Ball weight

[fordman1]

I know quite a few good bowlers who have gone down to 14 lbs. They laugh when I tell them I use mostly 15 and on occasion a 16 pounder. What would I gain if I threw a 14 pounder. A little more speed might help me but what about hitting. I am getting tired of people throwing the ball high or light and carrying messengers when I hit the pocket and leave a lot of 10's.

[Phonetek]

Having dropped to 15lbs the only thing I can tell you is it feels like a toy in my hand. I loft it much less because I don't have the Kung Foo grip on it so I get out of it cleaner and a higher back swing. The result is more revs and more speed. The speed I didn't need of course so I'm still trying to tone it down. I don't find that I'm getting any more inordinate leaves that I did before dropping down. I think I am getting better carry though, probably because of those extra few revs resulting from a better pocket angle.

I have thrown the 16 lb just screwing around and I do throw it better than I did before I dropped down. I think the lesser weight helped me build better muscle memory because I only lose a couple revs but it also taught me how to get out of that one cleaner too. I'm on the fence about using 16's but if I start leaving stone 5 pins with the 15's I may revert in that case. Otherwise I'm sticking with it. I personally couldn't see myself dropping to a 14 though, it would again add more speed but I don't think the extra revs at that point would help much. The 15 lb seems to be the happy medium for me. To me a 14 lb would be like throwing a 6 lb house ball thumbless. It would be a buzz saw but hit like a marshmallow.

I suspect this video will explain why you're leaving 10 pins https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tylKw_CIR-o

[djp1080]

I have a couple of 16 lb. balls and the rest are 15 lb. Also have a 14 lb. spare ball that I use regularly now.
I'm finding that the 16 lb. balls aren't that comfortable for me now that I'm getting older, but I can still get them down the lane just fine.
The 15 lb. balls are less strain on this body of mine and somehow more comfortable.
As for the 14 lb. ball vs. a 15 lb. or 16 lb. ball for shooting spares I can't tell much difference. I want them to go straight; however, there is less strain using 14.
Don't see much difference in speed and I position my hand a little differently while shooting spares.
If you've got issues with your arm or shoulder, I don't see any reason not to go to 14 lbs. Regarding leaving 10-pins I highly doubt that a lighter ball will help your carry. Like in the video of Kelly Kulick it has more to do with the distance the ball travels down the lane before it begins to hook than much of anything else. Being more consistent in your release and being accurate sure helps a lot. Good luck!

[boatman37]

I used to use a 16lb ball and when I came back in January bought a 16lb from a fellow bowler. When I bought my new one I went with 15lb. I am 6'0" and about 270lbs. I throw the 15lb'er about 17.0-17.5 at the pins. The 16lb'er is about .5 slower. To me that is too fast but I can't seem to slow it down at all. I wondered if a 14lb'er might help me. Maybe my backswing would be higher and allow me to 'free' swing when I release? Not real sure but it's been 8 months and I still haven't been able to slow my ball down.

[jaypeesmith]

I used to use a 16lb ball and when I came back in January bought a 16lb from a fellow bowler. When I bought my new one I went with 15lb. I am 6'0" and about 270lbs. I throw the 15lb'er about 17.0-17.5 at the pins. The 16lb'er is about .5 slower. To me that is too fast but I can't seem to slow it down at all. I wondered if a 14lb'er might help me. Maybe my backswing would be higher and allow me to 'free' swing when I release? Not real sure but it's been 8 months and I still haven't been able to slow my ball down.

We are of a similar height and weight. When I started, 10 months ago, I was throwing the ball in excess of 20mph. I am now able to better control my speed so that my average is about 16 mph (thought I can get to 17+ if needed or down to about 14.5 when I need to). I take a 4-step approach. Also, I only use 15 lb. balls.

The things that helped me was moving up closer. The gave me less real estate to cover so that I didn't feel like I was running to the line. Also, to vary my speed, I use my first step (or my push out step) to set the pace so, it's a moderately-paced push off normally, a little faster if I need to speed up and a little slower if I need to slow down. In essence, I am allowing my foot speed to be the determining factor in my ball speed versus my upper body strength.

