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

or I sometimes use this cleaner here

Brunswick Remove All Ball Cleaner

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

[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.