USBC and Storm Products have agreed on a national tournament exclusion rule and ball exchange program for six Storm Products manufactured ball models. The agreement comes after USBC identified the models having a percentage of balls produced below USBC minimum 73D hardness specification. Read more: https://bowl.com/News/NewsDetails.aspx?id=23622337509

USBC's investigation showed a percentage of these ball models measured below the USBC-required hardness level of the approval samples submitted by Storm. Storm collaborated with USBC after being notified of this testing.

The affected models include: Storm Phaze 4, Storm Electrify Solid, Storm Trend 2, 900 Global Altered Reality, 900 Global Wolverine, Roto Grip UFO Alert

Effective March 30, 2022, these balls models are prohibited from use in USBC national tournaments, including but not limited to, the USBC Masters, U.S. Open, USBC Open Championships, USBC Women's Championships, all PWBA Tour events, USBC Junior Gold and Youth Open Championships, USBC Intercollegiate Championships, USBC Team USA Trials, USBC Senior Masters and USBC Senior Queens.

These ball models remain USBC approved. Each USBC competition, whether tournament or league, has the option to adopt USBC's national tournament rule prohibiting use of these balls or to continue to allow their use.

USBC has shared this national tournament rule with Storm and has Storm's support. Storm will offer owners of the affected balls the option to exchange their balls for a new product. Information about the exchange program will be published later this week on StormBowling.com.

This is how you make things worse, not better… horrible press release by Storm:

The ball models mentioned in the official USBC Press Release remain USBC approved.

For those participating in the national events listed we will offer you an exchange. For those who are unaffected by the national tournament exclusion rule, you can continue to use these products in league and approved tournament play.

The models affected by the national tournament exclusion rule include:

– Storm Phaze 4
– Storm Electrify Solid
– Storm Trend 2
– 900 Global Altered Reality
– 900 Global Wolverine
– Roto Grip UFO Alert

Information about the exchange program will be published later this week on stormbowling.com.

Read the full release here: https://bowl.com/News/NewsDetails.aspx?id=23622337509

So You can use them, just not at USBCs?

Quote from: psycaz on March 30, 2022, 12:35:35 PM

This is how you make things worse, not better… horrible press release by Storm:

The ball models mentioned in the official USBC Press Release remain USBC approved.

For those participating in the national events listed we will offer you an exchange. For those who are unaffected by the national tournament exclusion rule, you can continue to use these products in league and approved tournament play.

The models affected by the national tournament exclusion rule include:

– Storm Phaze 4
– Storm Electrify Solid
– Storm Trend 2
– 900 Global Altered Reality
– 900 Global Wolverine
– Roto Grip UFO Alert

Information about the exchange program will be published later this week on stormbowling.com.

Read the full release here: https://bowl.com/News/NewsDetails.aspx?id=23622337509

So You can use them, just not at USBCs?

For now, as long as they’re not banned by whomever locally is running  what you’re bowling in.

Your league votes to ban, they’re banned. The locally run tourney bans, they’re banned.

Right.  They cannot be used at the following events:

Effective March 30, 2022, these balls models are prohibited from use in USBC national tournaments, including, but not limited to, the USBC Masters, U.S. Open, USBC Open Championships, USBC Women's Championships, all PWBA Tour events, USBC Junior Gold and Youth Open Championships, USBC Intercollegiate Championships, USBC Team USA Trials, USBC Senior Masters and USBC Senior Queens.

But they are still legal at other USBC leagues and USBC sanctioned non-national tournaments.  Nothing confusing about that at all

Right.  They cannot be used at the following events:

Effective March 30, 2022, these balls models are prohibited from use in USBC national tournaments, including, but not limited to, the USBC Masters, U.S. Open, USBC Open Championships, USBC Women's Championships, all PWBA Tour events, USBC Junior Gold and Youth Open Championships, USBC Intercollegiate Championships, USBC Team USA Trials, USBC Senior Masters and USBC Senior Queens.

But they are still legal at other USBC leagues and USBC sanctioned non-national tournaments.  Nothing confusing about that at all

What about qualifying tournaments for any of those National tournaments? Banned for Jr Gold qualifiers? Tournament director discretion?

Interesting and baffling at the same time

USBC ANNOUNCES RULE CHANGE FOR SIX BOWLING BALLS
MARCH 30, 2022 TOM CLARK
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With regards to the USBC decision to ban select bowling balls from different levels of its certified competition, there may be some confusion over what equipment is allowed in the PBA. The following is intended to clarify the situation relative to the PBA.

To review Tuesday’s United States Bowling Congress announcement, the USBC prohibited the following six previously-certified bowling balls from use in USBC national events (including this week’s USBC Masters), but they remain allowed in other USBC competition (including league play): Storm Phaze 4, Storm Electrify Solid, Storm Trend 2, 900 Global Altered Reality, 900 Global Wolverine and Roto Grip UFO Alert.

