13# or 14# or just quit?

[billf]

You shouldn't notice much difference between a 13 lbs and a 14 lbs. Lower than that most manufacturers do change the core so the reaction can be different. Always have fun bowling that's the first rule of a hobby.
Hope you heal quickly.

[got_a_300]

As billf said the only real big difference is maybe the ball
will have a generic weight block if going to a ball under
14#.

I'd have to say if your not planning on bowling a lot of big
money tournaments or anything like that and if you're out to
just have fun on a league then it doesn't really matter what the
ball weight is that you use as long as it is comfortable to you
and your not out to try and carry a 200+ average.

[Trex]

I can strike just as easy with an 10lb "Storm" shift as I can with a 16lb "Storm" shift!!! If I were you, I would get a Storm bowling ball that is a weight that is comfortable to throw!! I say Storm because I have tried other brands in a 10lb & The Storm balls I tried had better pin carry than a 10lb Hammer Raw jacked/Columbia Scout/Ebonite tornado...etc.

The core in the 10lb Storm even though it is different than that in a 16lb ball, still had great carry compared to other brands!! I am Storm all the way now!!! I have tried all brands on the market... and I have better results with Storm & Roto Grip<<<which is owned by Storm.

That Storm shift I used for a while after an injury forced me to go from 16lbs to 10lbs was an amazing ball as I could still ave 200 with this ball. They don't make that ball anymore, but I would say a Storm Marvel Pearl would do just as good.

So yeah if you want a 13lbs go for it!!! It will work just as good!!

[Douglas]

Boy what a resource this is. i really want to thank everyone with with all the great help. Keven at Spring Hill lanes is drillind my Roto Grip Critical Therory (Storm) on Friday. I talked with him and Anthoney and they think i should be ok with the 14# ball. But after reading all this great info i am going to order another lighter ball as a back up. It will be fun to try lighter ball. Thanks again for all the help. I am going to enjoy my new sport. Doug in Spring Hill Fl

[Zothen]

Welcome to the boards!

I would go with 13lb ball! I would strongly suggest seeing a chiropractor or back doctor to make sure what you have is not a serious problem and I would also suggest not bowling for at least 2 weeks to give your back/syatica time to heal. Your struggle with consistancy might be due to the muscle or syatica pull,so don't push it and take time to heal!

Zothen

[ArtVandelay]

Welcome to the boards!

I would go with 13lb ball! I would strongly suggest seeing a chiropractor or back doctor to make sure what you have is not a serious problem and I would also suggest not bowling for at least 2 weeks to give your back/syatica time to heal. Your struggle with consistancy might be due to the muscle or syatica pull,so don't push it and take time to heal!

Zothen

I couldn't agree more! Medical advice is the more important advice, in my opinion...

For what it's worth, there's a girl on my bowling team that uses a 10 pound ball and her average is a 167. She gets robbed sometimes, and will hit the pocket but the ball deflects too much, and what SHOULD have been a strike leaves a couple pins. But she is so accurate it doesn't really matter. She will often go a game without an open and finish 180+.

I'd bet you could go with a 12 or 13 pound ball. Just don't jeopardize your health!

[Douglas]

If Your in springhill, go talk to Kevin at Kevins Pro Shop in Springhill Lanes. He can really help you out.

I saw Kevin yesterday and i picked up my new ball (14# Roto Grip Critical Theory). My son also got his new ball yesterday ( 14# Strom Lucid). We went to open bowling last night (twilight bowling) I don't care for that. well my pulled syatica is going away. i have been doing stretches and ice, it really helps. I was surprised that my ball seemed to have more hook than the Lucid but that could be different style of throwing the ball. what we did notice is the drive through the pins on both balls. now my next venture is going to be getting a lighter ball and trying it. Maybe i should try a lighter house ball? we will see what happens. again thanks for all the help. Doug

[Douglas]

I have a 100 average on my bowling league, Just bought a Brunswick PowerKiol XZ Glove and in two days I am averaging 147. The Powerkoil helps with consistency and a nice hook. I have to put my left foot on the dot farthest to the left and throw between arrow 1 & 2 arrow from the right, to hit the right pocket. I would like to go straight down the right side but I keep missing the pocket to the left. I hope this makes sense. Doug

[75lockwood]

Doug,

given that you have to start so far left in order to hit the pocket means one or more of the following:

lane's are very dry: the less oil on the lanes the more a ball will hook
you are very rev dominated: you apply a lot of revolutions to the ball in comparison to your ball speed (see chart below)
the ball you are using is to strong (easiest thing to fix): given that the critical theory is a very strong bowling ball it is reasonable to see that a rev dominated bowler or a bowler on dry lanes wound see the ball hooking as much as it is. it may be a good idea to look into a weaker ball, bowlingball.com's perfect scale is a nice way to compare the different balls.

if getting another ball is not much of an option at this point in time there are a few things you can do:

uncup your wrist: going from a cupped wrist to a straight or even broken down will decrease the leverage you have on the ball and cause you to loose revs
speed up: going to a 5 step release or speeding up your foot work will give the ball more speed and help lower your rev dominance

axis rotation: keep your hand behind the ball apposed to off to the side, this will change your axis rotation hopefully reducing overall hook.

if possible, post a video of yourself bowling, so we can give more specifc advice for you, other than that, look into an entry level or mid performance ball.

[Bizwan65]

I say go to whatever weight is comfortable and allows you to enjoy it. My wife had to drop down to an 8 lb White dot from a 12 lb T-Zone due to pain in her hand. She is enjoying the sport more now that she isn't experiencing hand/finger/thumb pain.