The USBC set August 1, 2020 as the deadline for bowlers to make the adjustment, and as that deadline was approaching earlier this year, the USBC never stated that it intended to change that deadline, even despite bowling industry closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Bowling`s national governing body said there had already been enough time for bowlers to make the necessary adjustments to their bowling ball arsenals. Here`s a look at what you need to know about the new USBC bowling ball rules. If you would like to learn more about these changes to bowling ball rules and how it could potentially affect you and your arsenal of bowling balls, if you participate in USBC certified competitions, we encourage you to contact Sparetimes or visit our bowling alley in Hampton, VA. We are happy to help you avoid accidentally using an illegal bowling ball in a USBC certified competition! “I don`t think it affects the traditional bowler as much as both,” Rash said. “People with both hands use weight holes or balance holes to pick up the ball earlier. Their speed is higher, their ball changes direction much more than a traditional player and I think that will change the philosophy of how they arrange their equipment. Bowlers who do not use their thumb can no longer have a thumb hole, because it is now considered a balance hole. They also have to mark their ball to show where they place their palm during delivery. With so much notice, the USBC decided not to extend the deadline, even though the coronavirus pandemic has closed many bowling centers and professional shops.
For bowlers, this means that if you have used a bowling ball with a balance hole (usually drilled on the side and different from a hole intended to grab the ball), this means that you should not reuse this ball unless you have plugged the hole. You can do this at your local bowling shop. You`ll be aware of the changes to the USBC ball policy, so just ask them to plug the hole to make it legal for competition. This process is quite simple, but you may need to leave the ball in the store overnight to allow the cap to dry. What exactly does this mean for bowlers? This means that if you have a bowling ball with a balance hole (usually pierced on the side and not used to grip the ball), you won`t be able to use it until that hole is plugged. “I don`t think it`s going to be a big problem with us,” Johnson said. “The side of that where I see it playing a bigger role is the guys who play at home in the bowl league and the guys who bowl with amateur events here and there. A lot of guys use weight holes to make bowling balls blaze and hang. I think it has more impact on them than on us. As of August 1, any bowling ball with a compensation hole or weight hole will no longer be allowed to be used in USBC-certified competitions. This change was announced more than two years ago, on April 24, 2018.
I just don`t think that a conventional balance hole increasing the torch (such as a P3 or P4 hole, to use the terminology of the popular gradient5 line balance hole system) produces a significant increase in hook in an already highly exposed bowling ball. It`s actually pretty easy to test and demonstrate. Braunschweig did this more than 10 years ago6. Storm published a review that showed it just a few weeks ago7. And I`ve done this kind of testing myself – several times – both in the real world and in the world of physics-based ball movement simulations. The result is always the same: adding a traditional balance hole increasing the torch to an already flared bowling ball does not make them many more hooks, all other things being equal. The essence of these rule changes is that there is essentially a two-year “phased in” period that gives bowlers time to adjust to the new rules. If you wish, you can now start drilling balls that comply with the new rules (no balance holes, but with more flexible static imbalance limits). Or you can continue to drill balls that conform to the old rules for now (with compensation holes, but with the old stricter static imbalance limits). In addition, bowlers now have the opportunity to plug their balance holes in anticipation of the ban on balance holes on August 1, 2020. You certainly don`t have to do it right away — you have almost two years before the balance holes officially become illegal — but it`s certainly an option for people who want to start moving their arsenals to future rules.
“Because bowling balls (for balls weighing more than 10 pounds) have up to three ounces of static weight on the side, thumb and fingers — which is one ounce higher — and up to three ounces of peak weight, no balance hole is needed to correct the static imbalance in the typical ball layout,” the USBC said in the press release. In most cases, closing balls that already have balance holes won`t make much difference in terms of performance on the track. And when you drill your next new ball, the fact that you can`t use a balance hole won`t significantly change the maximum power you can get from it. If you haven`t already, you should bring all balls with balance holes to your local professional store (when they reopen) and ask them to plug the hole to make the ball legal. This is usually a simple process, but the ball may need to stay in the store overnight for the cap to dry. But how can I say all this? Hasn`t the USBC done three years of research that has proven that balance holes are a problem that needs to be solved? Have they not just proven that eliminating balance holes reduces the hook of bowling balls from two boards? Almost everything you need to know to understand balance holes and their effects on ball performance has already been covered in my previous article on the subject. In case you don`t feel like reading it again, here`s a brief summary8. To summarize the graph above, the total hook increases as the track flare increases, but a point of decreasing yield is eventually reached when additional flares result in smaller and smaller amounts of additional hooks.
In the left part of the graph above, each of the oil rings of the marble race overlaps the previous one by a certain amount. This overlap of adjacent oil rings reduces friction to the ball. As the flare increases (moves to the right in the diagram), the flare increases. Until you plug the balance hole, you can`t throw the ball into the USBC certified competition. Uncertified tournaments and leagues may be another story, but you should contact the tournament director or league president to clarify this, as most of the time, non-certified competitions still use USBC rules. So why does the USBC ban balance holes? In a press release announcing the ban, the USBC said, “Balance holes, also known as weight holes, are intended to correct static imbalance in bowling balls, but have been used more recently to modify the design intent of balls.” If you`ve been paying attention over the past few months, you`re probably already aware of recent changes to the USBC rules that affect how bowling balls can be pierced.
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