Hey everybody... I'm getting back into bowling after a LONG hiatus and I scored a nice-looking "vintage" undrilled plastic ball. It's a Brunswick Triple Crown, serial # KSU2412. I like it because it resembles the ball I used to own, and (according to the guy who sold it to me) it dates from around the time I stopped bowling. I'd be interested in knowing the specifics of this "model" if anyone's familiar with it. Brunswick's website doesn't go back that far.

I don't particularly know much about the exact ball but since it's plastic I wouldn't recommend it for a strike ball unless you throw straight. On the other hand it would work well as a spare ball if you choose to go that path. I actually saw one on ebay. It's very old. I'd just use it as a spare ball if you use it at all.

Spare ball? Heh heh. I know that's what most people use plastic for nowadays, but I'm still amused when I hear terms like "strike ball", "spare ball" and (especially) "arsenal." When I bowled on a league, just about everybody used only one ball--and it was usually a plastic ball. We relied entirely on skill (rather than equipment changes) for coping with different situations. This is the way I still want to bowl even though it's now "outdated."

I'm not implying that the modern approach is wrong, and I might be looking at reactive balls myself if I were going to bowl for money. But I'm just doing this for personal satisfaction, and I know my satisfaction will be greater if I know the "action" is coming from me and not being assisted by a high-tech ball design.

I am what you'd call a straight bowler, but one of the heroes of my day was someone who threw in a very different style. His name was Mark Roth. Watch some old videos of him for all the proof you'll need that it is possible to crank/hook with a plastic ball.

Bowling balls are not the only things that have changed since then. Synthetic lanes have much harder surfaces than wood. The amount of oil that was used for an entire house when you were bowling is now put on one lane.

In all but the most extreme cases, you will *not* be able to hook a plastic ball. Your hero Mark Roth? He uses reactive equipment now. He would not be able to hook plastic on todays lanes.

You may find a house that you could use plastic at. I can think of 1 where you would be able to score well, and maybe another 2 that, on the right day, you may be able to play up 13 or so and hook it 4 boards into the pocket. That is out of 10 houses, and the other ones would *require* a urethane or reactive ball to get a consistent hook shot.

All good points, but I throw with minimum hook, so plastic still works for me even on the over-oiled synthetic lanes on which I've been practicing these days.

As a bonus, I bowled at a house with old wood lanes the other day (and not a lot of oil) and I didn't have to make any big adjustments to my technique... In other words, I didn't suck any more or less than usual

The "grabbiest" ball I've tried so far is an old urethane. I liked it; it was a bit hookier in the back end than plastic, but not to an extent where I'd have to make any big changes.

Coming back to this after so many years, I'm essentially a newbie all over again. I just want to keep working on my accuracy for now. If and when I decide I want to compete with other people, then I might consider a more reactive ball.

Dave,

I tried googling your Brunswick Triple Crown bowling ball. No info on it. If it is anything like the Brunswick Crown Jewel bowling ball, hang onto it. The Crown Jewel, available in the 1960's, was ahead of its time. It was made of soft plastic and carried the pins better than the hard rubber balls in use at the time.

There is nothing wrong with your continuing to use plastic for now, at least until you get your legs back on your game. You might consider shopping around some of the pro shops for a used urethane ball or an entry level reactive resin ball as the next step up. Now would be a good time with the regular season over with and the entire summer to prep for next season come September.

Hey, fellow New Yorker! You're up around the capital district, right? I'm down in the mid-Hudson valley region.

Crown Jewel rings a bell; I remember seeing a few of those on house racks in the late '70s. That would jibe with what you said about them being '60s vintage.

There's very little information out there about the Triple Crown. All I've turned up is a print ad from 1975, and a message board post where it was claimed that the Triple Crown had a wood core and hit like a [censored]. On the other hand, someone on Usenet had high scores with his, so "your mileage may vary", as they used to say.

The guy who sold me my ball estimates that it's been sitting in his closet around 25 years. So the scant evidence I've found indicates a production timeframe of mid '70s through early '80s. Supposedly you can tell the production date from the serial number, but I haven't found a date code reference on the web. Perhaps I'll email Brunswick, just for the heck of it.

Speaking of old bowling balls, my girlfriend's father, hearing of my renewed interest in bowling, came to visit the other day and brought his old ball to give to me. It's an Ebonite Don Carter "Gyro Balanced." It's a 15# or 16#, plugged and drilled fingertip. He told me that he once bowled a 299 with it, when it was still drilled for conventional grip.

