I am at the bowling alley using their balls, and I can’t seem to get the ball to spin like the professions do on TV where the ball goes from the center to the edge near the gutter and back to the middle or even like the amateurs at the bowling alley who have their own balls. It seems like it naturally goes straight at an angle to the gutter then rotates straight back at the center of the alley. I don’t suppose they are all palming it with 2 fingers. It is because the holes of the fingers and thumb hole are futher apart that naturally makes the ball curve back?
Thanks in advance for the answers!
Yes virginia there is a difference , in fact a few . 1) when you purchase a ball the holes are custom drilled to fit your hand which makes for much superior handling! 2)price; B.A.-free
own-$150.00US+
Would’nt think so.Bowling balls are a defined shape and size.Meaning they are exactly the same.The only permissible difference is weight.You can vary the delivery by speed or trajectory or both
I’m a 20 year veteran of bowling. The coverstock and grip are the two main factors. Picking up the coverstock, most alley balls have a hard plastic/polyester finish to them which makes them difficult to hook on oil. I fyou want a ball to hook on oil, you’ll need something with a dull finish, like a urethane ball. You can also purchase reactive resin, proactive and particle balls as well.
Second is the grip with your hand. Most alley balls are drilled in a generic conventional grip with the bowlers fingers going into the second knuckle. The way you see the pros hooking the ball on TV, they have a fingertip grip, where the fingers are inserted to the first knuckle, in effect making it look like they are palming the ball. This allows for more lift on the ball.
The simple answer to this question is: Yes and No…
In tenpin bowling, the house balls are made from the same materials as personal bowling balls.
Tenpin bowling alleys typically stock either older, used personal bowling balls, or newer “plastic” balls available from a variety of suppliers. Plastic balls are used by Pro tenpin bowlers, but only for making spares, they typically do not use plastic balls for their first ball because plastic balls do not hook very much.
Additionally, the house balls have holes drilled in them that are not sized to exactly fit your hand. A ball which you purchase would indeed get drilled to fit your hand perfectly.
In candlepin, duckpin, and 5-pin bowling, the only difference between getting personal balls and using house balls would be the materials used to make the balls, and their weights. House balls are typically a rubber/plastic composition which are commonly used with Pro bowlers. House balls in the small ball games can vary in weight slightly from ball to ball. Otherwise, house balls from the “small-ball” games are identical to personal balls.
House balls are fine if you’re just bowling for fun. If you are planning on getting serious with your game, I would strongly recommend buying your own bowling ball(s) as in tenpin, the ball will be made for you, and in the “small ball” games, you’ll have a set of balls of identical weights and compositions.
Just to add to Andrew P’s answer.
Another factor that aids in the ball “hooking” is the “weight block” inside the ball. The “weight block” is located in the center of the ball and causes the weight of the ball to shift when it is turning.
For an explanation of “weight blocks” see this link:
http://www.bowlersadvantage.com/chooseball.htm
Well first off the bowling balls at the bowling allery are just plastic there not good for trying to hook. Also The bowling balls at the bowling allery are not fit to YOUR hand. You should probaly buy a bowling ball from a shop or store near by that you like and will hook then get some lessons by someone to teach you the right steps on how to hook it and everything.
Good Luck =]
Ok let me answer this question right.
Yes the balls at the bowling alley are different. They are made with a plastic coverstock and do not have a weight block in them.
There are four factors that determine the way that the ball hooks: coverstock, drilling of the ball, fingertip grips, and block style.
There are several different coverstocks that are: plastic, urethane, resin, reactive resin (same as proactive), and particle balls. Plastic balls don’t hook becasue they have a smooth outside. Urethane balls grab the lane and hook because the outside of the ball is sanded and has grip. Reactive resin and resin balls can be sanded to hook more but they hook because the ball heats up while spinning down the laneand when they hit the dry back area of the lane then the heat and block in the ball pushes the ball into another angle. Particle balls are the same as reactive resin balls, but the also have particles of glass or ceramic or other material in order to grip the lane, hook harder, and drive through the pocket.
Drilling the ball compared to the block in the ball can change the way and degree of angle the ball hooks. Ask your local pro shop for details.
Fingertip grips are there for two reasons, comfort and more grip on the ball in order to roll your fingers through the ball in order to hook it more.
Finally there is block style. There are many different block styles so talking about the would take forever. But to make it short, the newer the block style the more hook it has.
Unless you have your own bowling ball drilled to fit your hand, hooking coverstock/core bowling balls, intermediate skill, it may be difficult to emulate how the professional bowlers deliver the ball with just the polyester or urethane house bowling balls. They are not high performance bowling balls by any stretch, but I’ve seen bowlers that palm the bowling ball using only their fingers deliver it like the pros.
For me, I’ve had lots of experience in the sport and can even deliver a house ball in a way that I can strike with. You don’t have to deliver the ball like the pros because there is no such thing. Professional bowlers need to throw their strike balls either straight from the outside, the center of the lane and by using inside line targets. Walter Ray Williams and Tommy Jones are like night and day, but if they need to, they can both hook and/or throw a straight ball when the lane conditions dictate it.
I can make my polyester Elite Alien spare ball act like my Brunswick Fuze and PBA Inferno with a rainbow hook, but only when the lanes are totally bone dry. Just practice and experiment. That’s how you can fine tune your game and build your average up.