Several people have mentioned plugging and changing the layout of a ball to get a different ball reaction, I have several problems with this:

1. The manufacturer (assuming the ball was layed out right to start with) sends a drilling sheet with each ball that covers an undrilled ball. Once you drill the ball you are removing material from the core and are changing the core, once you plug it with less dense material the core is still not back where it was before you first drilled it, it is now missing mass from the denser parts of the core and it also now has horns that protrude all the way to the surface which alters the rg and shape of the core.

2. Now that your ball is plugged you now have no idea of what drill pattern will give you what type of ball reaction.

3. You go ahead and drill it up stacked leverage thinking it will now hook more. You throw it and it gets to the break point and fades off into the pocket and leaves weak hit after weak hit.
You then hate the ball and toss it. Your driller recommends this drilling on a new ball and you tell him how much you (wrongfully) hate this pattern.

4. Different senario you drill the ball stacked leverage and now the ball does just exactly what you wanted, goes about 3ft longer and hooks a ton on the back end. Your ball driller tells you about a new ball that you might be interested in, you think that would fit in well and tell him to drill it up stacked leverage sinse it worked so well on the plugged ball. On the new ball however the new ball rolls very early and is arcy on the back end and is not the long and strong reaction you got out of the other ball and you are left scratching your head wondering why this ball doesn't react the same even though they are simillar balls. The reason is that the block is only meant to be drilled one time.

I can go on and on, if you want to experiment with drilling patterns, buy two or three of the same ball and drill them differently, then you will know how these patterns react for you.

If your ball is not hooking any more you can try several things:

1. Resurface the coverstock

2. Have the oil removed from the coverstock

3. try putting a weight hole in a strong location.

4. If none of the above work out, you are due for a new ball, save your allowence, sorry bowling balls don't last forever.

CoachJim, you just added reasons for me not to like plugged balls. the only time I've had it done was to change/fix a span or pitch since for the most part most of the plugging material is being drilled back out. I've never liked the thought of plugging the ball to change the layout, but never could think of why. I've came across some nice used balls on ebay that were cheap, but plugged and just kept going because they were plugged. I'm also not big on getting a ball already used by someone else which normally means getting it plugged and something moved.

I think that what CoachJim said can also be applied to new balls as well though. You can take 2 of the same ball and they will not be exact. If you drilled them with the same layout for the same person, you may take more out of the core with one drilling with one of the holes than you do on the other ball. This will change the RG and thus the reaction.

Also, if you take two different people with different spans, you're going to remove varying amounts of the weight block based on that. That will also modify the RG and thus the reaction.

Then look at balls with different weight blocks. You can have the same layout on two different balls that cause drastically different amounts of the block to be removed because of how the weight block is designed and positioned.

And beyond plugging, drilling into the block at random positions based on span, pitches and layout does all kinds of things that the ball companies can't account for. When you hit the weight block, you've essentially created an asymmetrical ball.

Great Info CoachJim. That explains it - i had a Storm T-Road someone gave to me but his span and mine didnt match so i gotta plugged and Pro Shop recommended a iddferent drill pattern so i went with it. I hated the ball so i gave it away.

I have a 27 year old ball that belonged to my dad, he only used it for a season. I am getting it plugged and redrilled insteadof buying a new one because:
A: I am just starting to bowl so I have no idea what layout I would want anyway.
B: Cheaper until I decide whether to stick with it or not.

I have a 27 year old ball that belonged to my dad, he only used it for a season. I am getting it plugged and redrilled insteadof buying a new one because:
A: I am just starting to bowl so I have no idea what layout I would want anyway.
B: Cheaper until I decide whether to stick with it or not.

Its true that you are replacing material with slightly different material and changing the core. More so depending on how it was drilled to begin with. But if you are going to toss the ball anyway, its a last resort to plug and redrill. Many people get used balls and most times this is a very economical way to get back into the sport. But you always have to keep in mind that you bought a used ball. If its only a matter of moving the fingers or thumb then you are not doing too much altering.

Erin

Plugging and redrilling a ball, IMHO, is a great and inexpensive way of experimenting with new grips and spans. Plus, if it's just a spare ball, well, who cares, then.

