The Death of a Bowling Ball...

[The German Shepherd]

I have to wonder about the comments amde in regard to bowling balls "dying out." I have been told by a couple of pro-shop owners that Brunswick and Hammer balls are notorious for dyingafter 80 to 100 games (and these are owners who sell all of these brands). One that I know bpwls in leagues and was once a touring pro. He has been throwing a Reign Supreme (Storm) for a couple of years and uses this as his regular "go to" ball. He claims that it has never died out nor become so soaked with oil that it stopped reacting.

What it comes down to is this - do reactive balls actually die out through some form of fatigue? Or are these balls dying out due to lack of proper maintenance (i.e. regular cleaning, regular ot water and Dawn soap cleaning sessions, etc.) and some resurfacing?

I know it is the nature of the reactive resin balls to absorb oil and is the oil in the cover stock the thing that makes balls "die out?" For example, I have read on this board that XXXX - ball dies out faster than yyyy - ball. What role does poor maintenance have in this???

Jay

[eugene02]

as far as i know, wiping the ball after every session of bowling is important. it enables your ball to "live" longer.. Hook better.. Time to time, do the Dawn and water cleaning session and the ball will be fine.. all balls die out.. just a matter of time.. from what i've heard is Vivid that dies pretty fast.. and also the frantic..

[got_a_300]

I religiously clean my bowling ball(s) after each and every league session
and after each and every practice session with ball cleaner and a microfiber
pad and have never had any issues with a ball dying out on me at least not
yet anyway. I have well over 200 games on several of my bowling balls and
they still hook just like they did out of the box this is what I use on them.

bowlingball.com Monster Tac Remove All Ball Cleaner (http://www.bowlingball.com/products/bowling-accessories/bowlingballcom/9879/Monster-Tac-Remove-All-Ball-Cleaner-4-oz.html)

or I sometimes use this cleaner here

Brunswick Remove All Ball Cleaner (http://www.bowlingball.com/products/bowling-accessories/Brunswick/3391/Remove-All-Ball-Cleaner-4-oz.html)

this is the cleaning pad I use I have several of them I just wash them out with
dawn soap let them dry and use them over and over again

bowlingball.com Monster Pad Microfiber Sponge (http://www.bowlingball.com/products/bowling-accessories/bowlingballcom/9287/Monster-Pad-Microfiber-Sponge-Yellow.html)

[billf]

You have to take it with a grain of salt when you hear such and such brand dies out after xxxx many games. Unless you know for an absolute fact that all the called for maintenance was done at the appropriate time you have to be skeptical. The general population has gotten very lazy over the years. This is now a "me, me, now, now" society that no longer expects to have to do preventative maintenance on ANY product. I hear that comment from bowlers all the time. I tell them how much to properly clean the ball and they pay me to do it for them. Some of these "bowlers" don't even wipe their ball off during play. All the bowlers I know of who actually do the maintenance do not have an issue with balls dying out.

[JaMau24]

Mike's Vivid never died... It was just never born! lol!

[Etrain]

Mike's Vivid never died... It was just never born! lol!
lmao

[TheSheibs]

Funny....my grandfather has a blue Hammer and has had that ball for longer than I've been alive. Its the only ball I have ever seen him bowl with. After 40+ years of bowling with it, I never heard him mention having to replace it because it "died out". I agree. Take this type of thing with a grain of salt.

[GeorgiaStroker]

Funny....my grandfather has a blue Hammer and has had that ball for longer than I've been alive. Its the only ball I have ever seen him bowl with. After 40+ years of bowling with it, I never heard him mention having to replace it because it "died out". I agree. Take this type of thing with a grain of salt.

The blue hammer was/is a urethane ball and not prone to dying out like resin balls, but I agree that cleaning the ball after use will go a long way toword making it last longer. I put my balls on the spinner as soon as I get home from bowling and of course I wipe the ball as I'm bowling.

[eugene02]

Well I do know people of not cleaning their ball DURING game.. But cleans their ball only AFTER the game.. which causes the oil to accumulate on the track of the ball making the ball unable to do it's job properly.. Don't know why they think this way also...

