Paul Maden

It’s been eight weeks since the ball return gouged three seperate chunks out of my bowling ball, and I still haven’t hade it drilled and filled yet.

Coincidentally the damage coincided with the start of a good run where I achieved my first two 200 games in two weeks. That good spell has now worn off, and it’s high time to fix my ball.

So what ball is it? Well, it’s a Roto Grip Mercury, by all accounts a decent beginners ball with a reactive surface. I’ve had it the best part of a year, and it’s served me well despite still being a straight bowler.

The first damage it suffered was six months ago most likely in the ball return mechanism where a 40 degree arc of 2″ diameter was gouged out. The explanation was some lagging had come loose and the alley offered to pay for the repair.

A month later I was bowling on the lesser-used lane 1 (next to end wall), when I noticed a shiny object at the far end of the lane, which turned out to be a 2″ wood screw dropped from the pin spotter. This left an interesting comb-like pattern on the ball but no ill effects.

The latest problem occured two months ago where an unknown foreign object (Grit? Freddy Krueger’s Nails?) took three parallel gouges out of the bal. The alley offered to pay for the damages, but no explanation as to the cause of the damage.

Problem is where to go. From Burnley the nearest bowling shops are Keighley Pro Shop (AMF Bowling, Keighley), Steve’s Pro Shop (Lakeside Superbowl, Preston) and Bowling World 2000 (AMF Bowling, Wigan), or to put it another way miiiiiles away.

I would be very interested to learn about home bowling ball repair kits, specifically how well does the plastic bond, and what are the best techniques for polishing and sanding afterwards.