One of my teammates mentioned last night that it looked like my ball speed was down. This is probably from a chronic shoulder problem. I was thinking about dropping ball weight to try to make up the old speed. My question is what is the difference in hitting power of a 14 lbs ball vs a 15lbs balls, is it significant or has ball technology brought it the numbers closer together. Is it worth dropping the weight? I would really appreciate if one of the Bruns guys (Bob, Ric, or Nick) could weigh in on this for me. Thanks for taking the time,
Dewey24

I dropped weight about 2 years ago and really didnt notice a difference in carry or hitting power but did notice that I felt fresher and less fatigue in my hand and fingers. It also helped me in my leverage and finish position at the line and no longer felt as if I was fighting the ball when I missed my push away a touch. Its not for every one though but the majority of people I know that made the change like it. When people find out I throw 14's the find it hard to believe because of the pin action I get. One thing to take into consideration is to start off with strong drillings and low rg balls. I found that when I first dropped weight that I would have a tendency to throw the ball through the break point and that not all balls are created equal in 14#. Some manufactures really tweak the cores between 14# and 15# exspecialy in the mid price lines. Storm is paticularly bad about this and hammer the rg and diff really seem to have quite a difference between the 15# and 14# balls and is noticeable more so on the lanes when I compared 2 of the same balls but different weights. I really prefer the lower rg stuff because they dont lope as much and they arent as sensitive to rev and speed changes. I have been bowling better since I figured these things out and have shot back to back 300 twice this season and 6- 300's this season overall and 3- 800's while averageing 241 at one house and 233 at another. If I can be of any more help let me know, I or someone else may be able to help out.

Last year I dropped from 15# to 14# because of hand problems.  I have seen no loss in carry or power.  The only thing I notice is ocasionally I will throw ball with too much speed.  I don't see me ever going back up in weight.  IMP 15# has the best numbers out of all the weights, however many of the 14's have very similar numbers when compared to 16's.  Just my opinion

Took a different route on this topic. For an experiment,
I took a 14# 10 OZ and after drilling, was a 14 1/2
exactly and drilled it for a extremely dry house which
no matter how I tried, it was hard to keep my speed
up enough to conquer the shot. Have run a 684 and 723
the last two weeks, with about a 1 to 1 1/2 mph different
according to the screen. Carry was not at a loss, but when
I drilled a 14# (starting weight) in the summer, I noticed
a difference in carry. The 1/2 pound was a great experiment
if you can find them.
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Thirtyclean (Well maybe 29, or 28, most of
the times !)

I hurt my wrist this fall, just before I started a new job in construction, so I had to lay off bowling for a month.  Since then, I have had a couple balls drilled up in 14 lb, where everything I used previously was 15 lb.  With the 14 lb balls my scores have been very consistant, and I actually get more revs on the ball since it is easy to follow through.  Also, hitting my mark seems like less effort, and I am less tired after bowling.  The 14lb stuff seems to carry well, especially on light hits.  As for ball deflecting off pins, I don't see this as an issue.  I think you would notice this on a 12 or 13 lb ball, but it is not a problem for me on 14lb balls.

I feel I am getting greater recovery than ever with the 14lb balls, and I am going to stick with them.  My suggestion to you would be if you have a favorite 15lb ball and drilling, duplicate that one in 14lb and see how you like it, before investing further.  The lighter ball does give me the ability to change ball speed if I need to as lanes start to break down.

Marker

I have too gone to 14 lb equipment and have not noticed much loss in carry my brother a former regional player went to 14 lbs about three years ago because of a shoulder injury. He currently averages 230 and was in the top five in average in our New England bowlers monthly scraych tournaments. The key is to matchup your equipment with your game.
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Ray Lathrop
Bsuproshops.com

I dropped from 15 to 14 this year and now have better pin carry along with more strikes and way fewer 10 Pins.

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Brick