What are Bowling Balls made of?

It is a fact that for a good ten pin bowling experience and expertise a good bowling ball is necessary. That is why the pros are very choosy while selecting the bowling ball. With time, the bowling ball has changed considerably, not in shape, but with respect to the material that is used in its manufacturing. With this page, we take a look and find out what today’s balling balls are made of.

If you look back in the bowling ball manufacturing history, you will find out that during the 60’s hard rubber balls were the only choice you could have. The 70’s saw the hard rubber balls changing material to polyester and during the 80’s urethanes took place of everything. The only change that took place in the bowling ball manufacturing was the introduction of reactive urethanes. These bowling balls were there to change the game. Now these kind of balls reacted well to different weather conditions giving more flexibility to the players. Also referred to as resin, the new reactive urethane coverstock was freely used in combination with innovative core designs, drastically changing the mood of the sport. These balls in their first season improved the number of perfect games by nearly 20% and are seen as major success in bowling.

Present practice of manufacturing bowling balls is by using combination cores that are made by enclosing a core of one shape and density within a second core of another shape and density. In this process the main core may be enhanced by adding a collar or weight block to the core or by embedding small counter-weights separately in the interior of the ball. With the reactive urethane, bowling balls are more suitable to different weather conditions and thus help players to get the perfect games.