Quote Originally Posted by SRB57 View Post
I guess. I was wondering why if my speed is 16 off my hand how can the speed increase. I might be throwing harder at my spares but not intentionally. Just been watching my ball speed a lot lately and noticed it. Steve
In regards to ball speed.

First there are 3 basic speed measurements:

Ball Speed at Release:
This is the main one that is usually asked for when giving your bowler spec's. It's measured in the first 15 feet of the lane instead of the whole lane to attempt to take friction, as well as ball motion out of the equation.

Ball Speed at the Pins:
This is the speed usually showed on the monitors, the angle the ball goes through the sensors has a small affect on the speed readout. The rule of thumb to approximate your off hand speed from the monitor readout is to add 2-3 mph to the monitor speed. Example: 15mph on the monitor plus 3mph gives you a release speed of approx. 18mph.

Overall average ball speed:
This is the ball speed you get when checking your speed with a stopwatch and a speed chart or one of the speed apps. Its' the average speed for the whole lane.

Some things that affect ball speed are the lane conditions, The drier it is the faster the ball will lose speed, The wetter it is it retains speed longer.

Another is the shape of the shot (the path the ball is taking down the lane.), A ball going straight down the middle of the lane, would give you the closest to your off hand speed (The ball is traveling the shortest distance foul line to headpin over the most oil.).

As for your 10 pin speed increase as others have said, Bowler's tend to roll a faster ball at the 10 (7 for lefties). Also They are shooting a straighter line, across more oil and typically using a lower friction ball (ie: plastic).

All of this would allow the ball to retain it's speed longer, if your typically at about 14mph measured by the pinsetter. That's about 17mph the off hand, So 18 mph going cross lane at the 10 pin wouldn't be unreasonable to see. You put a little extra on the ball, it's retaining speed longer and the system isn't perfectly accurate.

The on lane speed monitors are notorious for being inaccurate at a lot of places. When their working they are pretty accurate for the speed at the pins, but when their off their off.

The main thing to use the monitor speed for is to watch for variation in speed. If your slowing down or speeding up from shot to shot.