polishing a ball?

[boatman37]

So bought Motiv 5000 polish awhile back but never really used it. After a few weeks ago when the lanes were bone dry figured i'd polish my Black Widow Gold just in case. It had been 3000 grit CTD on a spinner. So hit it with a 1500 CTD pad then a quick once over with the polish (all on the spinner). Threw it a couple of times last week in warm ups to get a feel for it and didn't notice much difference. So today threw it back on the spinner and just hit it with polish again but this time about 7 or 8 seconds per side. Will it make a difference polishing longer even though the underlying is still 1500? Or will i need to go to a smoother grit then polish again? The odds of me needing this ball are slim but want to have it in case we run into those conditions again.

[boatman37]

Well glad I polished it today cause I needed it tonight. Lanes were real dry again. Was hitting the pocket consistently so thought it would be a good night. Didn't factor in leaving all those corner pins and having to use my oldest ball I own...lol. But rolled a 249 with it

[boatman37]

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[RobLV1]

Believe it or not, resurfacing is not the solution to all of your problems. If you keep thinking that it is, then it has only become a crutch to cover your inability to adjust effectively.

[boatman37]

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[boatman37]

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[boatman37]

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[J Anderson]

k. Wife needed something so let me finish my thought. Right now my biggest issue is my spare game. That definitely needs help. My strike game is above average I'd say until late in the night. At that point I have balled down about as far as my current arsenal can go and if I try to move in then I'm left with corner pins.

If your biggest issue is spares WHY are you worried about the surface of your strike balls?

As a coach I am required at this point to tell you that as an amateur bowler you must have a plastic spare ball. Actually we coaches do not have to say that but generally it is a good idea a T-Zone or a White Dot or something of that ilk to use on many spares. What is required if you want to fix your spare game is at the very least taking time to practice spares. If I remember correctly it’s hard to find a good coach in your area so I’m not going to bother suggesting that, but if you have some time and money go for two or three practice sessions where you experiment on how best to make those nasty corner pins.

[boatman37]

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[RobLV1]

If your biggest issue is spares WHY are you worried about the surface of your strike balls?

Exactly right!

[Phonetek]

The other may be my eyesight issue I mentioned last week. Can't confirm that but sometimes I feel a little like maybe dizzy like I have had a few beers (I don't drink). Wondering if my astigmatism is causing that or if it even affecting my game? I have an eye dr appt in January.

Forget all the bowling stuff. I’m not a doctor but if you’re getting dizzy like you’re drunk you may want to make actual doctors appointment. If crappy vision causes what you’re describing then I’d be acting intoxicated every time I remove my glasses. You may have something else going on.

If it is your eyes it would be caused by them being out of sync with one another. In that case if you cover one up that feeling would immediately go away. However that’s a neurological cause.

Maybe you konked your head recently? I had a guy drop a rather large heavy crescent wrench on my noggin once who was working 10ft above me and it cause my eyes to go out of whack several days later. Plus a bloody mess when it happened.

I thought nothing of it until driving home from work one night and suddenly my eyes went nuts. I couldn’t see to drive unless I covered one eye resulting in me getting lost in an area I knew well. Luckily while trying to navigate I happen across an eye doctors office I stopped at who immediately looked at me. My symptoms soon resolved themselves.

I don’t want to scare you or anything but it definitely sounds like you should get that checked out sooner than later. You may even have a simple ear infection that you don’t feel because it’s deep inside. That can effect your equilibrium too . It may also be something more serious but I’ll keep that to myself. Go get checked out and stop worrying about your bowling until you do.

[boatman37]

Forget I asked the question. Learned before that asking questions on here isn't a good idea but apparently forgot. Guess I'll go elsewhere for advice. Carry on

Not directed at you phoney

[RobLV1]

I'm sorry to see your frustration. Just because we don't all blindly sign on to your current dilemma doesn't mean that we're not trying to help you. Right now it's ball surface. Okay, let me make a very public confession. Despite all of the dozens of articles that I wrote about bowling balls for BTM between 2007 and 2018, I currently use three bowling balls (plus a plastic spare ball): Brunswick Twist (Pearl), Brunswick Fanatic BTU (better than urethane - solid), and a Global 900 Burner (Pearl). The Twist and the Burner both have a 5000 surface; the Twist is 5000 over 3000, and the Burner is the box polished finish knocked down by 5000. The BTU is 3000 with a light 500 applied over the top. Now, here's my confession: I refresh the three surfaces about once a month, briefly by hand. Since my back is too bad to transport the balls home to my spinner, I haven't resurfaced them in over a year. In addition, I have never had the oil removed from any of them.

