Would bowling ball use give it a surface change?

[Hammer]

I know that it has been said that a balls surface does not need to be broken in to work like it should. It can work well right out of the box. Since I got my Blue Hammer in the middle of November 2012 my ball seems to work better now then when I first started using it. When you think of what a ball goes through each time you throw it down the alley it would seem the wear and tear of going through the oil while going through it's revs and then hitting the dry part of the lane and then crashing through the pins and going through the ball return back to you it would seem something has to happen to the ball surface. And it goes through this over and over in practice and on league night. You might not be taking sandpaper to it but it sure seems like the surface will change just from use. I guess it would depend on how many revs you are able to put on a ball or if you are a high rev cranker going coast to coast. You keep hitting the same track on your ball with revs and it changes direction when it hits the dry. All that reving and hitting of the dry part of the lane would be changing the surface somehow. Maybe there are some bowlers that would tell you that their ball started to work better after they put maybe 15 to 20 games on their ball. Maybe it started to read the lanes better or started to hook better. My experience with my Blue Hammer is that it works better now then out of the box. I know you have to get use to a new ball but putting the same revs and speed on the ball now has a different reaction then when it was new. When new I was leaving a lot of single pin spares on what looked like pocket hits. I was going to give it a surface adjustment to make it hook a little better. It seemed to be missing a little bit of hooking power. The guy that set up my ball in our house pro shop said that I should leave it alone and put somemore games on it and if I still didn't like it he
would hit it with some surface change. Well I listened to him and my ball is working how I like it to work. So to me it makes me think that maybe the ball has to do battle for a while to work like you want it to. Maybe all that sliding down the alley with revs and hitting that dry and going into the roll to hit those pins does change the track of the ball from use.When you think about it it does go through some wear and tear and maybe some surface change just from use. Anyone else here think that their new ball worked better after ten or more games?

[backlasher]

I bought a 900 Global Wisdom because I don't know much about bowling and believed their hype. It worked great after I got used to it. After about 50 games, the pro shop polished it and took it back to the out-of-the-box finish. I lost about 30 pins. Now, after about 100 games, it works like it did before and the 30 pins are back so, yes, I think the surface can get better for you. I don't know why that would be so but I won't let them polish my ball again.

[bowl1820]

Well I'm guessing here what this is about, all I did was skim that wall of text. (Paragraphs please).

Yes ball surfaces will change with use, polished balls will get duller and dull balls will shine up. The general rule of thumb was that the balls surface would wind up about a 600 grit surface. Now this was more when there more wood lanes.

Though I believe they have now changed this to about 800 grit (I think, I had read it once some where but it's been a while). Do to the synthetic lane surfaces and change of coverstock materials.

[vikingbowler88]

When I bought my new ball my pro shop guy said the ball won't break in till i get about 12+ games. I can definitely tell a difference from game 1 to now.

[billf]

I have no science or studies to support my belief. I think some covers need a small amount of deep oil absorption. After that they seem to hit harder, from the oil? I don't know why but it does seem to happen, especially with urethane coverstocks.

[Davec13]

I have no science or studies to support my belief. I think some covers need a small amount of deep oil absorption. After that they seem to hit harder, from the oil? I don't know why but it does seem to happen, especially with urethane coverstocks.

I was talking with one of the old timers (86 years old) and he was talking about how things used to be. He was talking about when rubber balls were the go to ball they used to leave the track on the balls (no cleaning ever) the old oil was what would give them some grip so they could hook the ball a little. Maybe that's what you are seeing in unscientific terms bill.

I love bowling against that team the youngest player is like 67 and they have some awesome stories to tell while bowling.

[Hammer]

I have no science or studies to support my belief. I think some covers need a small amount of deep oil absorption. After that they seem to hit harder, from the oil? I don't know why but it does seem to happen, especially with urethane coverstocks.

I would agree with you billf. I have a urethane Blue Hammer and that sucker has way better grip for a very nice controlled hook that makes the ball hit harder. When new I was leaving a lot of single pin spares on what looked like good pocket hits. Now those use to be single pin spares get cleaned up a lot more often and become strikes now. On a Hammer ball review video about the Blue Hammer one of the testers was leaving single pin spares like I was on pocket hits. On the video the guy said the tester made a slight surface change to give the ball a little more grip and then he started to get those strikes using the same foot position and alley target. I was going to do that but the pro shop guy that set up my ball told me to put a few more games on it and if it didn't get better he would give it a slight surface change. Well I didn't have to get it. My ball works very good now thank you.