Slow, Heavy & Straight vs. Fast, Light and Spinny...

[Trojan1994]

Hi all, I'm relatively new to bowling, mid 40's, athletic, mainly play tennis, basketball, fish, and do other activities until about a month ago when one of the kids I coach in basketball and play tennis with pressed me into bowling(his primary sport) against him after a year of challenging me, lol.

Anyways, I took his advice and picked up a 15lb. Storm Freakin Frantic and set it up for finger tip grip and maximum hook. Bowled with it a few weeks, typically throwing it at 12-13mph and started thinking as I do in tennis and from my former competitive shooting days in terms of "what would I benefit/lose from going with a lighter ball that I could get moving faster if not with more spin on it?"

So I picked up a 14lb. Totally Defiant and found 16-17mph, much more comfortable/easy to be consistent with my swing/stroke and my scores increasing as well. Makes me now wonder, could a 12 or 13lb. ball provide even more benefit or would it likely yield diminishing returns due to less mass/plow through and more deflection/margin for error due to inaccuracy which would not be offset by any increased velocity/spin? I have read about the potential issue of different cores being used in balls weighing less than 14lbs. for some manufacturers.

Any thoughts on the benefits/tradeoffs of going 12-13lbs. or if it might be a worthwhile exercise for me to pick one up to try, was thinking the new Storm Byte. I am the type that when it comes to sports involving equipment, I will try a lot of equipment(be it racquets, strings, barrels, etc.) and/or modify it to see what actually works/can work best for me as well as trying to understand why I achieve better results with it.

Tony

[DLP]

From my own experience, a 12-13 lb ball will hit very differently than a 14 lb ball. Also, since under 14 lb balls you start finding some manufacturers that use more generic cores, you'd be losing the benefit of that.

To me, that alone is a reason to stay in the 14lb weight range.

I've watched guys who throw the lighter balls and while they can wing it down the lane pretty quickly, without accuracy they can't guarantee a strike to save their life. Throw in a situation where they leave anything standing and they are at a loss.

[J Anderson]

Hi all, I'm relatively new to bowling, mid 40's, athletic, mainly play tennis, basketball, fish, and do other activities until about a month ago when one of the kids I coach in basketball and play tennis with pressed me into bowling(his primary sport) against him after a year of challenging me, lol.

Anyways, I took his advice and picked up a 15lb. Storm Freakin Frantic and set it up for finger tip grip and maximum hook. Bowled with it a few weeks, typically throwing it at 12-13mph and started thinking as I do in tennis and from my former competitive shooting days in terms of "what would I benefit/lose from going with a lighter ball that I could get moving faster if not with more spin on it?"

So I picked up a 14lb. Totally Defiant and found 16-17mph, much more comfortable/easy to be consistent with my swing/stroke and my scores increasing as well. Makes me now wonder, could a 12 or 13lb. ball provide even more benefit or would it likely yield diminishing returns due to less mass/plow through and more deflection/margin for error due to inaccuracy which would not be offset by any increased velocity/spin? I have read about the potential issue of different cores being used in balls weighing less than 14lbs. for some manufacturers.

Any thoughts on the benefits/tradeoffs of going 12-13lbs. or if it might be a worthwhile exercise for me to pick one up to try, was thinking the new Storm Byte. I am the type that when it comes to sports involving equipment, I will try a lot of equipment(be it racquets, strings, barrels, etc.) and/or modify it to see what actually works/can work best for me as well as trying to understand why I achieve better results with it.

Tony

Before I try to answer your actual question, I am required as a coach to suggest that you take some of the money that willing to invest in more and different equipment, and instead invest in some lessons.

As you probably know, Bowling is mostly about physics. The mass, speed, and direction of the ball, as well as where it hits the pins, determines the pinfall. The dangers in going lower than 14lbs. are: The ball may deflect too much, an additional gain in speed will keep the ball from hooking at the right time, and that the decrease in weight will allow you to "muscle" the ball, leading to less consistency than a free swing.

Back in the 90s, avid bowlers found that buying a new high tech ball would increase their average by at least 10 pins. This was a lot like what happened in Tennis when racquets went from wood to metal to whatever the heck they're made of now. The difference is that almost any tennis player would benefit from the improvements to the basic racquet. With high tech bowling balls, it's more like a set of golf clubs. One ball works better on this lane condition, another on that one. A ball that works very well for me might be completely unplayable for one of my friends.

Again, before you fill a garage with bowling balls, at least find a good local pro shop where they will take the time to talk to you, watch how you throw the ball, and then make a recommendation on what ball to get and in what weight

[Terrier]

Welcome to the forum, Trojan1994.

A big key here is momentum. Lets say your bowling ball is 15-lbs. To knock down pins with a lighter ball, you need to maintain momentum by increasing speed. Let's take your 13mph speed as an example.

15lbs @ 13mph
15*13 = 195lbs-mph in crazy imperial units.

