Once you go under 15 pounds, people need to read the actual differential and RG of the ball they are getting. Even some 14 pounds balls are very different. That doesn't make these necessarily lesser balls, but you can't go by the typical descriptions and reviews which assume 15 pounds.
Lower weights will often have (but now always) have lower differential (less flare)
They all have higher RG - takes longer for ball to go from skin to roll.
An 11 pound twist has a differential of 0.002
With differentials - once you get less than 0.015 there is going to be very little track flare. The 11 pound twist has no weight block, it will not flare. The ball will pick up oil, and then track over that oil down lane, making the ball hook even less.
If a high rev, no thumb bowler used that 11 pound twist, it would destroy the pattern with carrydown, as no flare. But if your wife has a low rev rate, that won't happy. It would just a be very weak ball.
The other entry level option from Brunswick, rhino at 11 pounds, also has no weight block. Looking over what Brunswick does, they do not put weight blocks in balls 11 pounds of less.
A good website to use is Gebhardtsbowling
Many other websites list the 15 pound specs only, which won't help you.
To go with entry level options, the After Dark and Boost from 900 Global have a 0.18 differential in 11 pounds. So with a strong drilling will get some track flare.
Some of the ebonite balls still available do have higher diff cores in 11 pounds. Like turbo-r is 0.039. That's flare plenty. The 15 pound turbo-r actually has a lower diff of .035. An example of why you can't assume that lower weight means less core.
2 years ago I taught myself how to bowl no-thumb. I stared with a 11 pound Columbia Scout and then moved up in weight after. Anyway, that ball had no core, no flare and created the worst carrydown. I just got it for practice, but wouldn't recommend people use a non-flaring ball after that experience.
If in your situation, I would get at least one of the 900 global balls for just a few more dollars. Once the old Ebonite stuff sells out, I think it would harder to find 11 pound balls with 0.039 differential, so maybe get one of those now while you can.