So, how am I doing? I'm bowling better than I have in years for the simple reason that I have learned to watch where others on my pair are playing, what the lane oil, and topography is dictating, how to change my speed and axis tilt and rotation to get the most out of what the lane is offering me. The bottom line is this: quit obsessing on one aspect of your bowling (currently surface), quit thinking about where you used to play vs. where you now play, and just knock down the pins. I don't mean to offend you, but you are so into the game that I really hate to see you frustrating yourself by going off on one tangent after another and avoiding the real issues. Rant over!

[Phonetek]

Thanks Boatey, I didn’t take it that way. Just calm down though. You know what, we’ve all been on here a while now. We all have completely different personalities yet we’re all friends here like it or not.

I can picture us all sitting at your summer home playing a poker game. Suddenly you’d start singing “99 bottles of wine on the wall.” Bowl would stop you and tell you it’s actually “99 bottles of beer”, explain where the song originated, send you a link to the Wikipedia and a video on how to sing it correctly. Aslan would be trying to decide if the bottles are import or domestic and arguing in length why one is better than the other.

I would have finished a beer and sarcastically commented how we now have a replacement for one of the broken bottles. Rob would be rolling his eyes at the three of us holding his head, wanting to smack us with a beer bottle but doesn’t. Merely says “Shut up and play poker!” Meanwhile Aslan is on the phone with Ryster who’s on a beer run but stuck at the liquor store because Aslan still can’t decide which beer to buy.

Boomer decided to just slip out and go bowl a few games instead. All the while ClassGranny was the only one paying attention to the actual card game and cleaned us all out. Unfortunately Ryster missed the game completely but when he got back he had a huge variety of both import and domestic beer.

Like I said, every one of us has different personalities and different ways of explaining things. Funny thing is, all our personalities seem to compliment one another rather than clash, but it does happen once in a while. Don’t take it personally, again we’re all friends here. We all love bowling and at the end of the day all help each other in our own way.

Sometimes we tend to focus on the small details and overthink our games. On the upside it gives us something to talk about. What good is this site without anything to discuss?

I think we could put together one hell of a bowling team! That’s if ClassyGranny loaned us some of our money back she won from us so we could pay for the lineage. Hopefully you calmed down now but please just no singing!

[boomer]

LOL - I would be bowling a few games with a local craft brew in hand. . . I'm a homebrewer and know all the local craft brewers pretty well. :)

But yeah, that sounds pretty accurate! ;)

[Phonetek]

LOL - I would be bowling a few games with a local craft brew in hand. . . I'm a homebrewer and know all the local craft brewers pretty well. :)

But yeah, that sounds pretty accurate! ;)

I don’t know you all that well Boomer, you’ve been around longer but we haven’t interacted quite as much. I was improvising so I’m glad I was somewhat accurate. I’m with you on the craft beers, that’s more my thing too. I didn’t wanna mention them though or poor Ryster would have never made it back!

Hopefully I changed the mood of the post at least. No need for everyone not to get along. Everyone likely thinks I’m nuts but that’s okay, I’ll gladly sacrifice my sanity for a worthy cause. I do it all the time.

[boomer]

well, I can't sacrifice MY sanity - the kids took that a long time ago and replace it with grey hairs in my beard. LOL

Yeah - I would have had Ryster make the circuit of locals to pick up four-packs! ROFL

[boatman37]

I don’t know you all that well Boomer, you’ve been around longer but we haven’t interacted quite as much. I was improvising so I’m glad I was somewhat accurate. I’m with you on the craft beers, that’s more my thing too. I didn’t wanna mention them though or poor Ryster would have never made it back!

Hopefully I changed the mood of the post at least. No need for everyone not to get along. Everyone likely thinks I’m nuts but that’s okay, I’ll gladly sacrifice my sanity for a worthy cause. I do it all the time.

I'm good. But your post did make me smile a little...lol. I just get frustrated when I ask a question and get the same answer with no answer to my question. I understand my spare shooting needs help and I'm working on that but aside from that I have recently started having issues late in the night that I hadn't experienced before so something has changed. I have had these 2 balls for well over a year and every week I could do the same thing with the same results. Now suddenly that has changed. And Rob said 'learn to adjust'. Well that's what I'm trying to do but my ball won't work inside so my question was about changing the surface. I have all of the equipment so no harm in doing a complete re-surface. And I admitted that I didn't feel that was the problem but then I get slammed for suggesting a refresh. That was where my frustration came from. Currently I have 2 holes that need fixed...spare shooting and trying to get in the oil later on. They are 2 completely separate issues. I was just wondering (more or less thinking out loud) that adding a little surface may help me with my inside lines. Since this is what most agree on (including Rob) then I though it is something I should work on but don't think I have anything in my current arsenal with the current surfaces that will work.