Dave,
Yes, I live just outside of Troy. I am a little familiar with the mid-Hudson area as it pertains to Poughkeepsie. I used to go down there because of my daughter - softball and ice hockey(boys).

The Don Carter Gyro Balanced ball is an oldie alright. I owned one at one time. It's probably out in the garage with some of my other really old timers.

I remember the Crown Jewel because of a college bowling tournament out in Buffalo back in the 1960's and the high scorer(another school) on our pair of lanes was using a blue Crown Jewel.

I've found that I can use plastic at most of the houses around me when I release the ball cleanly and with the right axis rotation. This includes a house that has a 38 foot pattern, with just a bit more than medium oil. I can run it up the 5 board with a nice arc starting around 30 feet.

ive seen a few of these come through the shop, and they are truly old. :P what i know about them is that they are polyester balls, and all of the ones ive seen thus far have been cork on the inside.

Cork? How much did these balls weigh?

CORK? Wow!!

Mine is 14 lbs.

I guess I'll find out for sure once I can get it drilled. (Pro Shop is on "summer hours" now).

ive seen them from 10 to 16 lbs.. yes, cork :P

The pro who drilled my ball called it "cork" as well. ("This must be about 30 years old", he declared. "I haven't drilled one of these since the late '70s!"). Now, when I hear the word "cork" I picture something like what you find stuck in the end of a wine bottle. But looking into the finger holes, what I see looks more like sawdust mixed with some kind of resin. I found Brunswick's 1959 patent on plastic-covered bowling balls and it appears that my guess was correct:
PDF of Brunswick patent

Here's a webpage that tells a little bit about the introduction of the Crown Jewel, Brunswick's first plastic ball. And lastly, here's a pic of my ball drilled and ready for action.

nice

Yeah, the pro was a little amused to see such an old ball come in for its first drilling. I believe he said it was the oldest undrilled ball he'd had come in to the shop. "You do realize this ball will only go straight, right?" he said to me. "That's all I want it to do," I replied
When he was finished with it, he said it was not unlike drilling concrete. (A slight exaggeration for effect? I dunno!).

I stopped bowling seriously not long after the ball was made, so it's like I'm picking up right where I left off. In 20 years or so I'll start looking at those newfangled reactive balls

Hey, Atomic, I was checking out your band. Good stuff! I'm a guitar player, too, although I've been mostly a couch warrior since my last band broke up ages ago. In the '80s and early '90s I was bashin' out punk rock all around the southern NYS and NYC area.

Memory Lane: Bill Lillard was one of my heroes. Lillard hooked the ball as much as any of the power bowlers of today. His fingers were drilled conventional but his thumb went in only to the first joint. He must have had a double jointed thumb as I have met a few persons who could bend their thumb back towards their wrist. Lillard was noted for his extra high kick by his trailing leg.

Marian Ladewig: I once saw a demo of her showing the value of spot bowling. An opaque screen was set up at the arrows so she couldn't see the pins and Marian proceeded to use the spots to make various spares. The last I checked, Marian is still living. She's in her 90's.

Andy Varipapa was more than a trick shot bowler. He won the All-Star twice while in his 50's and appeared on a bowling show while in his 70's and won the big money prize ($75,000) by rolling 7 strikes in a row. Andy was also one of the first to throw a semi-roller. The trick shot that Chris Barnes favors where he makes the 7-10 on adjoining alleys was part of Andy's trick shot repetoire.

Google reveals that Bill Lillard is still bowling at 80 years of age and carrying an overall average of 200.

As for Varipapa, I mentioned his name to my girlfriend's 75 year-old father and he lit up. Old bowlers still remember Andy with great fondness.

How did Varipapa do the S shot?

Norm Duke has a similar trick. Spins a spare ball slowly down the lane, then shoots regular ball around around the spinning ball, leaving a pin, usually on the left side, and his spinning ball comes along and picks that one up.

I can't see how he always leaves the last pin where the spinning ball is headed. That takes accuracy.

He probably just aims to come in light enough that he leaves a 2 pin, or some combination of the bucket pins.

I still want to know how Varipapa gets the ball to hook left and then right.

Also, I think an even more skilled shot than the one you mention is the one where he spins the spare ball down the lane at a 7-10, then throws another down to bank off of it, making the split.

with regards to Andy's ball hooking left and then right, I would guess that the hall is drilled with negative side weight - maybe beyond the legal limit of 1 oz.

