Ball Weight

[NewToBowling]

All I know is pro shops mostly stock 15 with a few 14'ers sprinkled in there. You kind of have to special order 16 lb balls.

[fokai73]

There was a show this year, Duke vs. Jones I believe, when Randy P. told Rob that Duke prefers to throw 16lbs to snap the ten out. "that extra pound makes a lot of difference." And I was like what?!!! He also mentioned the WRW sometimes would go back to 16#....

Anyway, if someone is using 16# and his/her speed is slow @ 16 to 12 mph at release, I'd suggest maybe he/she drop to 15 or maybe 14. Likewise, if a person is rolling a 14# and is 20+ mph at release, I'd suggest maybe trying 15#. Speed is good, but you also want the ball to slow down at the right moment as it rolls into the pocket for better carry.

[shadd]

"Man Weight" and the fact that Norm Duke and sometimes Walter Ray Williams use a 16# ball leads me to believe that, in fact, 16# is the correct weight haha.

JK.

Everything written in this thread has been very intriguing and equally thought provoking!!!

My other hobby (strongman) has afforded me a fair amount of "strength" so speed and rev generation and arm/shoulder/wrist/finger soreness aren't an issue at this point in my life, would those smarter than myself (basically everyone) recommend a switch to 15? Or, would staying at 16 for a house shot be recommended?

[Amyers]

"Man Weight" and the fact that Norm Duke and sometimes Walter Ray Williams use a 16# ball leads me to believe that, in fact, 16# is the correct weight haha.

JK.

Everything written in this thread has been very intriguing and equally thought provoking!!!

My other hobby (strongman) has afforded me a fair amount of "strength" so speed and rev generation and arm/shoulder/wrist/finger soreness aren't an issue at this point in my life, would those smarter than myself (basically everyone) recommend a switch to 15? Or, would staying at 16 for a house shot be recommended?

If your comfortable with the 16 stay with it. You can actually often get balls cheaper in 16 if your buying clearance lol.

[foreverincamo]

Mine are all 16 pounds. I'm a low-rev stroker and plenty strong enough to handle it. I figure that once I hit 50 I may drop to 15 pounds.

[ChuckR]

I was off for 20+ years and at 65+ I drilled a 16 lb ball given to me by a relative. I rolled it for a year and went to a 15lb. The drop in weight allowed for more games and less stress on the body.

[Mark O]

I bowled with 15lbs for years and my average never got out of the low to mid 180s. Made the switch to 14lbs 3 years ago and my average jumped to 196 then to 200 and I currently am sitting at 207 this year. I have a lot more control over the ball as well as an increased rev rate and my strike percentage is significantly higher. A lot of the guys on my team are older guys who throw "man weight" and scoffed at my 14lb ball saying it could never carry the corners. I find I leave the exact same amount of 7s and 10s as they do and on the year I have only left the 8 pin twice and the 5 pin twice so it definitely is driving through the pins. I find that there's no real difference between 14-16 for most bowlers, as long as it's a weight you can comfortably control you can do well with it.

[Aslan]

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!

I had this conversation with a bowler on the other team last night during league. Two of the older guys had wrist problems and were worried because one of them was down to 15lbs and thinking about 14#s. The other was experimenting with 10lbs. They asked my opinion and it's simple, if the weight keeps you from bowling well, move down in weight. Execution trumps everything.

I started out with 15#s in 2013. I moved to 16lbs in 2014. I moved back to 15lbs this year. I'll probably try 16lbs again next year.

There's pros and cons to everything and everyone will have a different opinion. MOST feel that the added RPMs from 15lbs cancels out the loss of carry due to the weight reduction. I noticed when switching to 15lbs that I can control the ball much better and can generate more RPMs without 'trying' to generate more RPMs. On the negative side, I leave a lot more 8-pins and 8-10 splits than I did with 16lbs. So, the folks that say it won't effect carry...my data thus far shows it 'might'. I say 'might' because off the top of my head, I can think of at least 6 reasons having nothing to do with ball weight that could result in more 8s and 8-10s...only testing the theory on the USBC's robot (which they should do a LOT more with in my opinion) could scientifically prove/disprove such a thing.

And yes, 16lbs is harder to find. When I was throwing 16lbs, I was worried because I bought a raffle ticket for (any ball in the pro shop) and when I went to look at what they had...they had 2 16lb balls and about 20 15lb balls. On the POSITIVE side, I've been able to get 16lb balls for a very nice discount online because usually they are the last to sell.

[Jessiewoodard57]

I've been able to get 16lb balls for a very nice discount online because usually they are the last to sell.

yup the secret is to wait even if you want it bad. I use a 14# and all the good deals I ever find are 16# with every other weight sold out. I tried a 16# when I first came back to bowling but from a wheel chair it was just too hard on my shoulder.

[fordman1]

Maybe an expert can tell if a low rev player will leave more 10's with 15 rather than 16?