to make a good choice.

To make that good choice, you need to have a basic understanding of what is available and what it is you need. In this first part of a two-part story, I'll cover two common bowling ball questions. My brother, Brunswick design engineer Ray Edwards, helped me to simplify the issues.

What are bowling balls made of?

To quote a nursery rhyme, for all we know there might be some "sugar and spice and everything nice" or even some "snakes and snails and puppy dog tails" used to manufacture bowling balls. There are four basic types of balls on the market today: plastic/polyester, urethane, reactive, and particle. Each uses a different production technology, and if you understand what that's all about, it can help you choose the right ball.

Plastic/polyester balls became popular in the '70s and remained so through the early '80s. Of the four types, plastic/polyester are the least aggressive, meaning they roll the straightest. With this in mind, a plastic ball would be a good choice if you bowl on extremely dry lanes or if you want your ball to roll straighter. Straighter action will help if you have trouble with your bowling ball hooking too much at your spares. Plastic is also an option for new bowlers because the ball does not do "tricks" and is manageable.

Before you dismiss plastic balls as old-fashioned, let me share a funny story about them. At the Team USA training camp when both Chris Barnes and Robert Smith were on the team, we scheduled a four-game plastic ball tournament. Before the tournament started, the bowlers could use any ball they wanted. Most of the players were using reactive equipment and at best were averaging 210. When the tournament started and the players had to switch to plastic, there was a surprise. Smith shot a 1,040 with a 300 game, and Barnes shot a 1,050! Because plastic matched up with the drier lane condition better than a reactive ball, their scores skyrocketed.

That's an unusual case with an extreme condition, but in certain circumstances, plastic may be the perfect choice. Plastic balls are also very affordable, which makes them appealing to bowling novices.

Urethane bowling balls made their debut in the early '80s with the AMF Angle. These balls were more aggressive than plastic, meaning they could hook more. In today's market, urethane bowling balls are great for the entry-level bowler who wants a little more hook than a plastic ball will give, with a more manageable reaction than a reactive or particle ball will provide. Urethane balls are also in the less-expensive range.

Reactive technology hit the scene in 1990. Reactive balls gave bowlers even more hook than urethane. Today, using the stone release, you may get a urethane and reactive ball the same distance down the lane, but the reactive creates a stronger hook, changing direction more aggressively. The ball itself is very noticeable to your eye, with a smooth cover texture.

If you compared bowling balls to tires, the reactive ball would be like a slick racing tire. Consider this: At the Indianapolis 500, the drivers like the track dry so the tires grab the surface easily. If it rains, the race is postponed--when the track becomes wet, the tires don't grab the surface, and skid easily. Reactive bowling balls are similar: Because they are smoother, they skid easily on oil and grab well on drier surfaces, which is why they're labeled an "over-under" ball. Generally, reactive balls are best suited to balanced lane conditions, where there is oil in the front part of the lane that gradually tapers off at the end of the oiling pattern and more oil in the middle part of the lane that tapers off on the outside portion of the lane. Because they're smooth, reactive balls tend to be better on medium-to-drier conditions, generally making more aggressive changes in direction. Reactive balls give you a "skid-snap" reaction.

Particle technology is the newest on the bowling scene. With a particle ball, manufacturers have changed the texture of the ball. It's like adding tread to a tire: If reactives are like racing slicks, particle balls can act like regular tires, or even snow tires. Particle technology helps the ball gain better traction in oily conditions. As the manufacturers add texture to the ball surface, the ball "squishes" down in the oil, allowing pan of the ball to see the surface of the lane.

What snow tires do in snow is the same as what panicle balls do in oil. Yet they act less aggressively on dry lanes than the reactive ball. Because a panicle ball's surface is "lumpy"---not smooth like a reactive ball--less ball surface touches the lane. A particle bowling ball is super-sensitive to the lane condition--it won't skid as much on oil and it won't snap as hard on dry conditions. Particle balls are most useful when you're playing on oily conditions.