Either way gonna try it tonight and see how it works. Also gonna try to work on my spare shooting. My spare shooting is my priority right now cause that will help my game more than anything but throwing 7 strikes each in games 1 and 2 then 3 or 4 in game 3 doesn't help either.

Anyway, wasn't really mad per se, just frustrated that when I ask a question I don't usually get an answer to it, just 'snaps' quips back (was gonna use sarcastic there but not quite the right word).

And Rob is right about 1 thing for sure...when I want to learn something I wanna learn everything and sometimes get in too deep for my own good. So I do agree with him there. But I like to know what I'm talking about when I talk to others so like to know all the 'nerdy' stuff about it.

[Phonetek]

You'll work it out, you try too hard not to. You are very self critical, give yourself a break now and again. Now your singing on the other hand, that's a different story! Keep it in the shower! 😜

[classygranny]

I think we could put together one hell of a bowling team! That’s if ClassyGranny loaned us some of our money back she won from us so we could pay for the lineage. Hopefully you calmed down now but please just no singing!

I'm all in (pun intended) but we have to bowl at any Bowlero (I know but it's the only thing I know) AND I have 50 something free games!!!

But I do understand your frustrations with the posting. At times, I've been right there with you. In fact, I was going to post about going back to bowl after my foot surgery, and just decided against it. Will just wait and see what happens tomorrow.

Chin up and go get 'em....every bowling session is a new experience!

[boatman37]

Believe it or not my singing is worse than my bowling...lol.

So tried that Uppercut in warmups throwing an inside line with the 2000 on it and it looked good. I think I can work with that if I need to. But tonight I was able to use the Igniter out at the 7 board all night with no adjustments other than speed. Threw 24 strikes (9 in game 1, 6 in game 2, and 9 in game 3) but still missed easy spares. I missed a 3 pin tonight and almost missed a 6 pin (lefty). Used the Igniter for the 3 pin and the T-Zone for the 6 pin. Just missing my marks on those. So now gonna work on fixing that. Have a few thoughts on why but will try it next week. Rolled a 686 tonight and my spare shooting cost me a 700

[Phonetek]

Believe it or not my singing is worse than my bowling...lol.

So tried that Uppercut in warmups throwing an inside line with the 2000 on it and it looked good. I think I can work with that if I need to. But tonight I was able to use the Igniter out at the 7 board all night with no adjustments other than speed. Threw 24 strikes (9 in game 1, 6 in game 2, and 9 in game 3) but still missed easy spares. I missed a 3 pin tonight and almost missed a 6 pin (lefty). Used the Igniter for the 3 pin and the T-Zone for the 6 pin. Just missing my marks on those. So now gonna work on fixing that. Have a few thoughts on why but will try it next week. Rolled a 686 tonight and my spare shooting cost me a 700

Nah see, you have to look on the positive side. Your spare shooting did cost you 700 but your strike shooting got you to a 686!

I just figured you had a bad singing voice because you're big into boats. Who have you ever heard that sang well on a boat?

[Phonetek]

Wait a minute... back up... I seem to have missed something... What do you mean my post made you smile "A LITTLE"? What do you mean a "A Little"? Come on man, what's it gonna take?

That post was bowling boards pure gold! One of my personal bests. I worked long and hard on that, at least 15 minutes!! I should get a free bowling ball for that post. (Since I never won the raffle) LOL

I know it was good because I got Boomer and Granny to comment but moreso because Bowl, Aslan, Rob and Ryster haven't commented. Either because I was way off the mark or too on the nose and now they are mad at me. That's okay though, I'm planning the next poker game elsewhere since we trashed your summer home with all those broken beer bottles that we knocked off the wall.

No glass bottles allowed this time, Boomer can bring a tap and keg of his homemade brew so we can go draft. That way Ryster can play this time too. I'm wearing ear buds in case anyone breaks into song and I can concentrate on what ClassyGranny is doing over there with her cards. I gotta win my money back! Wife is mad I lost so much!

