Sudden Increase In Ball Speed

[Josch]

About a week ago I noticed I was bowling about 2mph faster than usual. Usually my strike shots are around 15 and my spares can be up to 16.5 but in the last week I've gone bowling 3 times and my strike shots have been about 17mph and my spares up to 19.5. I'm not sure what caused this. The pro shop owner/coach saw me bowling and told me to bend my knee more the same day I noticed the speed increase but I don't think that could have significantly increased my speed. I remember not long ago struggling to throw spares over 18mph and now that's normal.

Should I try to slow back down to my normal speed or should I try to keep bowling at this speed? My rev rate is high enough to still make it into the pocket without a problem and I've had some good games since. Since the beginning of the league back in September my average has slowly been dropping. Over the summer I'm able to bowl at least 12 games a week but during the school year I often only bowl during league. I had a great first week and was averaging 217. By the third week it was in the high 180's and it's been slowly dropping since. Now it's 171.

To make things more complicated, I have a tournament Saturday and it will most likely be the next time I go bowling.

[SmilingBowler]

As every bowler is different, I recommend everyone do what makes them feel comfortable. Should anyone feel different after throwing a ball, they should review what made them feel different. At what point did they get the feeling and if so, identify specifically what it was that was different. However, if you're comfortable and the ball is finding the pocket, no need to change anything. If you're comfortable and the ball isn't finding the pocket, change your starting point before changing your mark.

Personally, I'm a righty stroker with a nice, easy, low backswing and smooth follow through. I feel its what works for me and keeps me consistently comfortable. There's not a whole lot of extra muscle movement in my delivery so I rarely feel uncomfortable. I throw between 12.5-14 MPH depending on pattern and carry-down. Sometimes I'm able to shoot really consistently, other times, its a struggle. I'm still learning, myself. But as long as I feel good, I don't adjust much with my stance, steps, swing, release or follow-through. Best of Luck rolling forward. (: .)

[75lockwood]

Couple things, how are you measuring speed? if your going by the speed on the score screen, it's not accurate and is normally measured at the pins, which means your speed will be a bit higher.

all that being said, there is nothing wrong with having a higher speed, quite simply you should roll the ball at the speed that you can do consistently, if your consistent at 17mph then go with that, if your consistent at 15 go with that, if your consistent at both then go with 17mph given higher ball speed = more force = more carry.

[J Anderson]

Since you're not deliberately throwing faster I wouldn't try to slow things down. I would be open to trying a slightly different line since your ball reaction at 17mph will be different from what it was at 15mph.

[Tampabaybob]

John, once again, is right on the money. If it ain't broke don't fix it. If you said you were way off balance because of the higher speeds, then that would be a good case to slow you down, but as long as you still feel comfortable with the added speed, then don't change. The only thing you want to be careful of is seeing why kind of ball and pin reaction you're going to get with the higher speed. If you're not leaving a lot of 5 pins or 5-7's or 8-10's, then your ball is still rolling well into the pocket. Good luck at the tournament this weekend, let us know how you do.

[aussiedave]

About a week ago I noticed I was bowling about 2mph faster than usual. Usually my strike shots are around 15 and my spares can be up to 16.5 but in the last week I've gone bowling 3 times and my strike shots have been about 17mph and my spares up to 19.5. I'm not sure what caused this. The pro shop owner/coach saw me bowling and told me to bend my knee more the same day I noticed the speed increase but I don't think that could have significantly increased my speed. I remember not long ago struggling to throw spares over 18mph and now that's normal.

Should I try to slow back down to my normal speed or should I try to keep bowling at this speed? My rev rate is high enough to still make it into the pocket without a problem and I've had some good games since. Since the beginning of the league back in September my average has slowly been dropping. Over the summer I'm able to bowl at least 12 games a week but during the school year I often only bowl during league. I had a great first week and was averaging 217. By the third week it was in the high 180's and it's been slowly dropping since. Now it's 171.

To make things more complicated, I have a tournament Saturday and it will most likely be the next time I go bowling.

It sounds like it could be your hand position at point of release - are you now bowling with your hand more under the ball? This imparts more forward spin on the ball and will pick your speed up.
Conversely, if you bowl with more axis tilt, this will slow the ball down as it does not have as much energy on spinning forward but more on sideways and will hook much more also.
The other thing you might be doing is opening your shoulders up a bit more than you used to.
Keep your shoulders square on to the pins and this will bring your backswing down a bit and slow you down.
ad.

[billf]

The knee bend CAN be the cause of this wonderful affect. The smoother your delivery becomes the more speed and revs you will NATURALLY create. There is nothing wrong so stop worrying about it.