lighter bowlingball

[tracy]

right now i am throwing a 15# brunswick diamondback and it's starting to give me elbow joint problems. i also have a 14# storm natural urathene which i use on occasion but don't seem to have the joint problem. what would be the advantage or disadvantage of going to a 14# diamondback or similar ball. it seems to me that i would get a little more speed and the carry that i would need for a lighter ball. what are your thoughts ?

[tracy]

another problem all of a sudden is that with the diamondback, i had to move over to the 25th board and throwing over the 2nd arrow but lately have been dropping the ball more now(coming off the side of my grip). do you think it's because i am still walking straight to the foul line and aiming for the 2nd arrow? would it be better to target the 3rd arrow (15 board) and still stand on the 25th or how would i play the 2nd arrow from the 25th.....walk towards the 2nd arrow? are you getting confused yet , because i am.

[Stormed1]

You want to walk towards your target so you can keep a straight armswing rather than trying to pitch the ball towards your tasrget. At the foul line your shoulders should be pointed towards your target rather than aquare to the line. The elbow problem may be from turning your arm at release vs coming through the ball

[tracy]

ringer, that sure sounds like the problem after i read your post and thought about it . it happened all of a sudden since i started bowling with the diamondback,which hooks way more than i was use to. i bowl tomorrow and will work on that for sure. what do you think about going to a lighter ball though?

[Graaille]

Modern bowling balls show little difference in reaction/pin carry between 14 and 15 pounds, only difference is that manufacturers make fewer 14 pound balls than 15 pound balls. I use both, and 14's are a bit better on drier lanes only because it's easier to keep ballspeed up. But people who have joint pain typically drop down to 14's, and about half never go back up to 15/16 pounds.

[Mellen]

If you are getting Pain in your elbow, you need to get it checked out right away! I had the same problem and pushed it aside as tendinitis. Needless to say that thought went right out the window when my elbow broke while throwing a football. The tendon had become too tight and actually pulled the bone apart. Took me out of bowling for 4 months and had pins put in to put the bone back together. If you feel the 15 is causing your pain, please stay with the 14. You can learn to adjust quicker than you think. And it is not worth the pain you can go through if you do not. Go see your doctor. Good luck to you.

[tracy]

i did what stormed1 said to do and it worked out real good. no pain and i scored real good thank you very much for the pointer.

[JAnderson]

The elbow problem may be from turning your arm at release vs coming through the ball

You'll often hear this described as having a "chicken wing" or "chicken winging" the ball. While this is less than desirable in and of itself, it is usually caused by something earlier in the approach.

There's one positive focus fix you can try that may help clear everything up.

Most bowlers, when they thing of targeting with a follow-through they think of their hand: the direction of the hand, where it ends up, how high, how far left and right, etc. in the follow-through. To stop "chicken winging" forget about your hand and target with the inside** of your elbow. Focus on facing/pointing the inside of your elbow towards your target. Try it a couple of times in practice.

** - by inside, I mean the crook. Hold your bowling arm straight out and turn your palm up, facing the ceiling. The inside of your elbow is also facing the ceiling.