Bowling balls can be grouped into numerous categories. You have house balls at the alley vs. custom balls drilled to your hand. You have strike balls and spare balls. Balls with a coverstock of plastic or urethane or reactive resin. Balls with all sorts of distinctive cores.
Today we’re going to introduce you to yet another way to differentiate bowling balls: strong vs. weak. These categories certainly don’t mean a heavy vs. a light ball, nor do they refer exactly to the ball’s hook potential. But the distinction is important enough that it can make a big difference when you’re looking to add a new ball to your arsenal. So let’s dig into what it does mean.
The key to a stronger vs. a weaker bowling ball is to consider the ball’s path down the entire lane and where it exerts the majority of its hook motion. A strong ball will show most of its “strength” on the first part of the lane closer to the foul line (commonly known as the heads) where it will hook and react more instead of sliding. But its finish is less pronounced and you won’t get that big turn at the end right before hitting the pins.
In contrast, a weaker bowling ball demonstrates the opposite behavior. That is, it doesn’t grip as much on the heads so you won’t see much hook there, but it “saves its energy” for the last part of the lane, so it will turn a lot faster at the end compared to a stronger ball.
The “strong” vs. “weak” balls are the way they are due to the particular materials they use for their coverstock and core.
What Lane Conditions Are Better for Strong and Weak Balls?
Given what we’ve learned, strong and weak balls tend to perform better in particular lane conditions, so you’ll want to consider the typical environment you bowl in to determine which is a better fit.
More specifically, strong balls are best on oily lane conditions, while weak balls are better on dryer lanes.
You may not find the description of “strong” or “weak” in the description of the balls you find at your local pro shop or online, but as a general rule of thumb, weaker balls have shinier coverstocks and an asymmetrical core, while stronger ones have a duller coverstock and a symmetrical core.
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