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Encyclopedia > Bowling ball
A ten-pin bowling ball and two pins
A ten-pin bowling ball and two pins

A bowling ball is a round ball made from rubber, urethane, plastic, reactive resin (solid, particle, or pearl) or a combination of these materials which is used in the sport of bowling. Ten-pin bowling balls generally have a set of three holes drilled in them, one each for the ring and middle finger, and one for the thumb; however, rules allow for up to five finger holes. A five-pin bowling ball has no finger holes and is smaller so that the bowler can hold the ball in the palm of their hand. Candlepin bowling balls also fit in the hand, but are lighter than five-pin balls. U.S. Air Force photo from http://www. ... U.S. Air Force photo from http://www. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... Urethane (also called ethyl carbamate) 1. ... For other uses, see Plastic (disambiguation). ... A ten-pin bowling ball and two pins A bowling ball is a round ball made from rubber, urethane, plastic, reactive resin (solid, particle, or pearl) or a combination of these materials which is used in the sport of bowling. ... A bowler releases the ball. ... Tenpin is also the name of a chain of ten-pin bowling complexes in the United Kingdom. ... The ring finger is the fourth digit of the human hand, and the second most ulnar finger, located between the middle finger and the little finger. ... This article is about the vulgar gesture. ... For other uses, see Thumb (disambiguation). ... Five-pin bowling is a bowling variant which is only played in Canada, where many bowling alleys offer it, either alone or in combination with ten-pin bowling. ... Candlepin Bowling pins are specified as 15 3/4 inches (400 mm) in height, have identical ends, and are almost 3 inches (76 mm) in diameter at the center. ...


Most bowling alleys provide free balls for patrons to use, called house balls, although avid bowlers may purchase their own. These are often customized, and can feature specially sized finger holes (in the case of ten-pin balls) or monograms. Because purchased balls are usually drilled to match the owner's fingers, most can throw a customized bowling ball that is one to two pounds heavier than the house ball they previously used. Bowling is the common name for several sports that involve rolling a ball towards a target or to knock down pins. ... The Chi-Rho, a monogram of the first two letters in the Greek word for Christ E and L embroider for clothes and bedding, for a wife by the initials E L or L E A monogram is a motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or...


Bowling balls come in a wide variety of colors, and are often either a single flat color, a swirl-like design of multiple colors, or a single color with an iridescent look. It is even possible to obtain transparent bowling balls, painted in such a way as to make it appear as though an object is inside. Some objects have included skulls, footballs, and baseballs. The iridescence of the Blue Morpho butterfly wings. ... For other uses of Skull, see Skull (disambiguation). ... Look up Football in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article is about the sport. ...


Inside the ball is a core which makes each ball do something different. These cores are dynamically imbalanced to cause the ball to try to stabilize as it is rolling down the lane.[1] This makes the ball roll over a different point on the surface every time it revolves and "flares" or causes multiple oil rings.


Bowling ball cores are constructed with different densities as well. Some are center heavy (low rg) and some cores are made with the weight distributed more towards the cover of the ball (high rg). This matters because the low rg balls will spin more easily than the high rg balls.[2]

Contents

Ten-pin balls

Two reactive resin bowling balls. Both are the same model, but one is pearlized (right) and one is not (left).
Two reactive resin bowling balls. Both are the same model, but one is pearlized (right) and one is not (left).

Regulation ten-pin bowling balls must weigh no more than 16 pounds (7.2 kg) (governing bodies do not regulate how light a bowling ball may be) and have a diameter of 8.5 inches (21.6 cm). Since the physical size of regulation balls is the same, while the weight may differ, lighter balls are much less dense than heavier ones. Thus, balls under 10 pounds will actually float when placed in water. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... A ten-pin bowling ball and two pins A bowling ball is a round ball made from rubber, urethane, plastic, reactive resin (solid, particle, or pearl) or a combination of these materials which is used in the sport of bowling. ... Impact from a water drop causes an upward rebound jet surrounded by circular capillary waves. ...


