Bowling Ball Storage and Climate Considerations
Scott PohlDescription
If you’re storing your bowling balls for the summer or are just in between competitions, where and how you store them will impact their performance. In this free video Scott Pohl, owner of On Track Pro Shop, explains the do’s and don’ts of bowling ball storage and how it affects your game.
Climate
All right, so let’s get into the storage, particularly in regards to the climate where you live. Northern and southern states experience extreme temperature changes, just in different ways.
A 30º-40ºf swing in temperature is not uncommon, depending on the season you are in. Whether it’s a cold snap or scorching heat wave, improper storage during severe will take a toll on your bowling ball.
Climate Change Effects
If you leave your bowling ball in your car or garage, it will feel the effects of these extreme temperature changes. The core inside the ball will expand and contract if it is involved in these temperature swings. Keeping your bowling ball inside, at room temperature, limits expansion and contraction of the core.
However, your bowling ball needs moisture. The surface will harden and even crack if stored in too dry of an environment. To avoid this, p[ut a plastic bag around your bowling ball when storing it. This will keep the moisture level high enough to prevent cracking.
Try not to store it on carpet or wood flooring. What happens is that the moist part of the bowling ball will dry up. Over time, chances are you’re going to see a crack there. If you have it sit on carpet or wood flooring, put a towel underneath the ball with a plastic bag over it.
Bowling balls are expensive. You need them to last and perform at their best. In order for that to happen, proper storage is paramount.
All right. So let's get into the storage and particularly the climate where you live. Well, you know what, I live in the Minneapolis Saint Paul area, we see drastic changes in weather. I know if I keep that bowling ball in my car over the winter time and don't do much with it. Chances are it's going to be harmed. That core inside the ball is going to expand and contract, the more I take it in and out of my vehicle just like in the summer time, you know what? It gets pretty hot and humid there. We also don't want to just leave it in the car or in that climate. Maybe just leave it in a warm garage. We want to keep it in a cool temperature. Ideally, room temperature is the best. Ok. How do we store it? Well, a few key components was store in the bowling ball. First of all, the best thing we want to do is keep that ball with moisture. The more the moisture in the bowling ball evaporates it gets very hard and it cracks. I've had some crack just sitting in my house in the bad spots. I'm going to show you where not to do that. First of all, get a plastic bag, we could put that over the bowling ball and keep its freshness, moisture inside the ball. It's not going to crack as much. Ok. We want to keep the life of the ball going over time, another area to store the bowling ball, possibly in your house, not to store it on carpet or even the wood. What happens there is that moist part of the bowling ball is going to dry up. Chances are you're gonna see a crack as well. What I like to do if I'm gonna have it sitting on wood or even on the carpet, I'm going to put a towel on that ball so we can just store it, basically simply put the ball right on the towel. Keep it there. Don't let it touch wood or anything that's gonna absorb moisture. All right. One thing is these bowling balls are kind of expensive. We want to take care of them. They allow us to perform at a high level, the less you have to keep purchasing these balls, your pocketbook will be a lot better. I really like to do this in my house. I keep a lot of bowling balls in the plastic or I also keep it off wood directly with the right products.
It seems like a plastic bag would not allow moisture into or out of the ball, so an initially dry ball would remain so.
It seems like a towel would draw moisture from the ball in much the same way as carpeting would.