Russell, my experience is that the better bowlers who legitimately use higher end equipment understand requirements for maintenance. In one camp, you have those who spend the necessary time and keep their stuff going strong. In the other camp, they don't give two hoots and accept the situation for what it is. They throw a ball until they get tired of it, and then move onto the next. I rarely hear anyone moaning about 'ball death'. 


Mixed league bowlers (95%+ of the population) shouldn't be using the stuff that's dies due to lack of attention. On THS wet/dry conditions, a lower end pearl will be as effective as anything at the premium level. I have as much fun throwing my Ascent Pearl on walled conditions as anything else in my "ball whore sized" arsenal. It's $100 undrilled, and will last years for a 3-game a week bowler.


As far as keeping bowlers interested, that's where you come in as a proshop owner. First, recommend the right ball for the level of your customer. Again, the right ball for most people isn't going to die in 6 months, even when ignored. Second, when it comes to promoting the sport, you have more power than you think. The biggest league in my house is run/sponsored by the proshop. When newer bowlers come in, he markets his league and offers all kinds of prize fund goodies to keep folks interested. It generates more immediate business for him, and keeps new blood flowing into the future.


Hopefully you'll agree, and Charlest will find this "logical".   

Steven,

I think what you see may have more to do with some of the people you know and see in
your bowling places. The better (read: higher average) bowlers around my area recognize the need for ball maintenance no more than do the 170-190 average bowlers. If they clean their balls at all, they clean them just BEFORE league begins and at no other time.

People, like the readers and posters here on ballreviews and other bowling web sites are very different in their knowledge base, in my experience, from the average league bowler good or bad. No matter how I have encouraged most bowlers, I know, to at least clean their ball before putting them away after league, they continue to do what they want to do. Some nothing at all, ever.

While I agree with you about what people need, you and I (and Russell) know that has nothing to do with what they want. and 90% of the time people come into order a new ball, they have already made up their mind what they want or only want the strongest ball the pro shop/driller talks to them about. I used to hang out at my friend's (my drillers) place a lot and even when we both tried to get the guy to buy a Versa-Max or a Karma, he wanted a Nexus Solid. Heck, one time even Johnny Petraglia, who had his balls drilled by my friend, tried to convince a guy that the weaker ball was a better choice for him. He insisted on buying the Siege or the Virtual Gravity.

Some people will accept what you say; others live in the 1970s and insist on the biggest hooking ball made, no matter they need.

One of my teammates has been using a Virtual Gravity for 3 or 4 years. Sometime in Sept. or October, I insisted on resurfacing it and doing a partial oil extraction to try and rejuvenate it for him. It was hooking less and less and hitting weaker and weaker over the 3 years I have bowled with him. He used to swing but was going down the 5/6/7 board by early this season. He used to clean with Remove-all (basically Windex) until I threw it away on him and gave him a bottle of Remedy. After a resurface to the stock 500/4000 and my extraction (not a Revivor), it was hooking more and hitting a lot better.

He knew enough to clean it after every use, but not enough to know what was or wasn't a good cleaner.

Stephen I'm going to totally disagree....most higher end bowlers don't maintain their equipment.  These bowlers are not the ones keeping the game afloat anyways.  The real problem is the the masses, many of who need help getting the ball to hook in some houses.  Most high end bowlers don't pay much for their equipment anyways, as they are buddies with pro shop owners or operators.

The masses usually pay better attention to their equipment because they don't bowl as much.  Higher end bowlers bowl 15-20 games per week and don't feel like spending another couple of hours working on their balls on top of that.  The masses only bowl 3-6 games per week and once a month cleaning is no big deal.

If you don't hear people complaining about ball death you're not in the shop very much.  The people buying a ball and then seeing the reaction subside in 3 months come in wondering why.

I'm going out on a limb and saying you don't run a shop, and I don't mean that in a condescending way, just that cleaning balls doesn't always work.  I've noticed a few covers in particular that no matter how much they get cleaned they are dead in 100 games.  The XL base covers from Ebonite (Missions), the Critical Theory cover, the GB10.7 on the Cyclones....there are a few more.

Sorry Russell, I just don't see that attention the masses are paying to ball maintenance. I regularly practice and finish along side different mixed leagues. 99.9% pack up and go home at the end of league. I'm often approached like I'm a space alien when I'm cleaning as they're passing by. They have no clue, and don't really want it. BTW, their ball reaction is mostly determined by how effective they can bounce off the dry. Most lower end bowlers can't utilize the capabilities of a Virtual Gravity caliber ball, and it's a disservice to them to put one in their hands.


