I learned a few things at practice today.......

[Hammer]

I learned my ball speed on my strike ball was from 11.05mph to 11.75mph which is pretty consistent. My speed for single pin spares was 12.75mph this being at the pins. I tried holding the ball with my pinky up against my ring finger to see if my revs picked up and they did. I was standing with my slide foot on board 29 and throwing to breakpoint between boards 5 and 10. I had some shots on my strike ball get away from me and hit between the 1 and 5 board at the breakpoint and that made me nervous but they recovered and went to the pocket. Phew! So most of my spare practice was in the first game because I had no warm up and I wasn't striking. Also my release didn't feel good like it did in the second and third game. So a new hand position for more revs and consistent ball speeds for the strike ball and spare pickup. Games were 156 with no warm up, second was 178 with new hand position and third was 192 with eight strikes total.

[KYDave]

Your scores kept going up you should have gone a 4th game! haha

Interesting your spare ball is a higher speed than strike ball. Mine is the other way around. Maybe the strike ball hooking causes it to read lower or do you think this is accurate?

Atleast you were practicing spares. I bowled a few practice games the other night and the lanes were so beat I was practicing splits and washouts.

[Hammer]

Your scores kept going up you should have gone a 4th game! haha

Interesting your spare ball is a higher speed than strike ball. Mine is the other way around. Maybe the strike ball hooking causes it to read lower or do you think this is accurate?

Atleast you were practicing spares. I bowled a few practice games the other night and the lanes were so beat I was practicing splits and washouts.

I'm sure that my strike ball hooking is slowing down my strike shot. My strike ball is a reactive symmetric ball and my spare ball is a Hammer urethane symmetric ball. The spare ball is not hooking like the strike ball.

[Stormed1]

The weaker ball will slow down less due to less friction.For example tonight my strike ball Chemical X was 11.8 where as my Taboo spare was 12.9

[Hammer]

The weaker ball will slow down less due to less friction.For example tonight my strike ball Chemical X was 11.8 where as my Taboo spare was 12.9

You have the same thing going on like me. My Raw Hammer Anger ball is a reactive resin ball with 2000 dull surface. My spare ball is the urethane Blue Hammer ball with 2000 dull surface. I am left handed so if I am going after a 6/10 pin leave I will stand left and use my reactive resin ball to pick it up. So the resin ball will slow down faster then the urethane ball.

[fokai73]

It's great you're knowing this about your game. Another round the chamber....

My strike ball ranges 15 to 17.5 mph depending how and where I'm playing - these were recorded manually, not using monitors. (release to pins)
My spare ball speed average is at 18.3 mph.

Also, finger dancing is another way to adjust beside moving your feet and/or switching balls.

Some times I start out traditional, if I can say that, with my index and pinky spread out. or Index finger out and pinky in. And on some nights I can stay with-in a board (or don't move at all) all night by just adjusting my finger position. By the end of the night, my index finger is tucked in next to middle finger and pinky far out with a slight broken wrist.

I'm not sure how bringing in the pinky would really increase rev rate, but to be able to adjust rev rate is another ball in the bag without having another ball in the bag lol.

[Hammer]

It's great you're knowing this about your game. Another round the chamber....

My strike ball ranges 15 to 17.5 mph depending how and where I'm playing - these were recorded manually, not using monitors. (release to pins)
My spare ball speed average is at 18.3 mph.

Also, finger dancing is another way to adjust beside moving your feet and/or switching balls.

Some times I start out traditional, if I can say that, with my index and pinky spread out. or Index finger out and pinky in. And on some nights I can stay with-in a board (or don't move at all) all night by just adjusting my finger position. By the end of the night, my index finger is tucked in next to middle finger and pinky far out with a slight broken wrist.

I'm not sure how bringing in the pinky would really increase rev rate, but to be able to adjust rev rate is another ball in the bag without having another ball in the bag lol.

I am 70 years old and only 5'6" tall and 156lbs. I have a slow and short approach and no high backswing. That might be why my ball speed is what it is. This body isn't too flexible like it used to be when I was a young guy. Don't get me wrong for my age I am not in too bad of shape.

[Tony]

For reference here is some information from Ron Clifton on finger dancing.

I think this might explain what fokai73 was talking about, when used properly these adjustments can help fine tune your game.

http://www.bowl4fun.com/ron/tip11.htm