Djp1080, sorry you weren't invited to the last game but in the years I worked at the last center you said it was a long drive like 40 mins. I figured Boatman's summer home was way too far. =) You're invited to the next one.

[classygranny]

Wait a minute... back up... I seem to have missed something... What do you mean my post made you smile "A LITTLE"? What do you mean a "A Little"? Come on man, what's it gonna take?

That post was bowling boards pure gold! One of my personal bests. I worked long and hard on that, at least 15 minutes!! I should get a free bowling ball for that post. (Since I never won the raffle) LOL

I know it was good because I got Boomer and Granny to comment but moreso because Bowl, Aslan, Rob and Ryster haven't commented. Either because I was way off the mark or too on the nose and now they are mad at me. That's okay though, I'm planning the next poker game elsewhere since we trashed your summer home with all those broken beer bottles that we knocked off the wall.

No glass bottles allowed this time, Boomer can bring a tap and keg of his homemade brew so we can go draft. That way Ryster can play this time too. I'm wearing ear buds in case anyone breaks into song and I can concentrate on what ClassyGranny is doing over there with her cards. I gotta win my money back! Wife is mad I lost so much!

Djp1080, sorry you weren't invited to the last game but in the years I worked at the last center you said it was a long drive like 40 mins. I figured Boatman's summer home was way too far. =) You're invited to the next one.

I apparently need to win more, because I need much more bowling practice after my outing today. Never a good idea to take 6 weeks off. Ugh!

And if I can make it to these parties...from the wild, wild west, than anyone should be able to "drive like 40 mins". Come-on, I do that just to get to the bowling alley some mornings. Geez, some of you need to grow a pair.

And by the way...not much into micro-brews, but if you can find a Kilkenny Irish Ale - I'm ALL IN!

[boatman37]

Dude...I'm poor. My summer home is also my winter home....lol. But we can all go for a boat ride once the sun comes back out

[Phonetek]

See... You can't own a boat and claim your poor. It doesn't work that way. Since it's your screen name is obviously not a dingy or you would advertise it. Then again I don't know how much feedback you'd get on you're posts if you named yourself Dingyman. On a different type of website maybe. That said it's obviously gotta be a nice boat or you wouldn't be proud of it. Nice = $$. So you can't be too broke. I'm not buying it. LOL

With the amount of money I have I couldn't even get away with using the name Canoeman.

[boatman37]

lol. actually boatman sounds stupid but when i signed up i just couldn't think of anything else...lol

The boat is a 2006 so not that expensive...lol
https://i.postimg.cc/3NmgLLgt/end_of_2021.jpg (https://postimg.cc/PvfpJQVD)

https://i.postimg.cc/q7ShHJW2/IMG_6095.jpg (https://postimg.cc/v17HWsYm)

[Phonetek]

And it's being pulled by that nice Dodge. Still not buying it Boatman Gates.

[boatman37]

Actually the truck cost more than the boat. But yeah I like my toys. Been thinking about selling the boat just cause of the cost. It's in storage right now but is broke. I have the outdrive here at home needing repair before next year. We have been lucky as far as repair costs go but this one will hurt...lol

BTW-anyone on here ever comes to the Pittsburgh area hit me up. We will either go bowl a few games or if the weather is nice we can go for a boat ride.

[boomer]

It's still a hole in the water that you toss money into! LOL

[boatman37]

It's still a hole in the water that you toss money into! LOL

yep.

Break
Out
Another
Thousand

lol

[Phonetek]

Anyone notice how this thread is no longer about ball polishing or ranting? <taking a bow> I'll be here all night... Tip your servers and try the caviar... Boatman is buying.

[Phonetek]

Actually the truck cost more than the boat. But yeah I like my toys. Been thinking about selling the boat just cause of the cost. It's in storage right now but is broke. I have the outdrive here at home needing repair before next year. We have been lucky as far as repair costs go but this one will hurt...lol

BTW-anyone on here ever comes to the Pittsburgh area hit me up. We will either go bowl a few games or if the weather is nice we can go for a boat ride.

You sell it then you'll have to go by Boatlessman. I dunno if it feel comfortable on a boat with these people on here anymore. Given how much crap I've recently given everyone. Especially if you happen to have a piece of lumber on board that's 2" thick and anywhere between 4 and 12" wide and 6 to 10' long. I have a feeling I'd be walking the plank. I'll stick to bowling where I'm safe.

