When bowling sometimes your ball just seems to be dead, which mean that when your ball hits the pocket it hits weak and leaving pocket 7 pins 10 pins, and maybe even the 5 pin. When bowling on a house shot on your league the shot is always the same, so why is your ball not hooking like it was. Well when bowling on a house shot oil is put out on the lanes, more in the middle less on the outside. With the new balls coming out today they will soak up oil and dry the lane up after every shot you throw, unlike in the past with plastic ball they push the oil down the lane. After your ball is use more and more your ball will hook less cause the ball will become oil soak, (Which means your ball is full of oil) say your ball is made for heavy oil and is drilled to go along with a sharp break point. So if your ball is goes longer then is use to, or your ball doesn’t break sharply when going down the lane and is making an arch that mean your ball has soaked up a lot of oil.

            There are a few ways of fixing this problem and preventing this from happening to fast. First step is to go to your local proshop or go online and buy some ball cleaners like Kegel No-Sweat Hand Cleaner, Lane Master Pure Clean, PowerHouse Ball Cleaner, or the Lane #1 Secret Sauce. After using your own ball cleaner it will not get all the oil out of your ball but it will get enough oil out or the cover stock, but cleaners can’t get the oil the soaked deep into the cover stock. When the oil soaks deep into the cover stock cleaners or sanding won’t even help so you got to go one more step. The next step is the bake your bowling ball, when baking a bowling ball it involves placing the bowling ball in an oven on low heat, when the ball is in the oven it will oozes, and push the oil out on the surface of the ball, which when this happens you wipe the oil off the surface, till the oil stops oozing from the ball. This method might take a while but will not damage your ball, when you’re done baking your ball it should be back to normal.

            Some urethanes will bleed oil, and other won’t. You’ll need to experiment on your own to determine if any of your urethane bowling balls work well under this procedure. WARNING!! DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES BAKE A PLASTIC OR POLYESTER BOWLING BALL. Plastics can warp under relatively low heat and ruin your bowling ball…do NOT bake your plastic bowling ball! Plastic and polyester bowling balls do not regularly soak up any oil due to their hard composition anyway so baking, even if possible, will have no effect.

Procedure to bake a bowling ball:

I. Recommended materials:  Step one get a clean terry cloth towels (lots of them, at least half a dozen is recommended).

Step two is getting some rubbing alcohol or your favorite RR cleaning solution.

Step three is getting an oven thermometer.

Step four get a roll of tin foil or an aluminum pie pan.

The last step is an oven.

II. Procedure:

        1. Preheat the oven to 200F (warm setting)…use your thermometer to ensure the oven temp is no more than plus or minus 5 degrees from this temp.  Adjust accordingly.

        2. Once the oven has reached the proper temperature, use tin foil to form a “cup” to set the bowling ball on while it’s in the oven or use a pie pan to set the ball on.  This prevents the ball from rolling around in the oven and the hot metal rails from contacting the surface of the ball.       

        3. Place the ball in the pan or tin foil “cup” in the oven (making sure that the ball doesn’t contact the heating elements on the top of the stove), and close the door.  Wait about one minute and open the door.  Observe the ball and if the ball becomes “shiny” or gets a “wet” look, the oil is starting to bleed.

        4. Take a couple of dry towels and remove the ball from the oven and, working quickly, wipe the surface of the ball off with the alcohol or RR cleaning solution.  You must work quickly because the oil will quickly be absorbed back into the ball as the ball cools.

   5. Return the ball to the oven and repeat step 4 until the ball no longer bleeds oil.  Be warned that depending on the condition of the ball, you may have to repeat this procedure 7 or 8 times before all of the oil is removed.

               The other method and last is to washy your ball in the dish washer, the thing behind this is that it doesn’t take as much time as baking and when you place the ball in the washer put on the lower rack and when the hot water hits the ball it pushes the oil out and the water washes the oil off the ball. I have used this method many times and I have seen great results. But it’s up to you.

               The only way to slow down the affect of your ball soaking up to much oil is to wipe your ball off after every shot and this will slow down this affect.

How to get rid of the 10 pin or 7 pin. When your a high power player like me you don’t leave to many 10 or 7′s. When you leave a 10 pin there are a few ways to get rid of it, but there are 2 kinds of ten pins, a weak and a ringing. A weak ten pin is when the 6 pin goes around the ten and a weak is where the 6 pin laying in the gutter next the the ten pin.

 When you leave a weak ten pin your ball is hitting to weak or not driving, now you want to slow your ball speed down or change to a higher reactive ball, by doing this your ball will hit harder and drive through the pins.

 When leaving a ringing ten pin your ball is hitting too late in the pocket or your angle to the pocket is too great, so now you want to move your line (where your playing) so your ball hooks a little earlier or so your ball gets a lower angle to the pocket.

The 7 pin is caused by your ball hitting too light in the pocket or hitting really heavy in the pocket. when leaving the weak 7 you want to move so your ball so it will hit or roll harder into the pocket, but if you leave the solid 7 you should speed up your ball or move your line so you have some more oil.

For a lefty just do the opposite .

When the lane conditions become oily there are a few ways to handle it. You can move your feet and throw straight up the first arrow. If you still leave weak pins like the 5, 7,10,2-8, then this means your ball can’t handle the oil. What you do is go and sand your ball, sanding is where you make the surface of your ball more reactive to the lane. You can sand your ball yourself if you wanted to, all you need is some sand paper. The finer the paper the more your ball will hook. After sanding your ball will have more back end and a better reaction.