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Author Topic: Ball weight  (Read 1697 times)

Locke

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Ball weight
« on: March 20, 2008, 12:10:07 AM »
So I only throw 16 Lb balls. Everyone I know throws 15. I don't understand why. They claim it carries better but no one is able to give me any information to support that claim. Does anyone have any proof? Or is it as I believe just a way for smaller people to get speed and revs on the ball?
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Gazoo

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Re: Ball weight
« Reply #1 on: March 20, 2008, 08:16:39 AM »
quote:
So I only throw 16 Lb balls. Everyone I know throws 15. I don't understand why. They claim it carries better but no one is able to give me any information to support that claim. Does anyone have any proof? Or is it as I believe just a way for smaller people to get speed and revs on the ball?



I know some rather large individuals who actually throw 14lb equipment so it has nothing to do with "smaller people". It comes down to what weight is comfortable for the bowler. It's better to roll a 15lb ball than to muscle a 16lb ball.
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azus

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Re: Ball weight
« Reply #2 on: March 20, 2008, 08:20:22 AM »
16 may be to heavy for some peoples. The carry is only about entry angle. If you can get a higher angel into the pocket with 14lbs, then it will carry better than a 16lbs.
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shelley

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Re: Ball weight
« Reply #3 on: March 20, 2008, 08:31:43 AM »
I believe you will bowl better (regardless of carry) by throwing equipment that is comfortable to throw.  If you can easily throw 16# but 15# or 14# feels like you're overthrowing it, then throw 16#.  If 16# is causing you problems or pain later in the night or after several games, switching to 15# might help.

Different weights will carry different hits, and you will have to learn just how to put the ball in the pocket to carry.  Light hits might carry better with 16# because the ball won't deflect past the 5-pin.  High hits might carry better with 14# because the ball will deflect enough to carry the 9.  But vice-versa, you might not carry.

SH
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Big Jake

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Re: Ball weight
« Reply #4 on: March 20, 2008, 08:59:44 AM »
quote:
They claim it carries better but no one is able to give me any information to support that claim.


 Its not that they carry better but they carry as well as a 16. I just switched over to 15 myself just this past January due to a hand problem and I am glad I did.
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tenpin477

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Re: Ball weight
« Reply #5 on: March 20, 2008, 09:23:00 AM »
I also use 16, and i know many people who throw 15.

I think its just a matter of personal preference. And using 16 causes me no pain, except on a day where theres a tourney or something where i bowl a large number of games, but that would happen to me with anything. Its really just personal preference.
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Rick Wunder

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Re: Ball weight
« Reply #6 on: March 20, 2008, 09:28:38 AM »
The main reason that people with no physical limitations use balls that weigh less than 16 pounds, which Shelley touched on in a way, is deflection.

"Back in the day," before resin (especially in the days of rubber and plastic), a bowler needed every bit of ball weight that he/she could get to avoid too much deflection in order to go through the pins and take out the 5-pin.

When resin balls came on the scene, people started seeing leaves like solid 9-pins, and more 4-9 splits than with rubber or plastic.  Today's equipment is so strong off the end of the oil pattern that in some cases, 16 pound bowling balls do not deflect ENOUGH to get optimum carry.

That is why some people (even big ones) use 15 (or 14) pound equipment.
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Edited on 3/20/2008 9:30 AM
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Lane1Redneck

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Re: Ball weight
« Reply #7 on: March 20, 2008, 11:08:12 AM »
quote:
Its not that they carry better but they carry as well as a 16.


I switched to 15lbs for better control of the ball. If I needed to get a tad more speed on the ball, with 16lbs always felt like I had to muscle the ball to get it. More control for me.
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JessN16

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Re: Ball weight
« Reply #8 on: March 20, 2008, 09:31:25 PM »
quote:
The main reason that people with no physical limitations use balls that weigh less than 16 pounds, which Shelley touched on in a way, is deflection.

"Back in the day," before resin (especially in the days of rubber and plastic), a bowler needed every bit of ball weight that he/she could get to avoid too much deflection in order to go through the pins and take out the 5-pin.

When resin balls came on the scene, people started seeing leaves like solid 9-pins, and more 4-9 splits than with rubber or plastic.  Today's equipment is so strong off the end of the oil pattern that in some cases, 16 pound bowling balls do not deflect ENOUGH to get optimum carry.

That is why some people (even big ones) use 15 (or 14) pound equipment.
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Edited on 3/20/2008 9:30 AM


This is very appropriate to my current game. I have equipment in 14, 15 and 16 pounds and switch back and forth freely.

I was on a tough shot that demanded going up the boards this past week and I was using a 16-pound ball drilled not weak per se, but definitely for control. In one of the games, I had a seven-frame sequence of four strikes and three 9-spares. The pin that I left in those three frames was the 9 pin each time. In all three cases, the ball was not deflecting enough through the pins. On two of the four strikes, the 9 stood after the initial hit and was taken out by a messenger.

Jess
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D-Hammer

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Re: Ball weight
« Reply #9 on: March 20, 2008, 09:36:55 PM »
quote:
If 16# is causing you problems or pain later in the night or after several games, switching to 15# might help.


15 & 16 feel the same.
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