Last night I was able to take one of my daughters out to practice. She is on the High School Team, the season is over and I thought she should focus on release. She is throwing a 14lb Wrath. The bowl is drilled to go early.

Well after several warm-up frames, she gets to throwing the ball. (She is bowling on a Fresh House Shot). I am seeing some revs on her ball but it is not reacting. So I try an experiment. I have a green scotch-brite pad with me. I scuff the ball real quick. BAM! The ball starts hooking.

After about 1/2 a game, same thing happens again. The ball doesn't make its turn. Scuff it again. BAM AGAIN! Ball is making a good turn to the pocket.

So this goes on for 3 games.

The ball was dull to begin with. Probably around 3000 Grit. I just never seen such a dramatic change, just from lightly scuffing a ball immediately.

Has anyone experienced something like this?

Next time we bowl, I was thinking of asking the pro shop to sand it to 800 grit. I think the ball's reaction will last longer if the surface done from a spinner.

Some other input: The ball was rarely used - probably no more than 15 games. It was her grandfather's ball, and he didn't like it.   

Good points.

The 3000 was done about 3 months ago (13 weeks).

I found the receipt, we did 500 to 1000 then to 3000 (That was my request).

She hasn't bowled for something like 6 weeks.  In that first 7 weeks she was bowling probably 3 nights a week. Roughly about 3 games a night (light estimate). So at least 70 games on it. WOW! That added up fast!

I did clean the ball routinely after she was done each night.

It might be time to give it a bath and I will try the 500 - 3000 resurface.

Thanks.

There are two kinds of friction at work with resin balls.  One is physical that results from the abrasiveness of the shell.  The other is chemical that comes from the resin additive.  Scuffing the shell will increase the friction on the oil, but as you have found out, it is short lived.  Even a fairly aggressive scuff will still only last a few games, especially if the shell is oil soaked as is probably the case.  It is the resin that really gives the ball pop coming off the end of the oil.  My guess is the Wrath is both oil soaked and the resin is depleted over time.  Both of these situations minimize hook, and scuffing is a fleeting remedy.