The behavior of a rolling ball on a surface is controlled by several factors, the most obvious being the bowler's delivery. In the delivery, the bowler can advantageously use or fight (intentionally or unintentionally) the force of gravity. After the ball is on the surface of the lane, a complex interaction of friction, gyroscopic inertia and gravity becomes a factor that can range from subtle to perhaps amazing. These environmental influences can be segregated as either lane conditions or ball characteristics. Additionally, a bowling ball is not an absolutely uniform sphere—the gripping holes (and sometimes a balance hole) alone make that impossible. Gravity is a force of attraction that acts between bodies that have mass. ... A gyroscope For other uses, see Gyroscope (disambiguation). ... This article is about inertia as it applies to local motion. ... For other uses, see Sphere (disambiguation). ...


Bowling ball materials, during the history of the USBC, have evolved from wood, to rubber, to plastic, to urethane, to reactive urethane, to particle, and to epoxy. Wood balls are now just museum pieces. Rubber balls are almost as hard to find - you may still see them offered to casual bowlers at bowling centers, from their racks for those who don't own their own ball. Bowling balls have been constructed with a core made of one material, a spherical coverstock ("cover" or "shell") and a "pancake" weight block of denser material intended to compensate for the gripping holes. In chemistry, epoxy or polyepoxide is a thermosetting epoxide polymer that cures (polymerizes and crosslinks) when mixed with a catalyzing agent or hardener. Most common epoxy resins are produced from a reaction between epichlorohydrin and bisphenol-A. The first commercial attempts to prepare resins from epichlorohydrin occurred in 1927 in...

House balls laying on ball return.
House balls laying on ball return.

One of the most contentious issues that has arisen is whether significant restrictions should be imposed on bowling ball technology. Other considerations have been noted with regards to the weight of the bowling pins, lane oiling techniques, and with the construction materials and techniques used to build bowling lanes. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 533 pixelsFull resolution‎ (2,304 × 1,536 pixels, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 533 pixelsFull resolution‎ (2,304 × 1,536 pixels, file size: 1. ... For the Wikipedia policy regarding controversial issues in articles, see Wikipedia:Guidelines for controversial articles. ...


Finger holes and grips

The way the finger holes are arranged on the ball surface changes the core dynamics; this will change how the bowling ball hooks down the lane.[3]


There are only two different types of bowling grips for bowling balls: conventional, and finger tip, all other grips of any name i.e.: Sarge-Easter Grip and Semi finger tip are derivatives of these two. In a conventional grip, the bowler's ring and middle fingers are placed into the ball up to the second joint, while in a finger tip grip the ring and middle finger holes are made to accept the bowler's fingers only up to the first joint. Semi-finger has the bowler put their fingers in an unhappy medium between conventional and finger tip. A finger tip grip requires more strength, but it allows the bowler much more control in how the ball rotates after it is released. For the players with extremely high rates of revolution ("rev rates") and skill level, a Sarge-Easter Grip may be an option. This is when the middle finger is drilled to finger tip depth, while the ring is drilled to the conventional depth. It allows players with high revs to change their axis tilt and allow more forward roll as to keep the ball from over hooking.[4] This article is about rotation as a movement of a physical body. ...


The history of the bowling ball

Bowling can be traced back to approximately 5200 B.C., when the ancient Egyptians used stones for their balls.


The first bowling balls used in the United States were made of wood, especially oak. In about 1906 the first hard rubber balls were produced, and these remained the standard until the 1960s and 70s. These decades saw the emergence of plastic (polyester) balls.


In the early 1970s, people began experimenting with the hardness of the plastic balls, notably PBA member Don McCune. McCune at the time worked for Chuck Hamilton who invented the "soaker" - a plastic (usually polyester} ball he softened "in the garage" with chemical solvents. These and balls subsequently manufactured with the resulting softer cover came under USBC scrutiny because of the increased scoring. A ball hardness rule of 72 was established, based on durometer readings, which barred some of the softer balls. Durometer is one of several ways to indicate the hardness of a material, defined as the materials resistance to permanent indentation. ...


