We have all learned that we must clean and polish our cars in order to keep the finish (paint) on them protected. After all, it is the second biggest investment many of us will make after our house. But, as a matter of fact, don't you also have to keep your house, the biggest investment, in tip-top shape by washing it down periodically and putting on a fresh coat of paint every so many years?

Aren't most of us diligent enough with our investments that we will inspect them from time-to-time to make sure that their "externals" are not being worn down? While your car or your house needs to be maintained for appearance's sake, the exterior protection you put on them will help to prolong the life of your property.

Why, then, may I ask, do I see so many bowlers spending several hundreds of dollars (thousands?) on bowling balls, yet they neglect to keep the "externals" of their bowling balls in tip-top shape? In the case of bowling, protection of the surface of your ball is important because it can, and will, affect your scoring potential and, therefore, your average.

Nowadays, the surface of your bowling ball is critical because of ball technology, synthetic lanes, the units of oil being laid down on the lanes, and the varying oil patterns you may have to bowl on.

I dare say that even if you bowl in the same house week after week, you do come across different lane conditions each time you show up for league. While you can't control how the lanes are oiled (even though the mechanic or center management swears up-and-down that they never vary the settings on the machine), one of the things you can do is to make sure that your equipment, i.e., your bowling balls are not going to over- and under-react on you.

The cover stock on your bowling ball is the most critical factor in ball reaction for modern-day bowling techniques. This is the reason I advocate that you must keep the surface of your bowling ball as clean as possible.

Without getting too technical on the details of oil building up on the surface of your bowling ball, suffice it to say that you must get into the habit of cleaning your ball after every session - practice or league.

1) Visit your local Pro Shop or go on-line to purchase a bottle of bowling ball cleaner or polisher. There are various types, but, go with the recommendation of your friendly pro shop owner or read all the labels and get the one you think will work the best for you.

2) Clean the surface of your bowling ball after every practice session or league competition. In other words, about every three games.

3) Again, always adjust things to your personal "gut-feeling," or your intuition. If you bowl better cleaning the ball after every game, after every other game, after every fourth game, then so be it. Trust your intuition and your local condition.

Two of my pet peeves, however, are rubbing alcohol and the bowling ball conditioning machines so prevalent in bowling centers. IMHO (in my humble opinion):

1) Using pure rubbing alcohol, while inexpensive, will tend to dry out your reactive bowling ball quicker; and,

2) The $2.50, 5-minute, Super Lustre bowling ball conditioner, polisher, cleaner is the same as taking Turtle Wax and polishing your ball.

Either of these methods will make the reaction of your ball very unpredictable. That is all I will say on that subject.

Think about it, if you are spending $150.00 (or more) for your new toy, wouldn't you want to keep it in good condition as best as you can? And, if that new toy will have an impact on your performance, doesn't it make sense that you have to take care it?

I don't know about you, but, I do take care of my bowling balls by polishing them regularly. I wouldn't advise you to do it if I didn't do it myself.

A Hui Hou! (See you again!)