I am shopping for a new spare ball. I want it to be straight as possible. Is this going to be a plastic/polyester or is there something even straighter/harder? I want it to be 15-16 pounds weight, I want it SOLID BLACK color. So far the only thing I have found is a "HIGH SKORE" ball in black polyester, 15# weight.
What about "rubber" balls? Are these any good for spare balls? Do rubbers hook more or less than plastic balls? Curious.
Thanks in advance,
jco

a rubber ball hooks less than plastic does. It would be a great spare ball if you could find one

there is a guy on ebay that specializes in these vintage repro rubber balls. these are new non drilled. I didnt even know they still made rubber balls..... the seller is bowling blowouts he currently has a listing.

I went ahead and bought one of those ebay 15# rubber balls. It was only $35 delivered so I guess I will give that a try. Seems to meet all my requirements. Thanks for the tips.

Some ball drillers will not drill a rubber ball. It wears down and clogs the drill bits and really smells

And many centers won't let you use rubber balls. It leaves rubber impact marks and sometimes long rubber streaks on the lanes. Worse is if you put the ball down before the line, it will leave those same rubber marks on the approach, which is a hazard to anyone who likes to slide.

I dont know about the drilling issues, but the part about leaving rubber marks on the approach makes no sense. Rubber balls were very popular and used for decades in all centers. If they were causing approach problems they wouldnt have been practical. The other thing that doesnt make sense is these are HARD rubber. In order for them to hook even less than plastic ( which I found further info on the web confirming that), the rubber would have to be a very hard rubber compound which doesnt sound to me like it would be leaving streak marks on lanes or approaches. Like I said, Im no expert on such matters, we shall see. It just doesnt make any logical sense that any ball harder than plastic, which is already very hard, is going to be shedding particles/leaving any visible marks in use. The other issue is the lane oiling. Even if they were soft enough to leave a skid mark on a dry lane, sliding on oil at release point would lessen that considerably wouldnt it?

Trust me, I have seen it in person on a number of occassions. I have had to listen to the mechanics complain when the front desk people allowed the balls to be used. I have also attempted to polish a couple of rubber balls in order to reduce the friction, only to completely blacken my towel in a matter of seconds. The rubber comes off fairly easy.

If I should ever see it happen again, I will get photos / video of it for you. But don't hold your breath, as we have a sign at the front desk and on each ball return that warns people not to use rubber balls.

They're really that bad? Bowlersparadise.com gives away a free rubber ball (14-16lbs) with every purchase. If you still want one, you might take a look at that.

Maybe these balls deteriorate with poor storage and or bad aging ? It doesnt seem right to me that they would be usbc approved if the cover was that soft. Also they wouldnt hook
less than plastic, they would hook more than plastic if the
material was so soft, no?