At some point in ball making and drilling the USBC introduced ball balance regulations to prevent people from taking advantage. It was possible to drill the grip at a location relative to the weight block so that it would achieve some effect, such as to help the bowler make it roll earlier or hook more.


In 1981 Ebonite began manufacturing the very first polyurethane cover stock bowling balls and sold the rights to AMF. Ebonite did not believe that bowlers would pay the $80.00 price this new technology would demand. That ball became the AMF Angle and this one coverstock change allowed the ball to get a better grip on the polyurethane finishes used on natural wood lane surfaces which changed the nature of the bowling game significantly. A polyurethane is any polymer consisting of a chain of organic units joined by urethane links. ...


Prior to about 1990, the USBC "static" ball balance regulations were adequate. The core was usually a uniform sphere centered inside the ball. Then competition among ball manufacturers motivated the production of balls designed to offer more than the "static balance" tricks. Materials and fabrication changes have since allowed the assembly of balls whose interior components have a much greater range of density, thereby offering a new ball choice that, in physics terms, involves the moment of inertia of a solid sphere. Eventually, "dynamic balance" regulations had to be adopted. Manufacturing (from Latin manu factura, making by hand) is the use of tools and labor to make things for use or sale. ... For other uses, see Density (disambiguation). ...

In order to continue this discussion, a systematic description of ball rotation must be introduced. For various formulaic purposes, physicists divide rotation into three components, assigning portions to x, y and z axes that are mutually perpendicular. For bowling, the x-axis can be assigned to a line that is parallel to the foul line, the y-axis to the line parallel to the boards, and the z-axis to the vertical. Forward-roll is rotation about the x-axis, side-roll is rotation about the y-axis and mid-roll (or spin) is rotation about the z-axis. The pure full-roller delivery is a combination of forward- and side-roll only. Semi-rollers include spin. Spinners may have very little side roll. In a very strict physics sense, a ball may be delivered with rotation, but usually not in a roll, because that would imply complete traction. The technique of the great majority of bowlers involves a delivery that starts the ball in a skid that evolves into a roll that hooks into the pins. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Traction usually refers to friction between a drive member and the surface it runs on, where friction is used to provide motion. ...


It has been known since before the 1960s that a "full-roller" type of delivery does not hook as well as "3/4 rollers" on oily lanes. On successive rotations, the "full roller" repeatedly contacts the lane on the same full circumferential circle, on which the oil accumulates, making it harder for the side-roll to find traction and create hooking action. The "full-roller" had been the dominant choice before the changes in lane coatings and oil. The "semi-roller" is now preferred (it may also be called "3/4 roller" or by other slang terms). With a 3/4-roller a bowler puts the ball into a rotation whose contact ring is smaller, and on successive rotations enlarges (subsequent examination of the ball often shows a flaring of the circles of oil). This is because at every spot along the circle friction reduces the rotation, and that includes the spin component, causing rotation on a continually larger circle. This has the effect of bringing relatively dry ball surface in contact with the lane, increasing traction for both forward-roll and side-roll. It probably goes without saying why bowlers often wipe oil off the ball.


Another effect of ball imbalance (either static or dynamic) is the ability to introduce gyroscopic effects on the rotation. The component of imbalance along the rotation axis provides a leverage that can change the orientation of the axis on its horizontal plane, an action physicists call precession. It is basically the same thing as a spinning toy top "going around in a circle." In the case of a rotating bowling ball, as it moves along the lane, there is only time for its total rotation axis to move along a short arc, but this is enough to reorient the total rotation so that some of the forward-roll becomes side-roll, increasing the side-roll provided in the bowler's delivery, thereby achieving more hook. It is possible to use dynamic ball balancing to achieve a stronger gyroscopic effect than static balancing alone.


