Having grip duplicated by BB.com

[drlawsoniii]

Anyone send one of their balls in to BB.com to get the grip duplicated on a new one? Can you tell me the procedure to ship yours to them?

[imagonman]

WHy would you risk YOUR ball shipped to them? I don't get it. I KNOW there are good proshops in your area. Why risk it?

[bowl1820]

Anyone send one of their balls in to BB.com to get the grip duplicated on a new one? Can you tell me the procedure to ship yours to them?

On bowlingball.com just send them a email they'll be happy to tell just what info you need to send them for the Custom Drilling Service or you can PM the admin (Dustin of BB.com) on this site.

This webpage has info on doing it.

https://www.bowlingball.com/info/custom-drilling-announcement.html?

If you have your grip spec, you can just send copy too them and they can drill it (you don't need to send them your ball)

Blomer on here had his done and I think someone else did too I don't remember the name right off.
They send you a shipping label, but you got to box it.


Yesterday I received my Fanatic SS I won here on the boards. I had bowlingball.com drill it for me along with some inner sleeves for switch grip. I just want to give Dustin a shout out as he exchanged several emails and helped me along with the process. The ball fits like a glove and can't wait to throw it.

[drlawsoniii]

WHy would you risk YOUR ball shipped to them? I don't get it. I KNOW there are good proshops in your area. Why risk it?

There maybe some good drillers in my area but they're not selling me a new plastic ball drilled, with grips and a switch grip sleeve for 85 dollars, and resurfacing my ball im sending in for free.

[RobLV1]

Sending them your ball is equivalent to cutting off your nose to spite your face!

[J Anderson]

Sending them your ball is equivalent to cutting off your nose to spite your face!

I'm not getting your point Rob. I admit that bowling where Buddies Pro shop is located, I'm not likely to have anyone else drill a ball for me. What is so terrible about sending a ball to BowlingBall.com to have the grip copied if you don't have or can't get a copy of your drill sheet?

[RobLV1]

I'm not getting your point Rob. I admit that bowling where Buddies Pro shop is located, I'm not likely to have anyone else drill a ball for me. What is so terrible about sending a ball to BowlingBall.com to have the grip copied if you don't have or can't get a copy of your drill sheet?

My point is that it is so very important to have every ball drilled exactly the same that sending it away to have it drilled by someone that you don't know to save a few bucks is not worth the risk that you are taking. I can't tell you how many times I see bowlers who have the wrong ball in their hand say that they know they should be using a different ball that they have with them but don't because it just doesn't feel right. This is really important with a spare ball that you use more than any other ball you own. There are certain elements involved in drilling a ball that can't be indicated on a drill sheet; like the little nuances involved in finishing off the thumb hole. Sacrificing a perfect drilling to save a few dollars is just not worth it.

[bowl1820]

There are certain elements involved in drilling a ball that can't be indicated on a drill sheet; like the little nuances involved in finishing off the thumb hole.

Besides just tweaking the thumbhole/fingerholes (sanding,beveling) while your standing there in front of the PSO, what are the other elements that can't be indicated on a drill sheet?

Also drlawsoniii is talking about sending them a ball to copy the grip from not a drill sheet.

[bowl1820]

I'm not getting your point Rob. I admit that bowling where Buddies Pro shop is located, I'm not likely to have anyone else drill a ball for me. What is so terrible about sending a ball to BowlingBall.com to have the grip copied if you don't have or can't get a copy of your drill sheet?

Buddies Pro shop offers the same "online" drilling services as BB.com and they also have a good rep for doing good drilling's also.

[drlawsoniii]

My point is that it is so very important to have every ball drilled exactly the same that sending it away to have it drilled by someone that you don't know to save a few bucks is not worth the risk that you are taking. I can't tell you how many times I see bowlers who have the wrong ball in their hand say that they know they should be using a different ball that they have with them but don't because it just doesn't feel right. This is really important with a spare ball that you use more than any other ball you own. There are certain elements involved in drilling a ball that can't be indicated on a drill sheet; like the little nuances involved in finishing off the thumb hole. Sacrificing a perfect drilling to save a few dollars is just not worth it.

