(Fig. A) - The core of the
bowling ball has a weight block at the top to compensate for the finger and thumb holes.Bowling
(Fig. A) - The core of the
bowling ball has a weight block at the top to compensate for the finger and thumb holes.
When you walk into a bowling centre for the first time, you are faced with a bewildering array of bowling balls. This, in addition
to all the other intimidating facets of bowling, can often make many people turn right round and walk back out of the door.
There those rows of bowling balls sit on the ball racks, hopefully bright, shiny and attractive in their many colours. Also hopefully, with the differing weights engraved on the ball surface or, in many centres, a colour coding system of weights with the key card displayed on, or close to, the ball rack.
In the better run centres the staff will have guided you through the initial weight selection for men, women and children and pointed out the correct fingers to use. But to many people the bowling ball still remains something of a mystery. What is it made of? Why doesn't it go out of balance with those big holes in it? How come the balls are all the same size yet differ in weight?
Modern bowling balls are manufactured with a polyester or urethane shell around a composite core. It is this core which determines the gross weight of the ball, using materials like barium in a dense form for the heavier balls.
Up until a few years ago, the market was dominated by balls made from hard rubber, but the change in coatings of bowling lanes, moving away from hazardous materials, brought a surface that is better suited to the modern ball.
The house balls you find at your local centre are most likely the polyester variety. They are made in a never-ending range of colours and vary in weight from six to sixteen pounds. There are still many rubber house balls in the older centres.
To compensate for the weight removed from the ball when the two finger and the thumb holes are drilled, the core has a weight block, or blocks, on the top. This extra weight differs across the range of balls to compensate for the combinations of sizes to suit as many hands as possible. When drilled the ball then comes back into balance within the legal specifications decreed by the British Tenpin Bowling Association.
Those specifications have seen little changes over many decades, dating back to when it was almost impossible to get a bowling ball within balance. Permitted imbalance for a bowling ball over ten pounds in weight is three ounces at the top or the bottom, one ounce variation between the sides, and one ounce bet we en the fingers and thumb sides.
Balls of eight to ten pounds have a two ounce top or bottom weight restriction and 3/4 ounce side. Less then eight pounds, the top/bottom imbalance drops to 3/4 ounce, the side remains at 3/4 ounce.
So it is fairly obvious that the ball driller has to be aware of the top weight in the ball prior to drilling and assess the amount of weight being taken out of the ball, according to the finger and thumb sizes and the depth of the holes.
When you eventually get around to purchasing your own equipment, and you will find that full enjoyment of ten pin starts from that time, you will see your pro shop operator compute the weights and choose the right ball for you. For the advanced bowler, many pro shops actually use a computer to assess exactly where the holes should be drilled and what the gross top weight of the ball should be.
Other specifications that may be of interest include a ban on any metallic substance in the ball manufacture; that nothing may be placed on the ball surface; and that the hardness of the shell shall be at least the rating of 72 on a durometer 'D'. But that's getting a little technical for bowling's newcomers.
Depending upon the way you release the ball when you bowl, the bowling ball will "track" a certain way. As a newcomer, you will most probably roll fairly straight ball, your thumb pointing the front and the fingers staying behind the ball will cause the ball to roll on its circumference, giving you a 'full-roller' (Fig. B).
(Fig. B) - The 'Full Roller', where the ball tracks between the finger and thumb holes.
If you then get a lesson from a BT qualified instructor, you will start release the ball with your fingers around the 'four o'clock' position (eight o'clock for a left-hander). This serves the dual , purpose of giving the ball more revolutions and 'hook', enabling the ball to drive through the pins and not be subject to much deflection as a straighter ball. Keeping the fingers around the 'four o'clock' position will cause the track ( line of wear) to swing slightly away from the finger and thumb holes to give a 'three quarter roller' (Fig. C). More rotation of fingers on release will cause even m revolutions, better drive and a 'semi-roller' track (Fig. D).
(Fig. C) - The 'three-quarter' or 'high roller' with the track just outside the thumb hole.
(Fig. D) - The most powerful ball, the 'semi-roller'.
If you get the chance to take a peek at bowling balls used by Britain's s bowlers, you will find the majority with track on the semi-roller line. Your problem is finding out where ball you are using is tracking. If you I a house ball the wear is all over the ball.
Try using a small piece of adhesive to or white tape placed at the top of finger holes. Watch the reaction as the rolls down the lane and count the revolutions, you need at least ten! Around twelve is ideal, but the number can even higher. It is the 'lift' with the finger that gives you the hard-hitting bow ball, accurately delivered and rolling when it hits the pins to drive through pin deck.
But please remember, you are not allowed to use the label or tape on the ball during league or competition play.
When people start to bowl they h the gift of natural timing and release. this that you should work on and develop, don't try to copy other people to any extent. Once you have learned the basis of a good delivery, maybe from reading our earlier 'Checkpoint' articles, you progress to a more effective bowling release.
Then it will be time to place yourself the hands of your local pro shop operator and purchase your own equipment. that is when you will REALLY enjoy regular bowling sessions, whether serious league and competition player bowling along with maybe your friends and family.