I don't run a proshop, but I probably stock and use more abrasives and cleaners in my workshop than most proshops carry. I have the full range of Sandpapers, Scothbrite pads, 3M Trizact, Abralon/Siaair pads, and NEAT pads. I also make full use of the liquid abrasives (Valentino, Neo-Tac, Motiv, Storm). Motiv Scuff also doubles as a very effective oil extraction compound. As far as cleaners, it ranges from Hook-It and C&D on the high end to the more standard cleaners (Valentino, Motiv and Neo-Tac) on the lower end.


Being a nut about cover maintenance and cleaning, I've almost never given up on a piece of equipment due to 'ball death". That includes the Black Widows and Missions everyone claims will last no more than 50 games. The only ball I had to give up on was the Lane#1 Solid Uranium (Brunswick cover). I had two, and both got to the point where they lost their ability to absorb oil -- really strange.   

Getting back to the point, none of this has anything to do with the health of bowling. Joe's issue is that he used to get new releases of equipment at sometimes better prices than proshops, and in many cases he can't anymore. That really pisses him off, so he starts these threads. We all need outlets.

As far as new bowlers my experience has been this.

20% to 30% will quit during or after their first season. Numerous reason cost is one but not wanting to be tied down one night a week for 30 to 36 weeks is the biggest reason.

In the proshop I worked at new bowlers generally started with a low end urethane/resin ball and a cheap pair of shoes so they didn't have to pay shoe rental.

If they stuck with it in a couple years they would get a ball that complemented their weakness. If they couldn't hook the ball they got a higher performance hooking ball. If they had trouble with spares and/or dry lanes then a ball that didn't hook as much.

Newer shoes didn't come until about 3 years and that is assuming they were wanting to get more competive and really starting to get into bowling.

There are always exceptions but that was the normal I saw.

Very few would sink $500 to $1000 into the game the first year or two.

99% of bowlers bowl on house shots. There are plenty of dry boards to work with. So what if I loose a couple boards of hook overtime.

If you are bowling on sport shots then I can see it more but on house shots virtually everyone could use balls a lot longer than they do and they would still be effective.

+1


That's why even though most higher end house bowlers do little maintenance, and for the masses the effort is almost non-exist, it really doesn't matter. By using the drier boards on most THS shots, a medium range pearl will more than do the job and last for years -- even if you ignore it.


To stay at the 230+ level on a THS with my medium revs,  I need every advantage I can grab. A big part of that is keeping fresh covers that give me a few extra boards of pop when I stay right inside the oil line.


Back to Joe's point: NO -- equipment is not too expensive, and for the viability of brick-and-mortar shops, bowlers shouldn't be able to buy new release balls at wholesale prices. For anyone moaning about costs, buy a spinner and the required supplies, and keep your stuff alive for years . You don't have to throw away a ball after 6 months. 

To add some input into purchases I made in the past:

1995 - 1996 balls I bought from pro-shop.

a. 2 Columbia 300 Cuda/C's - $210.00 (for each) that included drilling (at the time was around $30)

b. Columbia 300 Stingray/C - $190.00 gave me a $10 discount since I bought two Cuda's included drilling.

c. Columbia 300 Quake - $210.00 included drilling.

Now forward to 2011:

a. Columbia 300 Ransom - $200.00 included drilling. 

You guys have zero clue that think bowling ball prices are too high....name any other industry where margins are lower? You expect to be able to buy a product for literally the same price as the retailer and have it serviced (drilled) for little or no $$$s....if you want these prices, go invest in all the necessary tools, get a business license and a store front and wallah you can get ball at cost and drill em for free...the Internet has completely skewed pricing in this industry to say the least...obviously the small amount of you here feel because you patronize the sport you deserve something extra....it doesn't work that way. Try supporting a local pro shop guy and work with him but thinking you are over paying for the product is f%#king ridiculous.

Steven I'm so sorry....I read your post...twice...quoted it...and still somehow misread it to say that bowlers should be able to buy at wholesale....so sorry.  I edited that post to reflect the true nature

Since you brought it up:
You guys have zero clue that think bowling ball prices are too high....name any other industry where margins are lower?

How much does a manufacturer make when he compells the Pro Shop to sell a high performance ball for $150?

Joe...are you really trying to convince us that the ball companies could make a living selling high end balls for $60 wholesale...because that's about what it would be for $150 retail.  They are cutting back as it is, now you're asking them to cut back by another 40% and survive.

Use some common sense here....