Are you ready for our annual August WCS trip into Pro Shop 101? Hey, I promise this will not be the usual column on timing, proper grip, replacing inserts, gripping tape inside the bal, and so on. If you want a bit about ball dynamics and why the recent USBC decision really means something, read on (and use your seat belt if necessary).

     I am a bit puzzled on why the USBC proposed eliminating the use of balance holes and focus the center of gravity in the grip center. Only six months into the new era of league bowling as we know it, your friends at the USBC decided to toss up a trail balloon and see what happened. Well, this balloon could not have gotten shot down any faster. After stopping short from what could have been a screaming match from most of the ball manufacturers, the USBC has decided not to restrict balance hole size and placement in drilled bowling balls and restrict center of gravity placement withing one inch of a ball's grip center. They did, however, restrict the actual hardness of particle content and approve including "USBC" as part of a ball's serial number to show USBC approval. The particle hardness, according to the USBC, is to slow down wear and tear on lane surfaces. Meanwhile the USBC logo will not be engraved on each approved ball as originally proposed.

     This may take a few columns of really technical material to explain what my fellow ball drillers know about ball dynamics, but let's see if I can break this down. Since 1900, ball technology involved placing a pancaked-sized weight block just below the cover to take place of the weight removed by gripping holes. This was initially thought to make a ball more balanced. Over time, it was discovered through trial and error that a ball's hook point could be slightly altered by moving the gripping holes around this three-to-six inch circle. That's really all the advances were until the early 1980's. Then things got just interesting enough to turn a leisurely Sunday drive into a Space Shuttle launch. The Faball company introduced the black Hammer ball in 1984 which was the first to have a weight block in the center of the ball. Balance holes were only used to reduced gross weight (by ounces, not pounds, by the way). This type of ball featured two things requiring drillers attention. The middle of the 'bull's-eye' along with something new, a nearby dowel mark called the 'pin.' Again through trail and error, it was discovered as long as this 'pin' was near the ring finger of either a left or right handed grip, the ball reacted much stronger and earlier than other bigger hooking balls of the time. What was beginning to be found by those with a physics background were reasons why this ball hooked more and earlier. By looking at the ball in motion, the physics folk saw this ball in motion had different properties than its predecessors (while rolling down the lane). With the heavier weight in the middle, that gave less resistance and helped the ball hook sooner. Imagine a car tire being balanced. Its heaviest weight is near the middle(at the axle) to help it roll smoothly. If its weight were closer to the tread, more force from the engine would be needed to make it make one full rotation. And that, in fact, is the principle of something called Radius of Gyration (RG), something you may have heard you ball driller mention, especially while discussing today's higher-tech balls.

     Meanwhile, the ABC took no action measuring the physical properties of this type of ball. They had no feasible way to measure this type of ball in motion rather than at rest at the time. Gradually, more specifications were put in place. However, the ball manufacturers took this technology and ran with it at light speed, way ahead of what the ABC could discover or legislate. Basically, the centrally-located weight block offers much harder impact at the pins. Then add stronger and weaker covers and a whole new era emerged. Even some of the weaker center-heavy or two piece balls hooked more than the strongest pancake or three-piece balls. Now add other discoveries like having the pin located at different distances from the center of gravity, grip layouts far away from the pin, just two examples of layouts which could be assisted by a balance hole. OK, now the principle of an balance hole is to make a ball legal as it is measured at rest. It can also be used to enhance or retard a given ball path by its width, depth, and placement. Most bowlers using a balance hole are higher revving, higher average players who should be able to distinguish ball friction characteristics. Confused even more now? Don't worry, you're not alone.

     So why propose these changes? Hopefully someone at USBC is not trying to justify his job by throwing up this trial balloon. But, hey, stranger things have happened. No one ever thought 30 years ago synthetic lanes, cosmic bowling, reactive resin bowling balls would be commonplace along with the absence of a women's pro tour and network TV exposure for the men's tour. I just wonder how many times this industry can close the door after the horse galloped from the barn. It's probably going to take just as long to fix all this as it did to unfold. But hey, Monday Night Football is disappearing from ABC-TV after next season.

     In the next JPA, the new PBA tour schedule was just released with a lot new stops. And could it be.....the first installment of the latest edition of the infamous Top 25 TV Moments? Could be