I've only ever been happy with the way 1 of my 5 balls have been drilled and the PSO who drilled it is out of business. I see no harm in sending my favorite ball, double boxed with insurance in to have the specs copied. This is my spare ball, the current plastic ball I have the span is so short that i'm gripping it and pulling it left all the time. Plus it's cracked. Plus I'm saving way more than a few bucks. I'm saving 15-20 on the ball and 50 on the resurface. The shops in my area charge 50 dollars to resurface a ball, and BB.com is doing it for free. As for the nuances, the thumb is a switch grip so there isn't a whole lot of finishing off to be done.

The PSO's in Columbus are so apathetic, they dont even watch a person bowl or measure your pap or anything anymore. If that's the service i'm going to get why not go with an online retailer?

[Tony]

While I agree with the goal of having every ball drilled exactly the same way, I don't know about anyone else but even though mine are very close, they are not all exactly the same.

I have used a couple different drillers, but even the balls done by the same individual are not exactly the same.....but they are all pretty close.

The two items that we have had to adjust are the finger grip size and of course the thumb slug contour, for some reason, different brands, or styles of grips feel differently or they are influenced by the size hole they use for the grips.

I have never sent a ball out to be drilled, however I have left a ball to be drilled along with the one I want the drilling copied from and had good results. Of course sometimes the thumb needed adjustment.
I could see sending a ball out to be copied then when I get it back take it to one of my pro shop buddies if the thumb needs some tweaking, might not be the perfect solution or get an exact ball match, but I don't have that anyway.

From the guys I know using them it seems the way to make it easy to duplicate drilling exactly would be using turbo or vise grip systems.

All in all the biggest issue for me is sending my favorite ball out for a week and taking a slight risk it could get lost or damaged.

[fokai73]

Been using buddies Proshop for almost ten years now. Sent a drill sheet through email after having bad luck with local PSO's, called them when my grip changed over the years, and through changes from tradition thumb to IT tumb. all workmanship done 100% exact. NEVER made a mistake like local PSO in and out is me area. (West coast)

I measure/check span/pitches on all these balls after ups drops then off..again, even the best local PSO had messed up on my span, not buddies. All balls perfect. I use local PSO for other stuff like making dup IT thumb, molded thumb, supplies, etc....

I never understood why many bowlers put their trust on a PSO, local or otherwise, and never knowing their span and pitches. But they seem to know everything else about bowling. Smh

[fokai73]

I must add, when I used traditional thumb, buddies drilled the thumb hole to size and I did the rest of the thumb work at home.

[RobLV1]

Okay, here's the bottom line. I don't think it's a good idea, just like I don't think that it's a good idea to use different PSO's to drill your bowling balls. Once you find someone who does a great job and drills the balls exactly the same, stick with them. Whether you send it to an online service, or order it from a busy shop without knowing exactly who's drilling it, you are taking a chance IN MY OPINION. In my own case, my driller is also my best friend and weekly golfing buddy. I can call him to order a ball, tell him how I want it laid out (we learned the dual angle system together), and he will bring it to the golf course and it will fit perfectly. Every one of my bowling balls has one piece of white tape for feel, and fit exactly the same. While my situation is perfect, sending a ball to a place where you don't know the skill level of the individual who will actually be drilling your ball is about as imperfect of a situation as you could possibly find. Again, that's just my opinion.

[mc_runner]

Saw a couple people talking about sending their current ball away for a week... If you have an old ball that fits well you can send that over. I know I have a couple older/"dead" balls that I wouldn't mind boxing and sending to copy a drill on. Avoids any risk to your current arsenal.

[truocco]

Tony Ruocco here from bowlingball.com. I just thought I would chime in here and give you some information on our professional drilling services.

