The Death of Urethane?

Urethane bowling balls have been prevalent more than usual the past five years, especially after the releases of the Purple Hammer and Pitch Black. Now, are we starting to see the end of an era after the PBA banned most urethane bowling balls on January 6th?

Maybe, maybe not. But it can certainly be expected that the professionals will utilize the available balls as much as possible, despite their limited options. The current PBA rule differs slightly between the Regional level and National level - that is, on non-urethane bowling balls. All balls must be manufactured after August 1, 2022 on the National Tour, whereas only urethane and urethane-like equipment must be manufactured after that date on the Regional Tour. The same rule is in effect on both levels that restricts urethane and urethane-like bowling balls to be a minimum of 78 hardness.

No big deal, right? There should be enough bowling balls that fit that criteria to allow professional bowlers to stock up and build a diversified arsenal. Except there are only 9 bowling balls permitted for use under that condition. They are as follows:

Three of these balls are spare balls: the Retro RG Spare, Mix, and Wiper, all being from different brands. So the pros mainly have six options to use for their strike ball if they want to use urethane. You can expect the players with higher rev rate to use them on shorter patterns, since they help blend out the lane. Given the higher hardness and generally lower differentials in comparison to past urethane balls like the Purple Hammer, the footprint and overall flare potential of the bowling ball will decrease.

Given that, expect players to primarily use urethane on the fresh, and to hit up on the balls and roll them more, so they can read sooner. Maybe only the big crankers and power players will be near as successful with the new approved urethane equipment, like two-handers. We did just see a couple two-handers use the !Q Tour 78/U at the recent Player's Championship, and that was Chris Via and Ryan Barnes in the opening match. That was quickly followed up with lefty Nate Stubler using the Black Pearl Urethane the next match.

The two aforementioned balls should be the most heavily consumed for PBA players in terms of urethane. Microcell polymer balls, which are the two Tank balls by Motiv, may help blend out a dry pattern, yet not as controllably as urethane. The Buffalo by SWAG has one of the strongest flare pontentials of them all, at a 0.046" differential, and I'm surprised it isn't being used as extensively as others. JR made a video reviewing this ball below.

As for you league bowlers, I would be very particular and even hesitant to buy any of these urethane balls. If you want any of these balls and want to cut down on hook, choose the Tank Yellowjacket or Tank Rampage Pearl. Urethane balls are the most hooking balls on the market, since they read the front part of the lane and continue. A reactive resin ball is a much better choice on a house shot, since you already have the pattern configured for you to be easier with its mistake area, and reactive balls clear the front part of the lane better with more back-end hitting power. Urethane is best used for sport shots and challenging conditions, like PBA patterns.

Time will tell if this affects the success of the top PBA players that like to use urethane, whether it is making match play or a stepladder finals, or if new players emerge on the spotlight that were formerly not near as known. But you can expect the elite players to make adjustments with the urethane they have and/or switch to alternate equipment. Remember, it is not so much the ball that makes a bowler good, but the bowler himself.