Urethane balls

[Sawbones]

Have our younger bowlers forgot about urethane balls and how effective they can be on certain conditions. I rarely see a young bowler with one in their bag. Bones

[magicmike]

Urethane seems to be long forgotten from what i've seen. I know now that I have a urethane that it is very useful and there are lessons to be learned from using and owning one that the youth are missing out on. The urethane ball is a throwback to yesterdays game but it still is something that you can be competitive and learn the game with. By learning with a urethane you learn to be more accurate as you don't get as much help from the lanes, and this is a big deal as it will help the bowlers learn one of the games more important points earlier and get them in better habits when it comes to shot making.

Of course thats just how I see in hindsight after not having a urethane when I started and now owning one. The urethane ball as well as the plastic are my big practice pieces, they help me stay more focused and promote accuracy, which seems to be going by the wayside with the walled up conditions and super strong reactive equipment.

[MegaMav]

I think Urethane should be used as a training tool for beginner bowlers.
Even on THS, urethane can be devistating with accuracy, but also weak enough to be unforgiving to inconsistent speeds and release.

I think more youth would benefit from sole use of urethane to start.

[purduepaul]

Try the new Storm Natural then, there are only a couple of pure urethanes on the market...that happens to be one of them

[JessN16]

I'm 36 (is that still young?) and I have three of Visionary's urethane balls. I carry them frequently. And yes, it's a sight to watch the reaction I get when I pull out a Slate Blue Gargoyle and still play 10-5 when the lanes are toast.

Jess

[paulv]

Is there a time and a place for a urethane bowling ball? Absolutely! Today high scoring lane conditions, in the average bowling center, has created a need for urethane bowling balls. Bowlers tend to play very similar lines during league play which dries that area out very quickly. The bowler who has the ability/skill to chase the oil and maintain carry will have consistantly higher scores compared to the bowler who is one dementional. Urethane equipment does level the playing field. A one demetional player can take advantage of the drier "track" area by using urethane while others chase oil. It keeps the one demtional player in their comfort zone and simplfies the asdjusment process. So why aren't more bowlers using urethane?

First, urethane isn't invogue, it's "old" so there for it must not be right. Second, urethane hasn't been readily available or marketed because of the huge number of more agressive resin compound balls, isn't new techonolgy better? Third, urethane doesn't have the look most bowlers are looking for in terms of reaction and hitting power.

The third reason may be the most important reason to the average bowler, if it doesn't "hook" enough and "hit" as hard as resins what good is it. We bowlers have gotten lazy and don't spend enough time working on our games the way we once did. This makes urethane less effective. If we spent more time re-learning the game urethane would be in anyones bag who carries more than one ball to any competitions, league or tournament.

PaulV

[Billy]

Urethane balls are DEFINATELY Under-rated in my opinion. I just finished a 10-week adult youth league, and i decided to use a urethane ball (Older wood lanes, so it makes sense). I finished with a 219 average, high series of 729. I did try to use Reactive Resin one night after i was done bowling, and i didn't come close to the same type of reaction.

[JessN16]

The other thing hurting urethane, until recently, is that you couldn't find one with a real core.

Visionary just isn't a big enough company for people to accidentally run across their stuff in most pro shops. It wasn't until Lane #1 came out with the Liberator that you started to see people at least paying attention to the concept.

Now that Storm has the Natural out, I expect more people to experiment. What I'd really love to see is Storm sink something more complex than its Turbine core in the ball (which is nothing but an old-fashioned light bulb core). I'd love to see someone make an asymmetrical urethane ball (maybe Visionary's new Ogre counts as such).

Jess

[NJStroker]

The other thing hurting urethane, until recently, is that you couldn't find one with a real core.

Visionary just isn't a big enough company for people to accidentally run across their stuff in most pro shops. It wasn't until Lane #1 came out with the Liberator that you started to see people at least paying attention to the concept.

Now that Storm has the Natural out, I expect more people to experiment. What I'd really love to see is Storm sink something more complex than its Turbine core in the ball (which is nothing but an old-fashioned light bulb core). I'd love to see someone make an asymmetrical urethane ball (maybe Visionary's new Ogre counts as such).

Jess

jess seismic's new desperado has an asymmetrical core in it and its urethane.

[JessN16]

Is the Desperado a pearl urethane or a solid?

That's the other thing I'd like to see more of - pearl urethanes.

Jess

[NJStroker]

Is the Desperado a pearl urethane or a solid?

That's the other thing I'd like to see more of - pearl urethanes.

Jess

not sure but i do think its a pearl

[MegaMav]

There are many new Urethane offerings out there.

Visionary Orge Urethane



Seismic Desperado



Storm Natural



Lane #1 Liberator



Plus the myriad of older urethanes from original Hammers, JPF Axes, Rhinos.
There is a urethane ball out there for everyone.

Odds are, only the people that understand where urethanes should fall in their line up will buy these balls. They wont be a hit no matter what, probably because the average bowler doesnt know any better. They all want that big bender on the backend.

Oh well, at least there wont be any gripes about no urethanes in any current lineups to choose from.

[NJStroker]

mav and its true, a lot of people would GREATLY benefit from having one and using it instead of the big hook monsters. you can only hope i guess.

[CLT2244]

I agree, i would love to see some new pearl urethanes, if your looking for a more complex core in a urethane, i would check out the new Hype Urethane that AMF is release, i know it has my attention, untill then ill redrill my uncles old gunsmoke cobra (pearl urethane) and have fun with it.

[scotts33]

Here's one I use from time to time.

I may be updating it soon to the new Visionary Ogre Urethane.

[mmcfarland300]

Looks like the Urethanes have been used heavily on the Cheetah this week.

[asdfg68plus1]

The closest thing I have to a urethane ball is a Jade Quantum which is "Proactive Urethane" I don't know how different that is, but I don't think it's pure urethane. It is definitely much smoother than my other two balls, but is still rather strong.

I would like to see a urethane ball that has a strong core in it, because all the current urethanes that I've seen all had about .035 diff, so I wonder how a urethane with a .055 diff would react.

[magicmike]

Proactive Urethane is actually reactive urethane with particle added. Brunswick had some awfully confusing terms for the covers they used, but that is actually a reactive ball with particles which is very understandable since you said your ball was strong and smooth.

[charlest]

The closest thing I have to a urethane ball is a Jade Quantum which is "Proactive Urethane" I don't know how different that is, but I don't think it's pure urethane. It is definitely much smoother than my other two balls, but is still rather strong.

I would like to see a urethane ball that has a strong core in it, because all the current urethanes that I've seen all had about .035 diff, so I wonder how a urethane with a .055 diff would react.

The AMF Hype has an RG Diff. of just about .055",but be careful as the coverstock, even at its stock surface of P4000 grit, is very early. I have one, but it's sort of sitting idle because I like the Desperado much better. The Desperado is pearl urethane and has an asymmetric core that seems to make a true difference in its hitting power for those of us with lesser revs (~ 250 or so)

WIth my Hype, even with much compounding (it took several different polishes as the surface is VERY hard to change, harder than Lanemasters Diamond particle surface!) to smooth the surface, I have to stand several boards deeper (5+) than with my Desperado, with which I am able to play much straighter.

[asdfg68plus1]

Proactive Urethane is actually reactive urethane with particle added. Brunswick had some awfully confusing terms for the covers they used, but that is actually a reactive ball with particles which is very understandable since you said your ball was strong and smooth.

I would have never guessed that that ball was a particle. Maybe I should get it resurfaced and such and see how much stronger it is. I've had it in my possession for over three years and have never had it resurfaced, and I don't think when my brother had it, he got it resurfaced.