Well, I went out at lunch and shot 5 practice games with my "new" ball. Holy [censored]... "Straight ball" is right. I was able to get a few strikes by lining up with the third arrow and praying. It's very unforgiving as a strike ball, it rolls exactly where you point it.

I also managed to put a couple of nice dents in the ball already I need to work on my release, big time.

I can't remember if you mentioned it or not but did you get it drilled finger tip or conventional? In either case if you are going to just throw it straight, try coming off of the corner on an angle to the pocket, this will give you a better angle to get pins moving around. If you want to hook it some, you can still bring if off the corner some with a slight arc. I have used my plastic ball many times running up the five board/first arrow to 30-35 feet or so and then it would start to arc into the pocket and on various lane conditions and pattern lengths with my normal release. I like the look I get with it and the way it reacts when I do everything right. I've also "dulled" my plastic ball some. I can also throw it completely straight at spares but with a different release.

Hey Calvin. It's a 14-pounder drilled conventional. I figured that's the best way to go since I'm essentially a beginner.

I did try coming from the right side of the lane to angle into the 1-3 pocket, but there's something wrong with my release that's putting a bit of a clockwise spin on the ball so I'd end up missing right. I have a lot of things to work on.

FWIW, the place where I'm practicing has synthetic lanes and they've been very dry lately. It's not a hardcore bowler's place and they might not be aware that it's common practice to oil the lanes more than once a month

Haha I know you're kidding but if they oiled the lanes only once a month that would be awful. I think oiling once a week would be awful! Haha

Dave it sounds like your hand is coming inside the ball at release and producing a small amount of a backup hook. This is common with females due to the structure of their arms, but I have seen a few males bowl like that as well, but trying to do it. Its something I've never been able to do, its hard enough for me to get my palm facing straight forward to throw a ball straight.

I'm not sure what you can actually do to fix the release. Assuming you are right handed maybe in your stance let the ball rest in your left hand with your right hand on the "outside" of the ball and try to keep it out there throughout the swing and all the way through the release.

As for the oiling and the center, sometimes you get some that don't use much even on fresh conditions. Some centers don't oil the lanes until an hour or two before the evening leagues, some oil in the morning only, and some do both. If you are bowling a center that does it later in the afternoon the lanes will be dry if you are bowling around midday.

Yeah, I think you're right. See, I line up my stance with my arm at my side, in line with my shoulder, in an attempt to keep my armswing free and straight. I want to throw straight with my hand under the ball and my fingers at 6 o'clock, but this is an uncomfortable position to assume in the stance with my arm at my side. So I'm starting out with my fingers at 4 or 5 o'clock (a more comfortable starting grip) and then subconsciously rotating clockwise during the forward swing--and voila, there's the unintended clockwise spin. (I'm a right hander).

I guess what I need to work on is getting my wrist in the correct position right at the start and keeping it that way through the whole swing and release. Deliberate rotation for hooks or spin can come later after I've got the straight ball down. Do you agree?

I do agree. Its better to learn how to be accurate and get the basic fundamentals of the game down before progressing on to more advanced techniques. If you have good accuracy, then when you move on to hooking the ball you just need to "find" the line that allows you to get to the pocket and then adjust off of it to score well. Too many bowlers, and people in general want instant gratification without the hard work that is needed.

As for your starting position, starting the fingers at 4 or 5 o'clock is a good position and keeping them there throughout the swing and release will keep the ball pretty straight, maybe a slight turn to the left with a little counterclockwise rotation. How do you position your index and pinkie fingers? The way they are positioned can effect the way and how much your hand turns.

If you have an old couch or chair you might practice tossing the ball into the chair while attempting to put right-to-left revs on the ball. If you don't have colored inserts put a piece of tape on your ball Track to see in which direction the ball is spinning.

As a last resort, you might consider purchasing one of the heavy duty wrist supports on the market. Many years ago my son was bowling in an after-school program. He was throwing a backup and I couldn't break him of it. I bought him a Cobra (ladies) with the metal index finger. No more backup.

Some of the things that contribute to a backup is not maintaining a straight wrist. If the wrist flexes during your backswing and your fingers rotate to 7 or 8 o'clock position at the top of your backswing and stays there, a backup ball could result. A straight wrist will either prevent the latter or will cause the fingers to rotate back to 5 or 4 o'clock at the release point. Also an armswing that is too far from your body will sometimes result in a backup ball - by keeping your armswing in tight to your body(little or no daylight between your armswing and body)will help prevent a backup ball.