If, though, you're planning on using it for a a strike ball, unless you're new or getting back into the sport after some time, well, then I don't think it's a great idea. CoachJim's point is well-made and I agree with it.

It is perfectly fine to plug and redrill a ball so it will fit your hand and you should get the same reaction if you drill it back in the origional pattern.

The problem I have is when people plug the ball, then redrill it on the other side of the ball, flipping the block and then expect some other type of reaction then bash the ball, the ball company and the driller when they don't get what they expected.

Yeah, I would watch out for the flip from left hand to right hand drilling. It would seem like you'd get a "fresh" Track if you do this, but generally there are too many dynamics thrown off by the plugging all the holes and maybe a weight hole, to get a great reaction once drilled for the opposite hand. And it depends on who it was drilled for to begin with. If that person had a small hand, then the core was probably not disturbed. However, if you have a large person with a large hand, weight hole that hits the core, then there's been too much disturbance of the core to plug and flip it to the opposite hand.

So buying used balls has some pit falls. Sometimes the savings isn't worth it when you can get into great equipment for under $200 out the door. But if that price is still too much, then try to find a used ball that is from a ball hound like me with very few games on it and hopefully is the right hand so you only have to plug the thumb.

Erin

I'm finding this subject very interesting being a senior citizen and who is just getting back to bowling and not real boned up on all the new weighted ball technology. When I was a youngster growing up in new England the only type of bowling was candle pin and the way you were successful was consistently repeating the basics of bowling, starting with approach etc. When I got out of the service I noticed that ten pin bowling had arrived in N.E. and I got hooked. I did very well with a 196 average with the old unweighted rubber balls and trying to find a high board that would take the ball into the pocket, I earned a lot of free bowling by teaching the kids how to bowl on weekends, After I got married I found little time to bowl so lost interest until retirement. I now bowl in a handicap league with a bunch of other old duffers and fully enjoy it while using a 25-30 year old ball thats no longer suited to synthetic lanes so I was told so I looked for a used more up to date ball and bought and redrilled a Storm X Factor. As per my username I am a full roller and the ball was drilled with a full roller pattern and now finally to the point. The semi roller patterns seem to be usually drilled with the pin at the 1 o'clock to 2:30 position with varying distance from the Center position.bMine was plugged and redrilled with the pin in the 7:30 o'clock position which left the new thumb hole in between the finger holes in the old drilling. I have never thrown a big hook and the hook I throw now may cross 3-4 boards at the most. I still find that the ball has no eyes of its own and that the same consistent behavior on my part is necessary to have decent scores. We all have to tweak our adjustments to each lane for each game and on any given day. Many of us who are just recreation bowlers use redrilled balls because its cheaper and we are in it just for one day of the week fun. We just don't have that same competitive spirit we had 25-30 years ago and used stuff just seems to do the trick for us. I would love to have a 196 average now but in reality?????????????????? Lets roll

I'm not sure what your point is, but the point of the post was to discourage people from plugging a ball and changing the drill pattern to "make it hook more" or trading or buying a used ball that has been drilled radically different than how they want it drilled . I would suggest you not redrill a used ball unless it has been drilled previously with a pattern that you liked enough to drill back over.

When they plug and redrill a ball to change the span, do they plug and redrill both finger and thumb holes or either one? Or does it depend how big the change is?

Usually just the thumb hole, unless you are changing pitches in the fingers, or something like that.

Agreed CG, you can keep the drilling pattern the same and shift the thumb location. Now that being said, it does nothing for the pitch of the fingers. So if you want an ideal fit, you'd have the fingers fit too.

Do most people opt for the fingers and thumb plugged? No Most customers that buy used equipment do so to save money and they try to save as much money on the plugging/drilling too. But everyone has a budget and its going to always be better then a house ball to have a used ball with only the thumb fit. Most people that buy used equipment either move up to new equipment and get totally fit up, or remain a fairly infrequent bowler (maybe one league in the winter).

Erin

When I had my equipment re-drilled to close up the span, my driller just re-slugged the thumb since we moved the pitch forward some and plugged and re-drilled the fingers. Most of them was about half an inch closer to the thumb. I might not being going back to him to do the drilling this time, but its more because he works out of his basement and sometimes it can be hard to get a hold of him.