What is Ball Death?

Bowling ball death describes the loss of performance of a high performance bowling ball where it no longer reacts on the lanes as it did out of the box. You will see a noticeable loss in performance and ball reaction from your bowling ball when a bowling ball has died. This loss of performance is caused by the wearing down and degradation of the ball's coverstock.

Reactive resin bowling balls are designed to have microscopic peaks and valleys in the coverstock which gives the ball traction on the lanes when encountering oil. The deeper the valley in comparison to the height of the peak, the more potential traction.  This also adds more area for oil to be absorbed before altering the performance of the ball.  As oil absorbs into these valleys and the use over time breaks down the peak, microscopically speaking, you will begin to see a loss of performance.  

While it is true that all covers will wear down, not all balls are created the same. Some balls will wear down faster, losing performance at a quicker rate. You will also find that some covers are able to be cleaned and resurfaced and brought back to life, while others are not so easily renewed.

Prevent Ball Death

At MOTIV, we use only the highest quality resins in our cover systems. Our research has shown that higher quality materials do not break down or degrade at the same rate as a lower quality material. This helps to promote longevity of the cover and helps to prevent ball death.  

Bowlers constantly tell us that MOTIV bowling balls last longer than others before a noticeable loss in performance. And, when our balls do start to lose performance, extensive testing shows that a clean and resurface of our bowling balls will restore the performance back to like-new.

Putting MOTIV to the Test

In fact, we put this to the test in a video featuring the Venom Shock. 

In the video, we tested a brand new Venom Shock and compared it to a Venom Shock with 150+ games on it. We found that the used Venom Shock had a loss of reactive performance of about 7-10 boards in overall hook. We then took that used ball and cleaned and resurfaced it.

After throwing the newly resurfaced ball verses the brand new Venom Shock, we found the resurfaced ball was only approximately 2-3 boards weaker overall. Resurfacing the ball brought the Venom Shock back to life and helped restore tremendous amounts of performance!