[TheSheibs]

I think people who don't wipe there ball as the game progresses just don't notice the oil on the ball during the game. Or, they just don't care. I usually wipe my ball before every shot and when I'm done for the day. I start wiping it after the first game only when I notice oil on it.

[LTNINGFan]

I am glad someone asked this, considering I picked up my new Track 300T yesterday and was wondering the same thing. I haven't tried it out yet, but will soon.

[striker12]

i always wipe my ball after every shot and i clena my ball after a 3 game series at the end of the day and i also clean my ball before lague starts cause my cleaning increases the hook of the ball and it seem to work for me and also helps get the oil off the ball much faster soo i dont have to spin is soo many times to get it all off

[eugene02]

I think people who don't wipe there ball as the game progresses just don't notice the oil on the ball during the game. Or, they just don't care. I usually wipe my ball before every shot and when I'm done for the day. I start wiping it after the first game only when I notice oil on it.

In my country, No matter where you bowl.. When your ball returns, Obvious markings of oil on the track is able to be seen.. so before any shot. i'll clean my ball to prevent any accumulation of oil.. for my friend, he don't care much i guess..

[billf]

I was taught to make wiping the ball before each shot part of my pre-shot routine. I have done it ever since. When I went to a bowling clinic a few months back to Gold coach asked how many wiped their ball every throw. 3 of us raised our hands. He then went into full detail about the importance of doing so not just for routine but for care of the cover stock. Said it was the biggest known cause for premature ball failure.

[martin]

i wipe my ball before every single shot.. no matter if i see the oil mark or not

[TheSheibs]

I was taught to make wiping the ball before each shot part of my pre-shot routine. I have done it ever since. When I went to a bowling clinic a few months back to Gold coach asked how many wiped their ball every throw. 3 of us raised our hands. He then went into full detail about the importance of doing so not just for routine but for care of the cover stock. Said it was the biggest known cause for premature ball failure.

I never knew the last part of your comment there. I guess I need to start paying more attention to this.

[dgz924s]

In regards to the OP mentioning Brunswick as a ball notorious for an early demise I must say this may not be so accurate. I took my partners Revolver home and after close to 8 hours of water bath therapy:) the ball came back to life. In fact he rolled a good 40 pins better right out of the gate. Now is that all a result of my heroic attempt to save a life, maybe, but more a change in his delivery. That said, in order to deliver a ball well you have to have a good reacting ball and getting the oil out sure played a part.

Moral of this story is too not give up on a rather pricy piece of equipment once it does not do what is expected but take all the steps to revive it first.

[eugene02]

revived my lane 1 maxxx curve too.. found out it's not hooking as much as it first did.. went home to soak it.. even after 7 times, still oil on the surface of the water.. but the ball works much better..

[martin]

i've yet to try soaking my Anaconda.. lol..

[The German Shepherd]

In regards to the OP mentioning Brunswick as a ball notorious for an early demise I must say this may not be so accurate. <snippage>

You know, that really is my point. I think that if a bowling ball "dies" PREMATURELY it is probably due to poor maintenance and/or neglect. Truth be told, there were a couple of reactive balls in the past that were notorious for early failure (like that ball with the spider on it - don't know what the make was), but I think that if we say that "this or that" ball is only good for X number of games, we may be "throwing the baby out with the bath water."

Jay

[TheSheibs]

How does putting your ball in water do anything? What is the reasoning behind doing that? I only ask because I have never heard of such a thing.

[billf]

How does putting your ball in water do anything? What is the reasoning behind doing that? I only ask because I have never heard of such a thing.

Reactive resin bowling balls have big pores compared the their ancestors. These pores soak up oil with every roll. Soaking in hot water with some Dawn dishwashing liquid helps remove the deep oil in the coverstock. Its' this deep oil that dulls polished balls and shines dull balls. There's a thread on here about all the how's and why's so this was just the quick version.

[TheSheibs]

Your quick explaination works for me. I think i'm going to do some research into this and learn more off of here rather than turn this into a topic that was already coverd. Thanks.