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 This is the way I still want to bowl even though it's now "outdated."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.