If you use a 14-lb ball, to maintain that same momentum you need to throw it _____ mph.
195lbs-mph / 14lbs = 13.93mph

Clearly, you're well over this at 16-17mph. In this simplistic example, you're more likely to transfer more momentum to the pins in the direction down the lane. Might partly explain the increase in average, all other things (aim, form, etc.) being equal.
__________________________________________________ ____
Suppose you want to maintain that momentum from your 14lb ball @ 17mph and go to a 12 or 13lb ball.
14*17=238lbs-mph.

12#: 238/13 = 18.3mph
13#: 238/12 = 19.8mph

As you can see, you're having to throw it faster, which is doable to a point.
__________________________________________________ ____
There is one thing that I haven't mentioned, however. Lateral momentum. Strike probability increases when the ball hits the pins at an angle. Now I don't have any numbers that say how fast the ball is going left-to-right as it hits the pins, but the same principle applies -- As you go lighter, you're going to have to increase the lateral left-to-right speed to have the same carry. This is where the increasing ball speed is a huge detriment. The faster the ball speed down the lane, the less time is available for the ball to accelerate laterally.

tl;dr
You can adjust for less mass with more forward speed, but you'll lose more lateral speed, which decreases strike potential.

[Trojan1994]

From my own experience, a 12-13 lb ball will hit very differently than a 14 lb ball. Also, since under 14 lb balls you start finding some manufacturers that use more generic cores, you'd be losing the benefit of that.

To me, that alone is a reason to stay in the 14lb weight range.

I've watched guys who throw the lighter balls and while they can wing it down the lane pretty quickly, without accuracy they can't guarantee a strike to save their life. Throw in a situation where they leave anything standing and they are at a loss.

appreciate the feedback. If the core were the same in a 13# ball and accuracy wasn't an issue, would the 13# ball be as effective as the 14# or is it still at disadvantage due to less margin for error with the lower mass on less than perfect shots?

Regards,

Tony

[Trojan1994]

Before I try to answer your actual question, I am required as a coach to suggest that you take some of the money that willing to invest in more and different equipment, and instead invest in some lessons.

As you probably know, Bowling is mostly about physics. The mass, speed, and direction of the ball, as well as where it hits the pins, determines the pinfall. The dangers in going lower than 14lbs. are: The ball may deflect too much, an additional gain in speed will keep the ball from hooking at the right time, and that the decrease in weight will allow you to "muscle" the ball, leading to less consistency than a free swing.

Back in the 90s, avid bowlers found that buying a new high tech ball would increase their average by at least 10 pins. This was a lot like what happened in Tennis when racquets went from wood to metal to whatever the heck they're made of now. The difference is that almost any tennis player would benefit from the improvements to the basic racquet. With high tech bowling balls, it's more like a set of golf clubs. One ball works better on this lane condition, another on that one. A ball that works very well for me might be completely unplayable for one of my friends.

Again, before you fill a garage with bowling balls, at least find a good local pro shop where they will take the time to talk to you, watch how you throw the ball, and then make a recommendation on what ball to get and in what weight

Thanks, I do plan to take some lessons in the next week or two. I hear ya on not wanting to have an inventory of equipment, have several rooms full of guns, barrels, triggers, parts from my shooting days, lol!

Regards,

Tony

[Trojan1994]

Welcome to the forum, Trojan1994.

A big key here is momentum. Lets say your bowling ball is 15-lbs. To knock down pins with a lighter ball, you need to maintain momentum by increasing speed. Let's take your 13mph speed as an example.

15lbs @ 13mph
15*13 = 195lbs-mph in crazy imperial units.

If you use a 14-lb ball, to maintain that same momentum you need to throw it _____ mph.
195lbs-mph / 14lbs = 13.93mph

Clearly, you're well over this at 16-17mph. In this simplistic example, you're more likely to transfer more momentum to the pins in the direction down the lane. Might partly explain the increase in average, all other things (aim, form, etc.) being equal.
__________________________________________________ ____
Suppose you want to maintain that momentum from your 14lb ball @ 17mph and go to a 12 or 13lb ball.
14*17=238lbs-mph.

12#: 238/13 = 18.3mph
13#: 238/12 = 19.8mph

As you can see, you're having to throw it faster, which is doable to a point.
__________________________________________________ ____
There is one thing that I haven't mentioned, however. Lateral momentum. Strike probability increases when the ball hits the pins at an angle. Now I don't have any numbers that say how fast the ball is going left-to-right as it hits the pins, but the same principle applies -- As you go lighter, you're going to have to increase the lateral left-to-right speed to have the same carry. This is where the increasing ball speed is a huge detriment. The faster the ball speed down the lane, the less time is available for the ball to accelerate laterally.

tl;dr
You can adjust for less mass with more forward speed, but you'll lose more lateral speed, which decreases strike potential.

Thanks, that helps, I can grasp the concept of Angle of Approach being important and that the increased velocity of a lighter ball might not grab and hook like a heavier and slower moving ball as it skids, running out of real estate before getting bite and hooking.

Regards,

Tony