Buying a Bowling Ball

written by: Cory Q

Advice is a strange thing. You see, once people know they can ask you for advice on odd topics, they do, repeatedly. That is all good and fine. Most of those questions are asking where one would go to procure a product or service that is not common. For example, I am routinely asked where to find ribbons for typewriters. Good thing I know the two places in the Twin Cities that you can find such a thing (Spectrum Business Systems in St Paul and Acme Typewriter in Brooklyn Park, see I know both sides of the river). Anyhow, this article is a detailed explanation of one of these strange nuggets of Knowing Where. I’ll shall now share with you, gentle reader, the process of getting your very own bowling ball.

First off, you have to want a bowling ball. This was not an issue for me. I have wanted my own bowling ball for a couple years. Why? Because I like to fancy myself as an athlete, but only at lame sports. Besides, how cool is it to walk into a birthday party or company event held at a bowling alley with your own ball? I can tell you it is very cool, especially if you like to impress people with needless shows of obscurity. You will also gain the competitive advantage of demoralizing your competition from the outset as well.

Second, you will have to find a pro shop that not only sells bowling balls, but drills them to fit your hand. This second step turned out to be a little harder than I expected. Most bowling alleys don't have a pro shop as far as I can tell. Beyond that, some of the alleys that have the pro shop have really bizarre hours. One place I found, not far from Fortress Q only listed the cell phone number of the guy who ran the pro shop and nothing else. This is the part of the article where I point out that if you have a web site, put some damn information of worth on it, like hours of operations! Anyway, after poking around and making a few phone calls, I found Midway Pro Bowl off of Snelling Ave in St. Paul. SAH and I headed down there to get this adventure underway!

SAH got himself involved in this project. He offered to buy me a bowling ball for my birthday. Not only is that very generous, but also a bit confusing as he is the one who gets hauled out to bowling with me. Mrs Q often bows out gracefully leaving SAH to deal with my strange interest in bowling. So, either he actually likes spending time with me as a friend or secretly enjoys how bad I am at bowling. No matter, it is still a great present.

The third step is a whole bunch of steps together, but I will summarize this step as Buy the Ball and Accessories. See, buying a bowling ball is like buying any other piece of sports equipment: You can do anything from getting the basic entry level up to spending a fortune on the high end stuff. It all depends on what you want. There is an entire culture and terminology to learn when you get involved in a sport at more than just a casual level (and let's just admit going through the work to get your own ball is more than casual involvement). Luckily I had done some research and knew I wanted an entry level ball. That means a non-plastic coated ball. The ball you would sling at an average alley if you don't have your own has a cover stock (that is the outer layer of the ball) made of plastic. The cover stock of the ball effects how the ball interacts with the lane and if you want a ball to hook, you shouldn't get plastic. That was all I knew. Turns out there are a number of things to consider about the ball other than if it looks cool.
-The cover stock material which determines how the ball interacts with the lane (hooks or not).
-The core, which is a weight block in the middle of the ball that provides a mass to continue the momentum of the ball when it hits the pins.
-The type of grip you want to use, traditional (fingers all the way in the ball) or finger tip (just like it sounds).
-The weight of the ball. When the holes are drilled specifically for you, you can handle a heavier ball for the same effort.
Luckily there was a guy at the pro shop who was able to not only help with the terminology and choices, but was also able to show me how, after the ball was drilled, how to get a hook on the ball, and so forth.

The process took nearly two and a half hours. Once we established which entry level ball I thought looked cool, there was the figuring out the spacing of the finger holes, figuring out finger hole size, figuring out the depth of the holes, figuring out the angle of the finger holes, tweaking the grips (plastic inserts in the finger holes to further adjust the fit) once they have been put in the ball, and tweaking the thumb slug (which is the grip for your thumb). SAH likens the process to being fit for glasses.

The first ball I threw was a strike, and I developed a hook by the fourth frame! Of course, then I started to over think it and plunked the ball in the gutter, but it was still fun and I regained my form when I cleared my mind. I learned a couple important details on form worth sharing. Try for the same approach to the lane every time. Swing through like you are swinging a suitcase so your hand stays on the side of the ball. Don't grab the ball but instead let it rest on your thumb. Now you can see why it was easy to over think the approach.

The total cost, because of a special deal the pro shop was having came to $160 give or take, which included the ball, shoes, a bag, and the drilling and engraving. Breaking the items down individually looks roughly like this:
Brunswick Power Groove Reactive ball = $75.
Shoes = $38.
Bag = $70.
Engraving = $15.
Drilling = $50.
Finger grips and thumb slug = $25 (I think).

In summation, buying your own bowling ball is a painless but involved process that takes about two and a half hours, requires the help of a professional, and will cost you not only for the ball but also for the custom drilling of the finger holes and if you are looking for an entry level ball will cost you about $120.

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