The advent of dynamic ball balancing meant that bowlers could achieve "ball flare" without the need for a 3/4 roller delivery, and more hook. Additionally, balls with covers that create higher friction, such as "particle" balls, provide for more traction and hook. Bowlers are embracing these choices, buying balls whose characteristics complement or enhance their deliveries.


It is the opinion of many people in the bowling community that these advances in bowling ball technology have actually undermined bowling skill and have made it more difficult for lane maintenance personnel to lay out fair and credible conditions for participants. This is because advanced players using hi-tech balls "need" more oil to score high and might complain about the radical behavior of their balls on "dry" lanes. At the same time, less aggressive players might complain when they can't get their balls to hook. These complaints have actually been part of the game throughout USBC history. It's just been a matter of which group prevails within the USBC - or what new technology comes along next.


Manufacturers of ten-pin bowling balls

Ebonite International is a parent company that oversees the manufacture of bowling balls and bowling equipment. ... Hammer Bowling is a company that specializes in the creation of high-performance bowling balls. ... Track was a company involved in the manufacture and sales of bowling balls and ten-pin bowling related accessories. ... Ebonite International is a parent company that oversees the manufacture of bowling balls and bowling equipment. ... The Brunswick Corporation NYSE: BC, formerly known as the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, is a United States-based corporation that has been involved in manufacturing a wide variety of products since 1845. ... // InSite Bowling Products is a small private label bowling ball company that was started in 2004 by Mark Russo and Chuck Ludwig. ... American Machinery and Foundry or AMF was founded in 1900 and was once one of the largest recreational equipment companies in the United States. ...

Five-pin bowling balls

Five-pin bowling balls have no finger holes and are between 4.75 to 5 inches (12.1–12.7 cm) in diameter. They weigh between 3.25 and 3.625 pounds (1.47–1.64 kg). The smaller size and lighter weight of the balls allows bowlers to hold the ball in the palm of their hand when throwing.


Candlepin bowling balls

The maximum regulation candlepin ball weight is 2 pounds 7 ounces (1.105 kg), and with the regulated pin weight being only slightly heavier at 2 pounds 8 ounces (1.134 kg) the candlepin sport could be said to pose a greater challenge to the player—due to the almost non-existent difference of the weight between the ball and one candlepin—than any of the other forms of bowling that use ten pins in them.


References

  1. ^ http://www.bowlingball.com/info/core_coverstock_description.html
  2. ^ http://bowlersphere.com/bowling_strategy/bowling_ball_dynamics/
  3. ^ http://www.bowlingball.com/info/ball-dynamics-and-hook-potential.html
  4. ^ http://www.bowlingball.com/info/Article_Grip_Tip.html

  Results from FactBites:
 
Bowling ball having high density counterweight - Patent 5096193 (3278 words)
The bowling ball according to claim 1 in which the counterweight is disposed in the shell of the bowling ball at a position intermediate the finger grip hole locations so as to symmetrically compensate for the absence of material in the finger grip holes and thereby balance the bowling ball.
In accordance with these and other objects, a bowling ball is provided which is essentially balanced with respect to all axes of rotation and specifically, a bowling ball which is balanced by use of a concentrated nugget disposed intermediate the finger grip holes of the bowling ball.
Bowling balls frequently have finger grip holes which permit the bowler to grip the ball with the thumb and two fingers of one hand.
ACI Annual Student FRC Bowling Ball Competition (1325 words)
The bowling ball specimens judged acceptable by the FRC Competition Committee will be positioned at the top of a V-shaped ramp and propelled down the ramp by the force of gravity onto a flat surfaced lane.
Each ball shall be rolled in two orientations: one with the 25 mm hole positioned as an axis, and the other with the 25 mm hole positioned in-line with the ramp.
If a bowling ball fails to reach a deflection of 25 mm prior to reaching the test apparatus' capacity, the load test will be stopped and the loads associated with any remaining crosshead displacements will be recorded as the capacity of the test machine.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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