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Former USBC CEO Roger Dalkin explains how 72 became the minimum hardness in the 1970s — and why it's a questionable basis for today's rule

JEFF RICHGELS | Posted: Tuesday, July 5, 2022 8:00 am
Former USBC CEO Roger Dalkin explains how 72 became the minimum hardness in the 1970s — and why it's a questionable basis for today's rule
Roger Dalkin detailing the plans for the merger that would create the United States Bowling Congress at an event in 2003. Photo by NCAUSBCA.
One of the questions I've kept asking as I wrote story after story on ball hardness was how 72 came to be the minimum hardness in the 1970s rule by the American Bowling Congress and Women’s International Bowling Congress. (My nearly 20 stories on ball hardness going back to 2020 are all linked in this story.) Specifically, I wanted to know what scientific methods were used to decide 72 was the number when chemically-soaked and then manufactured soft polyester balls were the issue, and...