By the way, some of it came from researching this question online but, the overwhelming majority of my recent improvments came as the result of the help from a couple of bowling coaches who ran a clinic at my local lanes over the summer. If you have someone who knows what they are doing and can at least be a second pair of eyes for you, it will do wonders.

Finally, I would say the speed question is relative. 17-17.5 could be a good speed for you. I had to learn to listen to my body (and my coaches) to tell me what I was doing wrong. Like I said, I was throwing the ball so, I was feeling it in my biceps and elbows. Now that I am rolling the ball more, my speed came down and I can bowl a lot more but with less effort.

[Eddy]

There's more to it than just the weight of the ball. Use what's comfortable to achieve decent speed and still have accuracy.

I actually heard of a regional pro that won a tournament using a 12lb ball. It's all in how you use it.

[boatman37]

We are of a similar height and weight. When I started, 10 months ago, I was throwing the ball in excess of 20mph. I am now able to better control my speed so that my average is about 16 mph (thought I can get to 17+ if needed or down to about 14.5 when I need to). I take a 4-step approach. Also, I only use 15 lb. balls.

The things that helped me was moving up closer. The gave me less real estate to cover so that I didn't feel like I was running to the line. Also, to vary my speed, I use my first step (or my push out step) to set the pace so, it's a moderately-paced push off normally, a little faster if I need to speed up and a little slower if I need to slow down. In essence, I am allowing my foot speed to be the determining factor in my ball speed versus my upper body strength.

By the way, some of it came from researching this question online but, the overwhelming majority of my recent improvments came as the result of the help from a couple of bowling coaches who ran a clinic at my local lanes over the summer. If you have someone who knows what they are doing and can at least be a second pair of eyes for you, it will do wonders.

Finally, I would say the speed question is relative. 17-17.5 could be a good speed for you. I had to learn to listen to my body (and my coaches) to tell me what I was doing wrong. Like I said, I was throwing the ball so, I was feeling it in my biceps and elbows. Now that I am rolling the ball more, my speed came down and I can bowl a lot more but with less effort.

I use a 5 step approach but I take my first step then almost stop and start again. Not quite stop but definitely like a stutter step. I didn't always do this but have started to to try to slow down a little. I start my approach with my heels on the front set of dots.
Also, I'm not a high rev bowler so most of my ball rotation is forward and less sideways so I think this causes my speed to be a little higher. I notice if I yank my ball my speed is usually about 1 MPH higher because I get less revs and more of a straight path

[JerseyJim]

I've been having problems with tendonitis in my wrist, so I picked up a 15lb Katana last year. It felt more comfortable to throw. However the rest of my equipment including my spare ball is still 16 lbs. I finally made the plunge to all 15 lb equipment. I find that my spare game has been much better with the 15 lb ball. My arm swing feels much more relaxed. And the best part is that my wrist isn't screaming at me.

[J Anderson]

I've been having problems with tendonitis in my wrist, so I picked up a 15lb Katana last year. It felt more comfortable to throw. However the rest of my equipment including my spare ball is still 16 lbs. I finally made the plunge to all 15 lb equipment. I find that my spare game has been much better with the 15 lb ball. My arm swing feels much more relaxed. And the best part is that my wrist isn't screaming at me.

As long as I’ve been reading these forums, Rob M. has been advising bowlers that all their bowling balls should be the same weight and drilled with the same spans and pitches.

[Phonetek]

As long as I’ve been reading these forums, Rob M. has been advising bowlers that all their bowling balls should be the same weight and drilled with the same spans and pitches.

Rob is 100% right in doing so. I switch around where I work only because of lack of more bowling balls. I'm not wasting my Rip'd on a 42" THS and all I do is leave 10 pins and 8 pins with my black hammer spare ball. Its way too archy. So only at work I use the 16 old AMF reactive ball I have because it's the only thing I have that works there, I get sick carry with it. A no- no yes but once I get another ball that's more appropriate for there I'll retire my AMF for good. Black hammer constant 190-200 or AMF 230+ at this point a no brainer.