All six of those bowling balls remain allowed in all PBA competition through the remainder of the 2022 PBA season. The PBA has no data or indication that those USBC certified bowling balls would fail field tests. Again, the six aforementioned bowling balls are allowed in all PBA-conducted competition, including the upcoming PBA Playoffs, PBA Tour Finals, PBA50 National Tour and PBA Regional Tour events.

The timing of Tuesday’s USBC ruling, during the USBC Masters, prompted the PBA to grant its members complimentary drillings on the player services trailer for bowling balls replacing the newly prohibited equipment. While the USBC Masters is a PBA Tour major championship, the event is conducted by the USBC under USBC rules.

CUT AND PASTE FROM PBA WEBSITE:

MARCH 30, 2022 TOM CLARK
Facebook
Twitter
Email
With regards to the USBC decision to ban select bowling balls from different levels of its certified competition, there may be some confusion over what equipment is allowed in the PBA. The following is intended to clarify the situation relative to the PBA.

To review Tuesday’s United States Bowling Congress announcement, the USBC prohibited the following six previously-certified bowling balls from use in USBC national events (including this week’s USBC Masters), but they remain allowed in other USBC competition (including league play): Storm Phaze 4, Storm Electrify Solid, Storm Trend 2, 900 Global Altered Reality, 900 Global Wolverine and Roto Grip UFO Alert.

All six of those bowling balls remain allowed in all PBA competition through the remainder of the 2022 PBA season. The PBA has no data or indication that those USBC certified bowling balls would fail field tests. Again, the six aforementioned bowling balls are allowed in all PBA-conducted competition, including the upcoming PBA Playoffs, PBA Tour Finals, PBA50 National Tour and PBA Regional Tour events.

The timing of Tuesday’s USBC ruling, during the USBC Masters, prompted the PBA to grant its members complimentary drillings on the player services trailer for bowling balls replacing the newly prohibited equipment. While the USBC Masters is a PBA Tour major championship, the event is conducted by the USBC under USBC rules.

This one I can see being a slap in the face to Brunswick/EBI.

One bowler who used Storm equipment to win a tournament complains about hardness of an EBI product, and not only gets it banned from the PBA, but all urethane banned from the PBA from a rolling two years...

... Yet when the same happens to his balls from his company and subsequently get banned by the USBC for the same reason the EBI product gets banned, the PBA effectively looks the other way and allows them to continue to be used? If I were Brunswick, I'd be wanting a meeting with Clark, stat.

BL.

Quote from: Juggernaut on March 30, 2022, 10:54:46 AM

CUT AND PASTE FROM PBA WEBSITE:

MARCH 30, 2022 TOM CLARK
Facebook
Twitter
Email
With regards to the USBC decision to ban select bowling balls from different levels of its certified competition, there may be some confusion over what equipment is allowed in the PBA. The following is intended to clarify the situation relative to the PBA.

To review Tuesday’s United States Bowling Congress announcement, the USBC prohibited the following six previously-certified bowling balls from use in USBC national events (including this week’s USBC Masters), but they remain allowed in other USBC competition (including league play): Storm Phaze 4, Storm Electrify Solid, Storm Trend 2, 900 Global Altered Reality, 900 Global Wolverine and Roto Grip UFO Alert.

All six of those bowling balls remain allowed in all PBA competition through the remainder of the 2022 PBA season. The PBA has no data or indication that those USBC certified bowling balls would fail field tests. Again, the six aforementioned bowling balls are allowed in all PBA-conducted competition, including the upcoming PBA Playoffs, PBA Tour Finals, PBA50 National Tour and PBA Regional Tour events.

The timing of Tuesday’s USBC ruling, during the USBC Masters, prompted the PBA to grant its members complimentary drillings on the player services trailer for bowling balls replacing the newly prohibited equipment. While the USBC Masters is a PBA Tour major championship, the event is conducted by the USBC under USBC rules.

This one I can see being a slap in the face to Brunswick/EBI.

One bowler who used Storm equipment to win a tournament complains about hardness of an EBI product, and not only gets it banned from the PBA, but all urethane banned from the PBA from a rolling two years...

... Yet when the same happens to his balls from his company and subsequently get banned by the USBC for the same reason the EBI product gets banned, the PBA effectively looks the other way and allows them to continue to be used? If I were Brunswick, I'd be wanting a meeting with Clark, stat.

BL.

If I were Brunswick, I would thank my lucky stars that I only have 1 ball that I need to replace for people and not potentially 7.  Also, as the official lane maintenance company of the PBA as well, I would stay out of it and let Storm, the USBC, and the PBA just sort it all out amongst themselves.