We know that not everyone has the luxury of a knowledgeable pro shop that is open consistent hours and has inventory to take care of all of your needs. If you do, then there are obvious advantages to having your ball drilled and services locally. For those of you who do not have a local shop or they are not there when you need them or you just do not feel comfortable with the work they do, we are here for you.

We have a few options if you want us to drill your new ball.

1. You can enter your specs online, in your bowlingball.com account. This option allows you to enter the specs your pro shop has given you or you may have received at a tournament, etc.
- Before we drill your new ball, we will review your specs and contact you if we have any questions or if something doesnt appear to be correct

2. If you have your own specs but dont feel confident enough to enter them on your own, you can fax or email those to us and we will enter them for you.
- Again, we will review them and let you know if we have any questions

3. Finally, and this is by far our most used service, we will pick up your existing bowling ball for FREE to copy the specs on your ball. While your old ball is with us we offer to resurface it completely free as well.
- We send you a pre-paid UPS label, this not only makes it easy for you but also insures your package coming back to us in case something happens in transit.
- When we get your ball back here we will copy the specs exactly as they are on your current ball
- Keep in mind this is a great time to possibly look at going to a thumb mold, Turbo Switch Grip or other interchangeable thumb system. This makes going from ball to ball much easier and they all will feel the same. Also if you continue to use our drilling service you will not have to worry
about working out the thumb hole each time you get a new ball.
- Once your new ball is drilled, we will get it shipped back to you along with your old ball free of charge.

All of our work is guaranteed to be drilled exactly to the specs of your old ball. We stand behind all of our work and our ball drillers have over 30+ years experience.

If you have any other questions, we can assist you on here or you can call our customer service team anytime to discuss your next ball.

Thanks for your support of bowling and for staying active on BowlingBoards.com

Tony R

[mishatx]

I did this when I won the free ball here. It was less than half the cost of the local pro shop (which I really don't have a relationship with because they are never open) and included a free resurface of the old ball. I took my old ball to the UPS store and they double boxed and packed it for somewhere between 10 and 15 bucks. I was willing to take the risk on my old ball and I'm glad I did, as both balls look great.

[watertank]

I sent my ball to BB.com between seasons. My ball came back with the new ball I ordered. Process took about a 1.5 to 2 weeks if I remember correctly.
I’m just a rec bowler so it wouldn’t have been the end of the world if things didn’t work out. But the new ball was exactly like my original. I’ve since ordered a second without issues and the fit was great.

I don’t have a pro shot at my local family fun center, so the convenience and price made it well worth the risk. It’s nice if I get the itch to just place an order and have it at my door step in about a week.

[Hawk]

The way I see it if they mess up they obviously will be able to replace the ball, being they sell bowling balls. a pso will have to order it and have you wait 7 or more days.

[JasonNJ]

I only have bb.com or buddies drill my stuff now and my experience have been great. Buddies did mess up a couple of balls and had the span too short but they fixed the issue free of charge. One thing I would suggest if you use an online driller, pay the $10 to get a mold of your thumb done. The exact contours of your thumbhole would be the hardest to get exact if drilling each time so a mold takes that out of the equation.

[drlawsoniii]

Update. I bought a Pyramid Path Spare Ball from bowlingball.com and I love it. They copied the measurements, grips and slug sleeve perfectly! I just ordered a second ball from them today, a Match Up Pearl! I'm very excited to try it out when the lanes dry up a bit.

[JasonNJ]

Update. I bought a Pyramid Path Spare Ball from bowlingball.com and I love it. They copied the measurements, grips and slug sleeve perfectly! I just ordered a second ball from them today, a Match Up Pearl! I'm very excited to try it out when the lanes dry up a bit.

I bought quite a few balls from them and every ball has been spot on. I had them make a thumb mold as well since that is usually the trickiest part of the drilling.

[santos314]

Glad to hear the positive feedback, I'm thinking of having them do some drilling for me.