I've only been bowling seriously for about 3-4 years, I hope to bowl in the PBA eventually. However, being female, I bowl with 14# balls. I asked my coach if he thinks I should switch to 15# and he said yes, for a lot of reasons. I have 5 bowling balls, all of which are 14# and have taken me 3-4 years to acquire and obviously a lot of money.

How do I make the switch without going into debt? Should I buy a 15# plastic first and throw a 14# strike ball? Or a 15# strike ball and throw 14# spare? Should I replace the whole arsenal at once? What do you guys think?

Thanks!

If you don't have the money, I wouldn't replace all of your bowling balls. I like the idea of maybe getting a used 15 lb ball to see if it would be good to move up to 15.

Alot of people throw a pound lighter spare ball, so that would be the last ball I would change,and possibly not at all. I like the suggestion above of getting a used 15lb ball to see if a pound heavier is even possible. Take into account that most tournaments can be a long format (many games on multiple days ). If you think a weight change is possible and benifical, start with a benchmark ball, fill out yor arsanal by either choosing something stronger or weaker and alternate your purchases to fill in the voids.

Impending Doom (awesome name BTW): A few weeks ago on the PBA league, Randy Pedersen was talking about Rhino Page being the only bowler on the tour shooting a 14# ball (due to injury). He was constantly remarking that that one pound makes a difference in carry percentage and that you're at a disadvantage bowling with a 14#er. I asked my coach if I should make the switch and he said it'd be a good idea if I was comfortable throwing a 15# ball. I didn't really talk to him at length about it, but I figured that if I'm going to go anywhere in a bowling career, I'm going to need to be throwing a 15# ball.

I get ok carry with my 14#er but I find that I don't have a lot of pin action and I tend to barely knock them about. During league this week I shifted the 3 pin into the 6 pin spot without it falling, and again with the 8 pin into the 7 pin spot. Maybe it's how I'm throwing, or my ball speed isn't enough but I can't help but think it might be because of the ball weight.