Bottom line, Ric, is that "polish" is not a coating, but a way to modify the surface, a "finish". When you use a ball, that finish is changed, little by little OR a lot by a lot. A well kept, well oiled, clean synthetic lane will change a polished ball thrown by a low rev low speed bowler, MUCH, MUCH LESS than a dirty, dry old wood lane will change a polished ball by a high rev, high speed bowler. The old, dirty wood lane will "eat up" that ball much faster. In other words it will burn a track into it and scratch and scrape the surface so it looks a lot more worn that it should.
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"Just because you can do something does not mean you should do it."