A rainbow bowling ball is any ball with a multi-color finish: swirls of several bright colors, a tie-dye look, or bands of color in a translucent shell. It's a look, not a type of ball. The thing that decides how a ball behaves is what the coverstock is made of, and most rainbow-colored balls fall into one category.
Most of them are polyester
Bright, multi-color finishes are easiest to produce in polyester (often called plastic), so that's where you'll find most of them. Brunswick's TZone line and similar entry-level polyester balls come in many colorways, and clear "Viz-A-Ball" style designs are polyester too.
Polyester has a hard, smooth surface that grips the lane very little. In practice that means:
- It goes fairly straight. Even with a lot of hand action, a polyester ball hooks only a little on a normal house shot.
- It's an excellent spare ball. Most serious bowlers carry a plastic ball for corner pins precisely because it doesn't react to the oil. The spare ball guide explains why.
- It's cheap and durable. Polyester shrugs off scuffs and doesn't soak up oil the way reactive resin does.
Reactive resin balls also come in multi-color pearl and hybrid finishes. They look similar on a shelf but react very differently, so check the coverstock on the spec sheet, not the color.
What the colors don't change
Pigment has no meaningful effect on hook, speed or pin carry. Two balls with the same coverstock, core and surface finish behave the same whether one is black and the other is every color of the rainbow. The one practical upside is visibility. A bright, multi-color ball is easy to track on video if you're counting revolutions, and easy to spot on a crowded ball return.
How to choose one
- Weight: pick the heaviest ball you can swing comfortably for a full series. The ball weight calculator gives a starting point.
- Drilling: a ball drilled to your hand beats any house ball. Undrilled balls need a pro shop visit, which usually costs extra.
- Purpose: as a first ball or a spare ball, polyester is the right call. If you want a ball that hooks, look at an entry-level reactive ball instead and pick the color you like from what's available.
- For kids: lighter polyester balls (6 to 10 pounds) in bright colors are easier for children to hold, and to find.
Care
Polyester needs very little: wipe it with a microfiber towel after each game and clean it now and then with a cleaner approved for bowling balls. Avoid leaving any ball in a hot car, because extreme temperature swings can crack the shell regardless of its color.