Ball Weight

[shadd]

I've noticed with the giveaway threads and Facebook posts, very rarely do I see anyone wanting a 16# ball. The PSO that drilled my ball 2 Saturday's ago commented and was surprised that I had a 16# ball. Has the 16# ball gone out of favor for some reason? I always wanted to get the "most massive" ball for the "power" that the mass brings (Force=MassXAcceleration, for any physics fans out there haha), am I thinking about this wrong?

[mc_runner]

Carry doesn't suffer with 15 lb balls compared to 16lb. You can even go down to 14 without much of a difference. With the modern game, most bowlers find the increased revs/speed a 15lb gives them to be worth the 1lb loss in weight - it's that way on the tour all the way down.

[bowl1820]

"Man Weight"! (PBA slang for a 16 pound ball)

Since the advent of the stronger coverstocks and cores, it's felt 15 pound balls carry just as well as 16# and most have dropped to 15 (and some even to 14) pound balls.

Many site it's easier to get rev's on a lighter ball, a lighter ball is easier on the arm also.

[Jaescrub]

I use 16 some times I think a 15 might be the way to go but ya I just keep using 16

[Blomer]

All mine are 15 pounds. When I got my firs ball, the guy said most are using 15 and that's what I did.

[Tony]

i used a 16lb ball for years and a few years back switched to 15lb and never noticed a thing. The latest change I made this year was down to 14 due to several arm surgeries I felt it would be smart to protect my arm a little bit.
I am actually averaging a few pins higher with the lower weight and I seem to get a little more revs on the ball.
Quite a few of the guys in my leagues are doing it with good results.

[JasonNJ]

I switched to all 15 lbs and haven't noticed a difference in terms of power or carry. I do feel a lot less stress in the hands though.

[AlexNC]

I have been using 14 for some time. I am in my thirties and in good health - just was the recommendation from coaches/pro shop when I got back into bowling. I considered switching to 15 for a time - but was sold on staying at 14 by my PSO, who advocated that if I was switching to improve carry I wouldn't see a significant enough difference to make the change.

[Timmyb]

I just switched to 15. Noticed the weight difference immediately in revs. Not so much in ball speed. It was also kinder to my fingers as well!

[Amyers]

It used to be with the more solid cores their was a slight advantage in physics to the 16lbs balls but with the advent of filler material the sweet spot shifted toward 15lbs balls. Add this to the higher speed and rev rate and you had the migration to 15lbs. I have been told this by two different PSO's and you can still see a difference with the few balls that are released with no filer in the cores supposedly. I don't know how true this is but if you look at some of the old posters for the urethane era balls and the new balls you do see a difference in RG and Diff separation between the weights.