Best option to promote length

[NewToBowling]

Ok, new Haywire ball drilled pin up. For the short time I've had to bowl with it the ball still reads too early with its OOB 2000 grit sanded finish. The PSO mentioned many people have been polishing the ball.

Just wanted to see what people's opinion of either polishing the ball or sanding it up to 4000 grit.

Which one will last longer and which one will make the ball retain energy and not read the lane so soon or are they equal.

[larry mc]

do both

[dnhoffman]

1) Sanding and polish are not equal
2) The surface grit depends on what type of polish you use - they're all different and give a comparably different grit of finish. Plus, how you polish/burn it in, and how you sand leading up to that point can affect the final surface in various ways.
3) Last longer? Well, polished coverstocks will soak less oil, so if by last longer you mean which one will need to be re-done less, then polish. But it's still good to use a polish/cleaner every 10 games or so to touch it up.

I would recommend first sanding to 4000 to see if it gives you the length you want.

How you sand leading up to the polish can change how the ball reads the mid lane, or how it ultimately flips - if 4k sanded doesn't give you the length you want, I'd go 500/1000/2000 -> polish with something that finishes at least around 3500 (this will hopefully give you a laser surface scan equivalent somewhere around 4-5k).

Oh also - this can be completely different or wrong depending on what type of oil pattern is being laid out on your lanes, if you're looking at a stone street/long THS type of pattern then you can probably go straight to polish for better results IMO, but i'm also kind of stupid, so there's that...

[NewToBowling]

Yeah I bowl on THS shots only for now

[Blomer]

My Haywire is pin down and love it. A little extra oil on the lanes and cuts straight through it.

[LyalC52]

My Haywire is pin down and love it. A little extra oil on the lanes and cuts straight through it.

I did pin down too and CG kicked way out, worked great on a long flat sport shot

If I were to use one on a THS, i would go pin up and polish

[fokai73]

Not all polishes are created equal. Knowing which polish has grit and which polish have "slip" or no grit in them.

Finding the right ball surface to match, or achieve what you are looking for takes time. We can give you ideas, but ultimately its your style, your revs, speed, axis tilt, ect... And lane condition are big parts to finding the right match.

For example, I bowl with a guy who has the same reactive ball with similar layout. Well, close to it. He preps his ball with 1/2/4 k pads. I use 2k, 4K, 5k, and UFO polish. This polish is grit-less, and has a slip agent it it. Also, We both play the track.

I prefer UFO cause it gives me the length and also not the hard reaction off the spot - still makes the ball manageable (smooth and controllable) with the flying backends.

Good luck, once you find that match, it's lights out!!

[NewToBowling]

What is UFO?

[Amyers]

Try it at 4k first. I don't like polishing the ball unless I have to. If 4k doesn't work then try 1k or 2k with polish. Unlike some of the others here I don't like using polishes that have a slip agent in them. Seems pointless to me to have a high performance ball and then neuter it. I prefer Storm Reacta Shine or Power house factory polish. If these don't work it's the wrong ball for the conditions and save it for a night when the machine puts out a heavier pattern or your bowling in a tournament or something. Just because you can make a ball work on a specific condition doesn't always mean that it's the best choice.

[scottymoney]

This is a good example of why having an effective arsenal is worth it. The Haywire is built to read early and for heavier oil. Not knowing where you are playing I am going to assume you are playing around 10 at the arrows as most people are. So yes changing surface is fine, but just having another ball that has a different surface makes more sense. What happens that one night you need more surface?

The next thing to look at is where you are playing. On a normal THS there is a wall around the 10 board and then a mountain of oil in the middle. So by using that same ball I would suggest moving in and finding the oil you need which will then get the ball to go longer. This is just my suggestion as you didn't mention where you are playing. What I find a lot of the times is that people think they need their ball to do something else but really changing their lane play can create what they need also.