Pittsburgh?... Pittsburgh? Like that's even a place. I'm fairly well traveled throughout the Continental US and have never met one person from Pittsburgh. Uh oh, I better shuddup, I can hear the faint sound of a stone sliding against a sword. I'm sorry Captain!

False alarm, I was just the wife sharpening our large butchers knife. Shew! Wait...WHAT?!... Gotta go!

[boomer]

wait - there's WATER in Pittsburgh?

[Phonetek]

Wait... I have heard of Pittsburgh... that's the home of the Pirates! See... He DOES have a plank on his boat!! Boatman's A PIRATE!!! AHHHHHH!!!

[J Anderson]

Most entertaining thread since Michael a.k.a. Iceman returned to his home planet.

[boatman37]

Wait... I have heard of Pittsburgh... that's the home of the Pirates! See... He DOES have a plank on his boat!! Boatman's A PIRATE!!! AHHHHHH!!!

The Pirates couldn't even hit a baseball with a plank that size...lol

[Phonetek]

Most entertaining thread since Michael a.k.a. Iceman returned to his home planet.

This thread pretty much is a sample of how I normally act in real life. I've always kept myself a quite reserved and mild on here somehow. However, given what was going on I felt it necessary to break out of character. If this is what you like I'd be happy to crank the dial up to 11. It would certainly liven things up.

There is no rule that because we're discussing bowling we have to be so serious. It's not like we're trying to cure Covid. Now and again it's okay to poke fun at ourselves and each other or life in general. Bowling can be serious but something to also be enjoyed.

Guys like Kyle Troup get that. That's why in a serious match for a ton of money and title on the line he whips out his hair pick and makes faces at the camera or his opponent. It's supposed to be fun! If you walk around life so uptight that you couldn't get a greased BB up your rear all the time, you'll never enjoy anything.

Life is short enough, try to enjoy it and the people around you. You'll end up living longer and happier. Note: The above is not directed at any one person or people in particular, it is a very and general broad nonspecific statement. I certainly meant no offense to anyone.

I tried taking things seriously once, I didn't like it. Find a happy medium though, take it from me. Being too silly all the time has it's drawbacks too. For example; if your wife is giving birth and saying things like "Damn, this reminds me... I forgot to set the DVR to record Alien!" NOT RECOMMENDED!

I told my wife she'd laugh about it later. My son is 20 and she hasn't cracked a smile about it yet. All that got me is having to hold her hand while having my body AWAY from her when the next two were born. So use caution but please don't forget to have some fun people!

[boatman37]

Alot of times I post on here just thinking out loud thinking it might be a learning experience but also just to get some chatter going on here. I enjoy coming on here and reading anything, whether it relates to me or not. I know me and Rob have had disagreements but I do value his knowledge, just sometimes get frustrated with how he conveys it....lol. But it's all good. I'd even give him a ride in our boat if he ever ventured out this way and we'd probably have a blast.

But I was serious about the boat ride thing. Anyone on here ever in my area let me know. If possible we will go for a nice boat ride then go bowl a few after that. Our boat stays in the water from the end of May until the end of September so it's always ready. Not like I have to tow it to the river and get it ready. Drive to the marina, park the truck, walk to the boat, take the cover off, turn the blowers on (evacuates any fumes that might be in the engine bay) than after 5 minutes fire it up and go. Open invite to anyone on here.

[boatman37]

So last night I couldn't keep the ball on the left side of the head pin. Went down to my weakest ball and still no good. The only other options I had was my spare ball or my Rhino that is cracked across the bridge so my fingers aren't fitting very tight now. I moved right as far as I was comfortable with and any further I was probably better off just going across the nose from the left. The 'weakest' ball is my Hammer Black Widow Gold with P5000 on it. Thinking about picking up a Hammer Raw pearl for when they get that dry. Granted last night isn't the norm but this is the 3rd or 4th time this season they have been like this and I don't have many options. I know Rob doesn't like hearing this but I prefer to change balls than to make too big of a change in my lines. Just what works for me. We have a 2 hander on our team that averages about 215 and he had the same issues last night. He rolled 277 in game 1 but only like 205 the next 2 games cause he couldn't keep it on the right side of the head pin. He balled down as far as he could go then moved left as far as he could but then his accuracy suffered.
Last night I went in early and spent 2 games practicing spares. Might go in early next week and try 2 games standing very far right and see what happens. I did ball back up after I moved right and did ok as far as hitting the pocket but my accuracy wasn't as good. I'm sure practice will help with that but will see. PSO said he felt this would be a good one for me for those conditions.