15 to 16

[J Anderson]

At 6'1 and 190 I always used a 15 (in college....many many years ago lol I was way skinnier)...when I got back into bowling and got a new ball I went with a 16. I am not sorry. Other than my thumb which is a drilling/release issue I dont have problem. If your a bigger or a stronger guy....go 16. The pin carry and power in the pocket is very close between a 15 and a 16 but more is always more. All things being the same otherwise something heavier is always going to hit harder

At 5'8" and 120 pounds in high school, my first ball was a 15. The guy at the sporting goods store refused to sell my dad anything lighter for me since I'd probably be adding a bit more muscle over the next couple of years and would out grow even a 14 too fast.

At my current weight of 160# I could probably handle a 16 but I don't. If I was still throwing very straight I would consider it, but hooking a modern ball into the pocket a 16 doesn't always deflect enough to carry the 9 pin.

[billf]

[QUOTE=scottymoney;64274Come on Bill give it a few years the average weight will go up in the USA and I will be closer to average. Many times I have seen people (mainly younger kids) throwing balls which are way under weight. I tried to explain to a kid a few years ago I was bowling with that he should find a heavier ball (during moonlight bowling). But I am also talking about a kid who was throwing a 12lb ball who can easily handle 16. I think of the general population actually stopped to learn a little bit about bowling you would see so many more bowlers.[/QUOTE]

Don't take my size comment the wrong way. I'm 6' 230 lbs myself. Although it doesn't look nearly as good as it did when I graduated high school at 268 lbs I am far from obese and in my opinion, that's where the USA weight is going. I went to by good running shoes and was told that the companies still make the shoes designed for males at 180 lbs. I believe I read recently the average height of an adult male is only 5' 8". I would have guessed 6'.

Kids and females seem to think they can't handle the proper weight ball. For years our local high school coach (a female until this year) had a rule, if you couldn't use 14 at a female and 15 as a male, you couldn't bowl varsity. Now when you go to the league nights and see the women using 15s you can bet they bowled in school. Some even use 16. I stopped using 16 after breaking my wrist three years ago. I'm not sure how much of a difference that 16 ounces is making in the cupping but it seemed smart at the time.

[Hammer]

I started at 16lbs for a ball when I was younger like early 30s. When I got into my late 50s I went down to 15lbs because of wrist and hand issues. Now that I will be 66 soon I went down to 14lbs and that feels a lot easier on me as far as control and being able to keep my wrist from breaking down in the backswing and the release mostly. You know us seniors are delicate because we abused the daylights out of ourselves when we were younger. Keep that in mind you young folk. LOL.