Many bowlers have experienced a cracked bowling ball at least once over the years. USBC Gold coach Bryan O’Keefe and Team USA member Chris Barnes discuss some of the factors that can cause a cracked ball, including extreme temperature changes.
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I have also seen discussion of how gravity can cause cracks in bowling balls. For example, several people on the facebook bowlers uniting group have posted pictures of cracked bowling balls saying they left their balls at home on the floor or on a ball rack where there was no drastic change of temperature. They had not bowled in several weeks even months sometimes and when they went to grab their balls they were cracked. the temperature of the house stayed relatively the same and the balls were not left in the garage. My pro shop owner said he even had an un-drilled ball sitting on the shelf crack. What causes this? I have heard you should rotate your bowling balls every so often and not leave them on the floor. But what other tips could you give to prevent cracking?
Keefer Caid-Loos I’m currently watching this because that happened to me. I just went to see if my wrist was healed enough to bowl and one of my black widows that was on the floor….was cracked.
Humidity
Ronald Hickland Jr did a video about this on his YouTube channel.
all the balls that I’ve seen cracked were siting inside, in zones with no temperature variations, and a lot of them were undrilled (most of them from Storm). I’m using the oven to remove oil from the balls and I didn’t crack any ball in 7 years and I know just one guy who cracked his ball in oven, when he had put it on a metallic plate. So the explanations made in the video are purely empirical, based on suppositions and are not scientific.
I had a Cell crack that I rarely used that sat in my bag in my house for over a year. Now 6 months later my Brunswick Total Inferno ball I used regularly up until a few months ago has a huge crack in it. Not completely in half like the Cell, but enough that it’s unusable. It was my favorite ball too, so I’m not pleased!
My cell also cracked
i have a ball kept it on a box at home and didn’t use it for 2months, and when i decided to use it again, i found out that it has a cracked. so sad..
Noli Roca that’s what just happened to my ball. Went in the room to get it off the floor from under a shelf (sat there for about 4 months) and it was cracked the whole way around
what ball is that black, red, etc. ball?
So the coverstock on my Vintage Rhino Pro also cracked completely in half. I only had it for a little over a year. I hadn’t used it in a while, and it was sitting in my air conditioned closet for at least 6 months. I called Brunswick, and they got me confused with some other guy, because apparently, someone had called them 20 minutes earlier with the exact same problem on the exact same ball. They told me to take it to the pro shop where I got it, and if they couldn’t help me, that I should call back and they would connect me with the warranty department. When I took it to the pro shop, the owner said that he see at least a dozen cracked balls per month. According to him, balls with a reactive resin coverstock tend to crack, especially with underuse. He said it doesn’t matter how and where you store it, it happens in all conditions and to all brands of reactive resin balls. He said it even happens to people who bowl on a regular basis (although less often). My ball was only under warranty for a year, however, he was able to pull some strings in order for me to get a free replacement. That being said, a bowling ball shouldn’t die after only a year and a half, especially considering the $200 investment. I’m surprised that there isn’t any kind of class action lawsuit against these bowling ball manufacturers. Again, according to my pro shop owner, it’s a common problem with reactive resin balls. Here’s a tip: If you are going to buy a brand new reactive resin ball, use American Express, and be sure to keep the receipt. American Express doubles the warranty on anything you buy up to 5 years. For example, my toaster over recently crapped out on me after 18 months. It was only under warranty for 1 year. Because I purchased it with American Express, it extended the warranty to 2 years. I called American Express, and within 3 days, they credited me the cost of my toaster oven.
Eric Roth i have the same ball and it has a crack between the two finger holes :/
Can you guys explain to me, I have old storm, brunswick balls, like the storm bolt, brunswick original inferno that haven’t crack since I bought them, but I have 3 storm gravity that are newer ball that cracked in my garage, where all my balls are stored …Would you guys say the newer balls do not have the same quality as the old balls?
But can you fix a chipped off bowling ball? Because it happened to me
Just take it into a pro shop, I had the same thing happen to me and fortunately I had a second ball to fall back on.
Since I usually just bowl in one house, I keep my bowling balls in a locker there so I don’t have that issue.
Iv had a original storm paradigm passion undrilled new in box still from when it was released hard to find let alone undrilled and the bloody thing split on me about two inches from the pin. Was very cold that week a lot colder than average maybe that had something to do with it. But currently I have two new balls in boxes a vg Nano pearl and a crux crystal iv wrapped them both in old t shirts with the plastic over them and in the box under the desk where it’s always relatively the same temperature.
This might explain why my Classic Hammer cracked 🙁
I wonder if some of the cracked bowling balls are in fact due to lower QC in manufacture, or simply due to less-durable materials in construction? Rubber bowling balls almost NEVER cracked. Polyester and urethane, rarely but not totally unheard of…
I had two different Rotos crack after sitting in the locker at the lanes over the last two years. Both of them had less than 30 games on them. They never were out of the bowling alley. One crack did not go through any drilled holes. I had a few friends that had cracked Storms. It is too bad, I liked both of the balls, but they are not durable. I think Roto and their parent company Storm has a manufacturing problem. I am going to just steer clear of them. They need to adjust their research priorities from having balls that have a scent (Tropical Storm) to coverstocks that don’t crack. I am back to using my Hammers and the original Nighthawk.
I went to get my storm bowling ball from my closet and it was cracked. No extreme temps here in Hawaii. I think it’s a flaw in the plastic composition so I’m curious how many other people had this happen to them with specifically “Storm” balls. The company may have sold tons of these balls with the same problem.
yeaa about that… i went into my storage room to get my storm wipe out and it has a crack and im like, nooooo that was a good ball.
Sadly I’ve had over 30 balls crack within the last 5 years which includes my Haywire last week then my Verge 2 days ago
I had my torrent crack on me. It was sitting on the floor in my living room. No extreme temps high or low.
can a cracked bowling be repaired?i have one too
Hello and thanks for the question.
Sorry it’s time to let them one go.
Thanks for watching!
Jason
National Bowling Academy
You just need to keep the ball active, throw it once in a while or smack em together
Never had a bowling ball crack using slow temperature oven raises. 90degrees 10min…120degrees 10min…140degrees 25min. Did this for over 20+ balls.
Humidity has a lot to do with it. I’ve had 3 balls crack bcuz of it. And I actually heard one crack.
I had my bowling ball in a bowling bag and it still cracked! How do I prevent it from happening again? Also should I fix the bowling ball or just get a new one
I’ve had 30+ balls cracks. The new material in today’s cores/covers is going to easily cause a ball sooner or later to crack vs the old reactive, rubber, urethane and plastic balls. Of course too much glue eventually will cause the fingers of a ball to crack along with the fingers not being beveled correctly. I just continue to have bad luck because I never keep my balls exposed. They are in room temperature and they are never on wood or in the car. I have 42 balls and often rotate the balls on a regular basis and every now and then a ball still cracks. Also I put them in plastic but that only works for so long of a time. Bowling works differently for different people just like life goes different for people in the world
Hey there, I forgot mine in my truck and it cracked all the way down the center. I seen and repaired it with jb weld and got it to working order. I will replace it when I have the funds. Question is should I still use the ball or is it just a toss away and get a new one later
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