Bowling History
Bowling of one form or another has been around since 5000 BC and during the dark ages in Germany was a religious game where the pins represented the devil. (Little has changed as the pins still attract similar derogatory remarks and exclaimations to god are not unknown).
The game in its nine pin form was imported in to the USA by dutch settlers where it caught on. In fact it became a highly popular form of gambling. So popular that in 1841 the State Government in Connecticut banned 9 Pin Bowling. So the locals sidestepped the law and added a tenth pin to form the game that we have today.
After the second world war the American Machine and Foundry company unveiled it's automatic pin spotter (before that a pin spotter was a human who would stand at the end of the lane and replace the pins) and the popularity of 10 Pin Bowling took off and spread across the world.
See: Bowling History Bowling Styles Bowling Balls Other Games Bowling Lingo
Bowling Styles
There are four conventional styles of bowling
- Straight Bowling The style which most people start with and is fairly self explanitory.
- Hook Bowling With this style the ball will start off by going straight but will turn sharply before it reached the pins
- Backup Bowling Again the ball starts off straight but will turn as it nears the pins. The turn is gentler than in hook bowling and the direction of the turn is the opposite way around. That is for a right handed hook bowler the ball will turn to the left but for a backup bowler will turn to the right.
- Helicopter Bowling A style almost exclusive to South East Asia. The track of the ball is similar to hook bowling but the revolutions applied to the ball are different resulting in greater pin action.
Of course this begs the question why?. The answer to this lies in the mathamatics and physics of bowling.
With the layout of the pins the perfect angle into which the ball must hits the pins would mean that if bowled straight it would have to cross the gutter about 12 feet away from the pins. The snag is that the pins are 60 feet away from foul line so by bowling straight it is impossible to achive this perfect angle.
To help protect the wooden lanes from wearing they are coated with a thin coat of oil. However this oil is only layed on the first 40 feet of the lane and the other styles of bowling utilise this feature.
The key to these other styles is that when the ball is bowled spin is induced on the ball in a different direction to the direction of travel. As the ball travels down the lane the oil prevents the spin from effecting it, until it reaches the last dry 20 feet whereupon the ball will turn in the direction of the spin. This sudden change of direction means that achieving the perfect angle of entry is achievable.
Actually making the ball do this is a combination of technique and the type of ball in use. Although it is possible to induce turn in any ball some are significantly better at doing this.
See: Bowling History Bowling Styles Bowling Balls Other Games Bowling Lingo
Bowling Balls
At first glance the only difference between one bowling ball and another might be the colour and weight. Whilst this
was true once this is no longer the case with modern balls.
The first and major difference is the material used for the outside of the ball, known as the coverstock.
Basically three different materials are used namely Polyester, urathane and Resin Compound (known as Reactive Resin).
Polycarbonate balls are the type of balls used by most bowling alleys as their house balls. Polyester offer a cheap
hardwearing non-porous surface. They are not particularly good at 'turning' and are suitable for straight bowlers and as spare balls.
They tend to cost in the region of £40-£60 and most new bowlers would be advised to start with one of these.
Urathane balls were the next generation development of bowling balls. Although softer and more porous than polyester they
are significantly better at turning and they can have a polished or sanded finish which effects how the ball will react on the lanes. The price for
a urathane ball ranges from about £60.
Reactive Resin balls are the latest development of bowling balls which have just about surplanted urathane balls. The first thing that you will
notice about these balls is that they feel sticky or tacky. This is not a fault but how they are meant to feel. They are softer and more porous
than urathane balls. The advantage over urathane balls is not only do they turn better they also produce better pin action. However as with urathane
the performance of the ball is effected by the amount of oil that they have absorded so regular cleaning is paramount. Again as they are softer they
do require re-surfacing more frequently. The price of Resin balls ranges from about £80 to £200 and are the choice of most hook bowlers.
However a novice should not think that he or she needs to outlay this sort of money on their first ball as they are really wasted on straight bowlers
(despite what less scurpled Pro-Shop owners might say).
A question that many newcomers to league bowling will ask is whether they need to buy a ball. Strictly speaking the answer is
that they don't. But it is probably the best thing that a novice can but. The real difference between a house ball and one that
you buy for yourself is that your ball will be drill to match your hand in terms of finger size and span etc. Novices are often told
that owning your own ball is like taking a pound off it's weight and adding 10 to your average. You'll find that few experienced bowlers
would disagree with this. With your own ball not only will you have one that fits and is comfortable to bowl with you will also have one
that reacts the same each time you bowl. Using the best available houseball will never offer this.
See: Bowling History Bowling Styles Bowling Balls Other Games Bowling Lingo
